2. Harlem Renaissance Facts
1920s-mid 1930s
Post WWI – Pre Great Depression
The Great Migration: African Americans migrated from the south to Harlem in New York City in hopes to pursue their dreams and explore their freedom of expression
Music, dance, entertainment, literature, poetry, and art exploded with African American influence that inspires much of the culture today

3. Walter Dean Myers 1937-2014 Grew up in Harlem
Became a writer and was greatly influenced by the Harlem Renaissance writers
We will focus on his poem, Harlem

4. Langston Hughes
Born in Missouri, raised in Mexico until age 13, then moved to Illinois.
Began writing poetry in Illinois, attended Columbia University in New York City and finished his education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania
Wrote novels, short stories, plays, and poetry.
Different from other notable black poets of the period by refusing to separate his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He told stories in ways that reflected their actual culture, including suffering as well as their love of music, laughter, and language.

5. Claude McKAy
Born in Jamaica, at age 17 worked as an apprentice to a woodworker in Kingston, came over to America in 1912 to South Carolina, then traveled to Alabama and attended Tuskegee Institute before transferring to Kansas State College. He left school in 1914 and for New York City where he worked various menial jobs.
Became a literary voice for social justice during the Harlem Renaissance
Encountered racism in New York City which motivated his poetry writing.
“America” was published in 1921
In writing “America” McKay expresses hope for a better future and captures the spirit of American optimism.

6. Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan)
Born 1915 in Philadelphia- died1959 in New York City
Mother had her when she was a teenager, and her father had very little presence in her life. May have suffered from sexual assault in her younger years when she was sent away for schooling.
One of the most influential jazz singers of all time. Holiday was discovered at the age of 18 and made the top ten hit list in 1934 with her song “Riffin’ the Scotch.”
Songs were very personal and were about the controversy of blacks in America. “God Bless the Child” and “Strange Fruit” became her most famous songs, but also sparked major controversy with record companies wanting to sell songs with heavy content.
Considered a huge influence on jazz music today. Diana Ross went on to play her in the autobiographic film Lady Sings the Blues and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

7. Aaron Douglas
Born in Topeka, Kansas and attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in He taught at Lincoln High School in Kansas for two years before moving to New York City to pursue his artistic dreams.
Referred to as “the father of black American art
Created powerful images of African-American life and struggles
Became a graphic artist, illustrating graphics for many writers
Received countless honors, invited to the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, and earned an honorary doctorate from Fisk University in 1973 seven years after retiring from teaching there.

8. Lois Mailou Jones
Born in Boston and died in Washington, D.C. she studied at Boston High School of Practical Arts.. The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Designers Art School of Boston Spent summers at Martha’s Vineyard where she painted watercolor sketches. She was recruited in to teach at Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina and then joined Howard University's faculty in
Her work reflected a wide variety from traditional landscape to African-themed abstraction
She experienced racial discrimination while she was in Boston and North Carolina, and living through the aftermath of the Harlem Renaissance motivated her depictions of African and African-American themes in her paintings.