1. The Harlem Renaissance
Harlem, NY – 1920’s
An upsurge in African American
cultural expression

2. Renaissance – a rebirth or revival
Usually refers to European Renaissance of
An era of curiosity and innovation in science, architecture & fine arts
A rebirth of the Golden Age of ancient Greece and Rome

3. So, what is the Harlem Renaissance?
Began in 1916 and continued through the 1920’s.
Also known as the Great Migration—millions of black farmers and sharecroppers moved to the urban North in search of opportunity and freedom.
Thousands of migrants settled in Harlem, a New York City neighborhood that quickly became the cultural center of African-American life.
This was a time where more opportunity was available and some people were able to be successful however there were still a lot of people living in poverty despite the increased amount of job opportunities.

4. Harlem Renaissance
After WWI – a huge African American migration to the North
Harlem (in NYC) welcomed writers, artists, musicians, performers, doctors, students and shopkeepers

5. A change in the air
The very air of Harlem was charged with creativity as black men and women drew on their own cultural resources—their folk traditions as well as new urban awareness—to produce unique forms of expression.
African-Americans who nurtured each other’s artistic, musical, and literary talents created an event known as the Harlem Renaissance.

6. A Literary Movement
Officially kicked off on March 21, 1924—at a dinner where some of the nation’s most celebrated writers and thinkers, black and white, gathered together.
The sponsor of the dinner were W.E.B. Du Bois, James Weldon Johnson, and Charles S. Johnson—they also had a hand in the creation of the NAACP and the National Urban League.
These organizations published journals for the work of young writers to be published.

8. Literature – the “Talented Tenth”
Highly educated writers promoted the African American identity in poetry, short stories and drama.
Harlem newspapers Crisis and Opportunity published new works.

9. Harlem Literary Magazines
Writings celebrated rhythms of blues and jazz
Captured street-wise wit of “real” African-American people
Expressed frustration of a “dream deferred””

10. Contributors
Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston were among the young writers who received recognition and sometimes cash awards for their work in these journals.
They considered themselves the founders of a new era of literature.
They represented what came to be known as the “new Negro.”

11. Harlem Renaissance Authors
Row 1: (left to right) Countee Cullen and Alice Dunbar-Nelson Row 2: Angelina Weld Grimké and Langston Hughes Row 3: Alain Locke and Claude McKay Row 4: Wallace Thurman and Carl Van Vechten

13. Jacob Lawrence – Tombstones and Builders
Tombstones (on the left) is intended to show a community of family and friends but also shows how the migration to the north was threatening to a lot of peoples health. Many people died from small pox, tuberculosis, pneumonia and other diseases that spread quickly. Builders (on the right) is one of a series that showed the ingenuity, hard work and collaboration of people during the Harlem Renaissance toward a better world.
Jacob Lawrence – Tombstones and Builders

14. Parade – Jacob Lawrence
Parade in NYC. Notice the repetition of the colors and shapes in the painting. The legs and arms are in the same position for each row of people as well as the matching colors of outfits.
Parade – Jacob Lawrence

15. Harlem at Night Winold Reiss, 1924
This is the depiction of what Reiss saw in Harlem at night. Date night, little kids, the city in the background.

16. Blues and Jazz

17. The Blues Origin – New Orleans Influences: African American folk music
Work songs (shouts and hollers from slave fields)
Gospel music

18. Jazz - An original American art form
Earliest Jazz styles:
Ragtime and Dixieland in 1890’sNew Orleans
Has roots in:
African rhythms
European harmonies
American Gospel sound
Work songs

19. After 1917, Jazz spread north and west to New York, Chicago, San Francisco and St. Louis and developed into an improvisational type of music.

20. Jazz crossed race and cultural boundaries and became an American music style.