Notes: The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to the period from the end of WWI
through the middle of the 1930s Depression, during which a group of black
writers produced a sizeable body of literature, art, and music; the period was
originally known as the “New Negro Movement.” However, the idea that black
literature, art, and music were “new” is obviously a misnomer; rather, this period
represents the first time whites and blacks alike legitimized works created by
black Americans.
Historical Background:
• “Great Migration”: 1900-1920, the exodus of blacks from the oppressive,
economically downtrodden South to more accepting, industrialized cities
in the North, including New York City.
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• Prohibition: The 18 Amendment to the Constitution gave rise to the
culture of the speakeasies and club scene in Harlem. Whites and
blacks alike frequented
jazz clubs, giving rise to greater awareness of black music.
• World War I’s aftermath: Black and white writers and artists,
disillusioned by the war’s destruction, sought more foreign, exotic
lifestyles, which Harlem could provide.
• Back to Africa Movement: Marcus Garvey’s effort at improving racial
consciousness, raising awareness Afro-American history, promoting
black economic independence, and encouraging a return to Africa was
downplayed by intellectual black elites. However, it did succeed in
promoting a reenergizing of black culture
among the working-class blacks.
Philosophical Foundation:
The notion of “twoness,” a divided awareness of one’s identity, was introduced by
W.E.B. DuBois, one of the founders of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the author of The Souls of Black
Folks (1903): “One feels ever his two-ness – an American, a Negro; two souls,
two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings: two warring ideals in one dark body.”
Common Themes:
• Alienation and marginalization of African Americans from the
mainstream culture
• The use of folk/heritage material (atavism)
• The use of the blues tradition
• The problems of writing for an elite audience
Progressive Era
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African Americans
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Ideas about Achieving Civil Rights
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WEB DuBois
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What were the 1920s like for African
Americans?
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How did African Americans fight
discrimination in the 1920s?
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How did Harlem become a center of
African American culture?
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What were the characteristics of those
writers, musicians, and artists who
helped foster the cultural rebirth?
What did Harlem authors, artists, and
musicians express?
Why were African American actors,
musicians, and artists more
“mainstream?”
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Progressive Reformers ignored the issues that directly
affected former slaves, nonwhite immigrants, Native
Americans, and women.
Before 1900, 9/10 of all African Americans lived in the
South.
After 1900, many began moving north to find factory jobs.
Although they did find a better life, they still faced job
discrimination, inferior schools, and segregated housing.
Frederick Douglass believed that ultimate assimilation
through self-assertion.
Booker T Washington believed in temporary
accommodation to white and through hard work and
acquisition of property, African Americans could prove
they are worthy of respect.
Other believed in living separately from whites, returning
back to Africa, or in establishing African American
communities in Oklahoma Territory or Kansas.
Was an “anti-Bookerite”
Believed that African Americans could gain reasonable
rights by not throwing them away.
Felt African Americans should agitate for their rights.
Believed in the “talented tenth” who would use their skill
to pursue civil rights?
He and other political liberals formed the NAACP.
The NAACP wanted to end racial discrimination and to
obtain voting rights.
They faced poverty, discrimination, and segregation.
Many soldiers returned home from World War I only to
realize they were not likely to find equality and social
justice at home.
Race riots erupted in the early years of the 1920s.
Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” movement.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People protested violence through parades and campaigns
against lynching.
The NAACP’s magazine The Crisis became the voice of
those fighting for civil rights.
Many southern African Americans moved to urban areas
especially New York.
Many immigrants from the West Indies, Cuba, Puerto
Rico, and Haiti also moved to New York.
This resulted in a mix of cultures in Harlem.
Young, educated, middle class African Americans.
A new pride in the African American experience.
The trials of living as an African American in a white
world.
Expressed a desire for civil rights and equality.
Created a “New Negro” image for white society.
Whites were lured to stylish and exotic nightclubs like the
Cotton Club. Jazz musicians played at these clubs.
Many Harlem Renaissance actors were popular in Europe
because of their talent.
Jazz music was played on the radio.