Harlem Renaissance 1917 - 1935
Renaissance – definition
Where was the Harlem Renaissance?
New York
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
• The name given to an artistic movement in Harlem at the end
of WWI through middle of 1930s.
• Became a center for black writers, musicians, poets, artists,
photographers, and scholars to express themselves freely.
Key People of the Harlem Renaissance
Louis Armstrong–
Paul Robeson – All-American
athlete and multi-talented
artist. Voice of political
activism
What a Wonderful World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nGKqH26xlg
First draft of Langston Hughes’ “Ballad of
Booker T”.
Langston Hughes - Poet and writer. He
gave an insider’s view to black American
life
Marian Anderson on the steps of Lincoln Memorial
My Country ‘Tis of Thee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAONYTMf2pk
Marian Anderson - Singer
Why did the Harlem Renaissance
happen?
• Migration of southern
blacks
From 1900 – 1970 An
estimated 5 million blacks
migrated from the South
Thousands of
black Americans
left the South
to escape
sharecropping,
poor economic
conditions, and
lynch mobs.
What was it like to be in Harlem
Renaissance?
What was the importance of the
Harlem Renaissance?
• Escaped racial prejudice of the south
• Racial pride
• Began a civil and political rights movement for
black Americans
Sources
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Distribution of Black Population Map
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam008.html
Harlem During the Renaissance http://www.longwharf.org/aint-misbehavin-hotspots-harlem
Harlem Renaissance http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_harlem.html
Langston Hughes “Ballad of Booker T” http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/mcc:@field(DOCID+@lit(mcc/024))
Langston Hughes http://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-Langston
Hughes http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/94506949/
Louis Armstrong http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wghtml/wghome.html
Marian Anderson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAONYTMf2pk
Marian Anderson http://www.loc.gov/pictures/ item/2004662516/
Paul Robeson http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/079_vanv.html)