James Haskins was born in Demopolis, Alabama. He graduated from high school in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1960 he received a B.A. degree from Georgetown University, in 1962 he received a B.S. degree from Alabama State University, and in 1963 he received a M.A. degree from the University of New Mexico. After graduation, he moved to New York and worked as a stock trader on Wall Street. He taught music and special education classes in Harlem, and eventually left stock trading to become a full-time teacher. His first book, Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher, was published in 1969. He was a professor of English at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and lived in New York City. Over the course of his career, he wrote well over 100 books, mostly for children and young adults, focusing on the biographies of leading African Americans and key aspects of African-American culture, social history, and contemporary life. He died in 2005 of complications from emphysema.