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1920 to 1936
Harlem Renaissance Defined

Harlem Renaissance (HR) is the name
given to the period from the end of
World War I and through the middle of
the 1930s Depression, during which a
group of talented African-American
writers produced a sizable body of
literature in the four prominent genres of
poetry, fiction, drama, and essay.
Harlem Renaissance Defined (continued)
 Not
limited to literature, the
movement also includes
philosophy, theater, the visual
arts, and music.
Harlem Renaissance Dates

Beginning dates range from 1914 to
1920

Ending dates range from 1935 to 1940
Great Migration
Beginning of World War I
 Job opportunities in North
 1915-1918
 Some believe this to be the beginning
of H.R.

Key
Figures
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
Philosopher
 Sociologist
 Civil rights
activist

W.E.B. Du Bois

African Americans
must be taught
racial pride and
African cultural
heritage
 Coined the term
“Talented Tenth”
Charles Gilpin (1878-1930)

Performing arts:
theater
Theater and Film

Charles Gilpin
founded the
Lafayette Players
 Few plays were
written by African
Americans
Alain LeRoy Locke (1886-1954)
Philosopher
 Educator

Alain Locke

The New Negro
 Saw Harlem as race
capital
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)
Political leader
 Publisher and
journalist
 Jamaican
National Hero

Marcus Garvey

Back to Africa
movement
Claude McKay (1890-1948)

Writer
Claude McKay

“If we must die—let
it not be like hogs
hunted and penned
in an inglorious
spot…Like men we’ll
face the murderous,
cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall,
dying, but fighting
back!”
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Writer
 Anthropologist
 Folklorist

Jean Toomer (1894-1967)

Writer
Jean Toomer

Poet
 Envisioned an
American identity
that would
transcend race
 Did not seek out
“black” forms for his
poetry
Bessie Smith (1895-1937)

Jazz and Blues
Singer
Aaron Douglas (1898-1979)

Visual Artist
Duke Ellington (1899-1994)
Jazz musician
 Jazz composer
 Jazz band leader

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Writer
Langston Hughes

“We younger Negro
artists…intend to
express our individual
dark-skinned selves
without fear or shame.
If white people are
pleased, we are glad. If
they are not, it doesn’t
matter.”
Arna Bontemps (1902-1973)

Writer
Countee Cullen (1903-1946)

Writer
Countee Cullen

Poet
 Wrote in accepted
forms that white
audiences could
appreciate
 Did not believe race
should dictate style
and subject matter
Josephine Baker (1906-1975)
Singer
 Dancer
 Actress

Cab Calloway (1907-1994)
Singer
 Actor
 Fashion
trendsetter

Dorothy West (1907-1998)

Writer
End of World War I

“We return. We return
from fighting. Make
way for democracy! We
saved it in France, and
by the Great Jehovah,
we will save it in the
United States of
America or know the
reason why.” W.E.B.
De Bois
What’s in a name?

Harlem
Renaissance

Negro Renaissance
Creative Forms
Writers
Poets
 Philosophers
 Musicians
 Visual Artists
 Filmmakers

African-American Literature

Sought to reach
entire community,
not just highly
educated
 Periodicals
(magazines) acted
as a medium of
intellectual
discourse
 The Crisis (cover
dated September
1927)
The Jazz Age





Artistic expression in
music
Cab Calloway
Duke Ellington
Josephine Baker
Bessie Smith
Visual Arts

Aaron Douglas 1936
End of the Renaissance

The Great
Depression
 50% of families in
Harlem were out of
work
 Harlem Race Riot,
1935
Aaron Douglas 1936
Gains of the Harlem Renaissance




African Americans
proved themselves to
be talented and capable
Created a new
consciousness in blacks
and whites
New art forms
Socioeconomic
changes
Chain Gang
William H. Johnson
undated
The Harlem Renaissance
Saturday Night
by
Archibald J. Motley, Jr. 1935