Download Cultural Climate of the 1920s and 1930s

Flappers and the “Lost” Generation:
What was the Great
Migration North and West?
Jobs for African Americans in the
south were scarce and low
paying, so African Americans
moved to cities in the north and
midwest in search of better
employment opportunities and
better housing conditions
African Americans faced
discrimination and violence in the
North and the Midwest, but not as
much as they had in the Jim Crow
South
Southern family arriving in Chicago during WWI.
What was the Harlem
Renaissance?
The Harlem Renaissance
African American artists, writers, and
musicians based in Harlem revealed the
freshness and variety of African
American culture.
These Harlem
Renaissance
leaders drew
upon the
heritage of
black culture to
establish
themselves as
powerful forces
for cultural
change.
The popularity of these artists
spread to the rest of society.
Musicians of the
1920s and the
Harlem
Renaissance
In music, Duke Ellington and Louis
Armstrong were both famous jazz
composers.
Bessie Smith was a
famous blues singer.
Cultural Climate of the 1920s and 1930s
Music
Aaron Copland wrote
unique American
music that evokes
strong emotions.
George Gershwin
composed unique
American music
that tells a story.
Artists of the 1920s
and the Harlem
Renaissance
What was the cultural climate of the
1920s and 1930s?
ART
In art, Georgia O’Keefe was
an artist known for urban
scenes, flowers, and later,
paintings of the southwest.
In art, Jacob Lawrence was a painter who
chronicled the Great Migration north and
west. His paintings were done in the 40s.
Writers of the
1920s and the
Harlem
Renaissance
Cultural Climate of the 1920s and 1930s
Literature
John Steinbeck was a novelist
who portrayed the strength of
poor migrant workers in the
1930s.
In literature,
Langston
Hughes was
a poet who
combined the
experiences
of African
and American
cultural
roots.
A Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore-And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
Langston Hughes
(Lincoln University 1928)
Cultural Climate of the 1920s and 1930s
Literature
F. Scott Fitzgerald he was a novelist who
wrote about the Jazz Age of the 1920s.
The End