th
• Redemption – with the end of
Reconstruction in 1876 and the removal of federal troops from the South, the
Southern Democratic Party sought to regain control (often with the support of groups like the KKK)
• Jim Crow laws – set up segregation in public places in the South
• Plessy v. Ferguson – US Supreme Court case that said that “separate but equal” segregation was legal
• Restrictions on voting – in violation of the 15 th Amendment Southern states passed laws to restrict their right to vote (Grandfather’s clause, literacy tests, poll taxes)

• Racist group that terrorized
African Americans after
Reconstruction that saw a resurgence in the 1920s
• 5 million members
• Harassed African
Americans, but also
Catholics, Jews, and immigrants
• Also fought women’s rights, urbanization, and technology

• Born in Jamaica and eventually moved to New York in 1917
• Published a newspaper for African
Americans in which he expressed his ideas about how African Americans could improve their place in society
• Encouraged black people around the world to express pride in their culture and to unite to build strength
• Encouraged African Americans to build economic independence by building their own businesses and supporting other businesses owned by black people
• Founded the Universal Negro
Improvement Association to help spread black nationalism (what his ideas are collectively known as)

• The economic opportunities of the era (during WWI and the prosperous 1920s) triggered a widespread migration of black
Americans from the rural south to the industrial centers of the north and especially to New York City
• In New York and other cities, black
Americans explored new opportunities for intellectual and social freedom
• Black American artists, writers, and musicians began to use their talents to work for civil rights and obtain equality

• Jacob Lawrence grew up in a settlement house in Harlem during the Harlem
Renaissance
• Lawrence's parents were among those who migrated between 1916-1919, considered the first wave of the migration
• His own life in Harlem, and the struggle of other African
Americans inspired his earliest work

• Jacob Lawrence painted his Great Migration series during the 1940s to capture the experience of African Americans during the 1920s http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/odonnell/w1
010/edit/migration/migration.html

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New York State
New York City →

*
New York City is on Manhattan Island

*

• Hughes is known for his insightful, colorful, realistic portrayals of black life in America.
• He wrote poetry, short stories, novels, and plays, and is known for his involvement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing.
• He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture.

I, too, sing America
(1920s)
To listen to Langston Hughes read his poem, click here .
'I, Too' written just before Hughes’ return to the
States from Europe and after he'd been denied passage on a ship because of his color, has a contemporary feel in contrast to the mythical dimension of 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers'. It is no less powerful however, in its expression of social injustice. The calm clear statements of the 'I' have an unstoppable force like the progress the poem envisages. Hughes's dignified introductions to these poems and his beautiful speaking voice render them all the more moving.
From PoetryArchive.org
•What is the tone or mood of this poem?
•Why do you think the poem was written and for what audience?
•List two things in this poem that tell you about life in the United States at the time.
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,“
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.

• The 1920s are known as the “Jazz
Age” due to the popularity of jazz music in the decade
• Jazz was a blend of European harmonies and West African rhythms that began in New Orleans and moved north during the Great
Migration
• Young people loved it and the fastpaced dances that went with it
• It symbolized the divide in the decade between the younger and older generations

• Ellington was a jazz composer, conductor, and performer during the Harlem Renaissance
• During the formative Cotton Club years, he experimented with and developed the style that would quickly bring him worldwide success
• Ellington would be among the first to focus on musical form and composition in jazz
• Ellington wrote over 2000 pieces in his lifetime

• The Cotton Club in Harlem opened in 1923
• Its revue shows featured glamorous dancing girls, acclaimed tap dancers, vaudeville performers, and comics
• The shows featured African
American performers and white-only audiences
• The Duke Ellington Orchestra was the "house" orchestra for a number of years at the
Cotton Club

• In opposition to the Cotton Club was this theater that featured the same performers, but was open to African American audiences

• Louis Armstrong was a jazz composer and trumpet player during the Harlem Renaissance.
• He is widely recognized as a founding father of jazz.
• He appeared in 30 films and averaged 300 concerts per year, performing for both kids on the street and heads of state.
• Biggest Hits: When the Saints
Come Marching In , What a
Wonderful World

“Ascent from Ethiopia,” Louis Mailou Jones. 1932
Questions to think about:
1. What do you see?
2. What does each part of the painting represent?
5. What actions/activities do you see?
6. What questions does this painting raise in your mind?
7. How does this painting relate to the Harlem Renaissance?

• The Harlem Renaissance helped to redefine how Americans and the world understood African American culture.
• It integrated black and white cultures, and marked the beginning of a black urban society.
• The Harlem Renaissance set the stage for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.

• Another aspect of the movement of African Americans north (and the discrimination they faced there) was the creation of professional baseball teams for just black players
• African Americans in northern and eastern cities had the time and money to go to games now
• Some of the greatest players of alltime played in these leagues such as Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and
Jackie Robinson

Native American leaders with
President Coolidge after the bill was signed into law
• Thousands of Native Americans served in World War I
• This helped convince Congress to pass the Indian Citizenship
Act in 1924 that granted citizenship to all Native
Americans
• Also during this time the federal government was trying to buy back as much reservation land as possible
• Native Americans organized groups to try to stop this and to build pride in Native
American culture

• Hispanic Americans also faced discrimination in the US in the
1920s
• This treatment would include segregation and a denial of voting rights
• League of United Latin
American Citizens (LULAC) – created in 1929 by a group of
Mexican American leaders to fight to improve their situation

• Nickname for the group of young writers and their followers who expressed feelings of disillusionment in the American society
• They were worried about their futures and felt as though
American society was losing its sense of morality
• Some like Ernest Hemingway moved to Paris to escape our society and write
• Others like F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed and wrote about the problems in our society (in books like “The Great Gatsby”)
F. Scott
Fitzgerald → writing
← Ernest
Hemingway
In Paris in
1923