You need to
WRITE DOWN
anything in orange!
Harlem Renaissance
The flourishing of Black
literature, art, music,
dance, and social
commentary
in the 1920s. For the
first time, the unique
Black culture in the
U.S., a culture which
had flourished for
centuries, was in
the public eye.
The Great Migration
The migration of millions of blacks from the rural
South to the industrial North in an attempt to
escape racism and discrimination and find work.
Lynchings and racially
motivated murders by decade
Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Of The Negro, Plate 1
(Want to see this slideshow for the project? Check out Keiser’s website!)
Increased Education for Blacks
- By 1915, as a result of the Great Migration, a new
Black middle class had formed in Harlem. Subsequent
White Flight created an almost all-black Harlem which
became the center of Black Culture.
Increased Education for Blacks
- W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP continued to push
for Black education and immediate equality.
Increased Education for Blacks
- Hubert Harrison began publishing The Voice, a
newspaper which promoted the “New Negro Movement”.
The “New Negro” was an “enlightened, artistic, and
intellectual” Black American who was conscious of his
place in a racist society and was working to reshape the
perception of Blacks in America.
As a result of these factors,
Blacks began to celebrate
their unique cultural heritage
more publicly and some
(mostly young) Whites began
to publicly adopt some
aspects of Black culture.
Performing
artists/styles?
Hmmm…I could use
these as a primary
document…
- Despite being primarily associated
with White flappers making fun of
“drys” during prohibition (the dance
was considered quite inappropriate),
the Charleston originated in the Black
communities of Charleston, SC
- The dance was popularized by
Josephine Baker, the first Black
woman to star in a major motion
picture, integrate an American concert
hall, and become a world famous
entertainer
- The Lindy Hop evolved in Harlem in
1927 out of the Charleston, probably at
the Savoy Ballroom, one of the most
popular Black clubs, and one which
later was frequented by Whites as well
as Blacks
- The name is a reference to Charles
Lindbergh’s famous solo trans-Atlantic
flight and involves a difficult “flying”
dance move
- Jazz developed in Black communities in the South around 1900 and spread
to the North during the Great Migration
Man…I wish
somebody could
remind me what the
Great Migration
was…I forgot…
- Blending of African and European musical styles and instruments
- Became particularly popular with youth in the 1920s because it was attacked
as immoral and seen as a threat to traditional values by the older generation
- Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie led the development of
various jazz styles in the 20s including Big Band and Swing
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Count Basie
- Despite being the leaders of the movement, they were paid substantially less
than White performers of the time period, even those in their own bands;
furthermore, many clubs would not allow other Blacks to play in their bands
Louis Armstrong with his band
Visual
artists?
Hmmm…I could use
these as a primary
document…
William H. Johnson
Café (1939-40)
William H. Johnson
I Baptize Thee (1940)
William H. Johnson
Moon Over Harlem (1943-44)
Lois Mailou Jones
The Ascent of Ethiopia (1932)
Lois Mailou Jones
Tribal Dancing (Date unknown)
Lois Mailou Jones
Mob Victim (1944)
Palmer Hayden
The Big Bend Tunnel (1944)
Palmer Hayden
The Blue Nile (1964)
Palmer Hayden
The Janitor Who Paints (1939-40)
Authors?
Hmmm…I could use
these as a primary
document…
Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Tells the story of a
black woman living in
the post-Civil War
period. The book has
been criticized, much
like Huck Finn, for
portraying blacks in a
stereotypical light, but
other scholars believe
it provides great
insight into the lives of
Southern Blacks in
the period it covers.
Listed on Time’s List
of 100 Best English
Language Novels
from 1923-2005.
Ralph Waldo Ellison – Invisible Man (1953)
The first person
narrative of a black
man living in New
York who considers
himself socially
invisible. The novel
tells of his experience
searching for his own
identity during the
Harlem Renaissance.
Listed on Time’s List
of 100 Best English
Language Novels
from 1923-2005.
Nella Larsen – Passing (1929)
Tells the story of two
Black women, and
former childhood
friends, who have
reconnected in NY.
One woman “passes”
as White and is living
a life of lies married to
a racist; the other has
married a prominent
black physician and is
working to improve
the life of Black
Americans in NY.
Langston Hughes – The Ways Of White Folks (1934)
This book is a
series of vignettes
revealing the
humorous and
tragic interactions
between whites
and blacks.
Overall, the
stories are
marked by
pessimism about
race relations and
the sardonic
realism which
characterizes
much of his work.
Langston Hughes – The Negro Speaks Of Rivers (1926)
The Negro Speaks Of Rivers
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its
muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.