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The Harlem Renaissance1918-1935
Sokchea Som, Sabrina Amato, Paige Aquino
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Historical ● What is happening?
○ celebrating culture ○ Lead primary by African American communities in Harlem, NYC
● What are the big, impactful events?○ Great Migration
○ The migration led to the blacks being reborn
● The prosperous northern economy motivated blacks to move north
● Blacks ended up in “urban slums”( The Harlem Renaissance)-new African American traditions were started and kept alive.
● Great Depression
PhilosophicalHow do people think? What are people thinking?
● Discovery of shared common experiences in their past histories and their uncertain
present circumstances
● Start of a rare opportunity for whites to collaborate with black intellectuals,
social activists, educators, and artists (Jessie Fauset-black role)
● Voices of Protest and Ideological Promotion of Civil Rights Inspiration
● Ignition of an Explosion of African American Cultural Pride
● Time of Celebration
● Distinctive Thinking Patterns and Divergent Creativity
● Who are the big thinkers? ○ Political? (Civil Rights Activists)
■ Madam C.J. Walker■ Walter White (author/journalist), A. Philip Randolph■ James Weldon Johnson
○ Secular?■ Alain Leroy Locke:
● “New Negro”● “Realism and idealism should be combined in striking for a world
order.”("Famous Harlem Renaissance People.")■ W.E.B. DuBois: He believed each race should be free and able to “in its
own way, to develop for civilization its particular message, its particular ideal, which shall help guide the world nearer and nearer that perfection of human life, for which we all long, that ‘one far off Divine event” ("Famous Harlem Renaissance People.")
Philosophical
● Music played a huge role in the Harlem Renaissance● Popular music genres include:
○ Jazz (developing into blues)■ complex cords, improvised solos, brass and woodwind
instruments with trumpets, trombones, and saxophones leading○ Big Band or Swing
■ no microphones (bigger bands, bigger sound), used composers, very little improvisation
● Popular musicians:○ Duke Ellington○ Louis Armstrong○ Bernie Smith
Music
Scientific & Technological● First Commercial Radio Station (1919)*
○ news and music could be broadcasted across the country○ inexpensive
● Discovery of Insulin (1920)○ saved the lives of millions of people○ used to treat and change the lives of those with diabetes
● Model T and Assembly Line (1924)○ inexpensive car that many could afford○ cars improved the quality of people’s lives○ assembly line promoted efficient and fast means of production (the idea still used
today)● Television (1923)
○ very rough and crude version ○ more improved and popularized after WWII
Literary: Types of Literature
● Poetry like sonnets
● Plays
● Short Stories
● Novels
● Music
● Essays
Literature: Authors to Know
● James Baldwin● Countee Cullen- poet, novelist, & playwright● Langston Hughes- wrote poetry & short stories; “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”● Jessie Fauset-novelist,essayist,poet,editor● Claude McKay● Zore Neale Hurtson- “Their Eyes Were Watching God”● James Weldon Johnson- writer & poet● Alain Locke● Eric D. Walrond● Hubert Harrison● Richard Bruce Nugent● Wallace Thurman● Jean Toomer
Literature: Stylistic Characteristics● How are they writing?
○ Langston Hughes○ James Weldon Johnson
● What are they writing about?○ African Americans standing up for their rights○ Realistic portrayal of African American daily life○ African Americans taking pride in heritage and “racial identity”
(Mathers)○ They debated African Americans where they belong in the life ○ Feelings of being “alienation..experienced by minorities in
American society...and wanted to uplift those burdened by racism”(Enoch Pratt Free Library)
The Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of literature and culture for African Americans. A whole group of people that faced discrimination and unthinkable hardships went from enslaved and illiterate to free and literary over a span of fifty years into the Harlem Renaissance. New diverse thinking and creativity was released and, with the advancements in technology and scientific discoveries such as the television, the movement spread throughout the country and all over the world. Jazz, blues and swing emphasized their culture along with literature. Many poems, short stories, plays, novels and essays discussed their past hardships and/or advocated their civil rights movement. The Harlem Renaissance empowered the once oppressed voices of African Americans to escape into the American culture.
In Conclusion
“The best of humanity's recorded history is a creative balance between horrors endured and
victories achieved, and so it was during the Harlem Renaissance.”
― Aberjhani, Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry
Word Cited● "Black History in America- The Harlem Renaissance." Black History in America- The Harlem Renaissance. Web. 25 Nov.
2014.
● “Harlem Renaissance.” Encylopedia.com. HighBeam Research. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
● "The Harlem Renaissance." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
● Hutchinson, George. "Harlem Renaissance." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 24 Nov.
2014.
● "TimeLine 1918 - 1935." Timetoast. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.
● Matterson, Stephen. "1920's-Mid-1930's Harlem Renaissance." PBS. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
● "Enoch Pratt Free Library." African American Department. Enoch Pratt Free Library. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
● "Famous Harlem Renaissance People." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
