THE HARLEM
RENAISSANCE/LANGSTON
HUGHES
The Harlem Renaissance
■ The Harlem Renaissance describes a period of
“unprecedented literary, musical and artistic production
among African-Americans.”
■ Reached its peak in the 1920’s.
■ So named because it centered in Harlem in Manhattan, were
thousands of African-Americans migrated from “the South,
Midwest, and even the West Indies”, often seeking an escape
from poverty and growing racial tensions and violence.
The Harlem Renaissance
■ Pioneers of the Harlem Renaissance-musicians like Louis
Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and writers like Langston
Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston-fought against stereotypes
and “felt a collective identity—they had pride in their race and
asserted its contributions to American culture”.
■ The Harlem Renaissance ended with the Great Depression in
the 1930’s, but the influence of these writers and artists
continues to influence African-American writers through
today.
Langston Hughes
■ Hughes grew up often moving from place-to-place. His parents divorced
shortly after his birth and he did not have much of a relationship with his
father.
■ His mother was a teacher who struggled to support herself and Hughes.
■ Hughes began writing poetry in seventh grade.
■ He dropped out of Columbia University in NYC after a year, but stayed in
Harlem for a time. He also worked on a freighter “bound for Africa, a trip
that moved him profoundly”, and also spent some time living in Europe.
Langston Hughes
■ He was “discovered” by another famous poet while working as a
busboy in a hotel in Washington D.C.
■ His poems focus mainly on working-class African-Americans, and
also were a platform to “protest racial discrimination, especially the
form of legal segregation known as Jim Crow laws.”
■ He incorporated “the structures and rhythms of blues and jazz
music” into his poems.
■ He died in New York City in 1967, and has been called the “Poet
Laureate of Harlem.”