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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 andEuropean 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…

Café (1939-40)

William H. Johnson

William H. Johnson

I Baptize Thee (1940)

Moon Over Harlem (1943-44)

William H. Johnson

The Ascent of Ethiopia (1932)

Lois Mailou Jones

Tribal Dancing (Date unknown)

Lois Mailou Jones

Mob Victim (1944)

Lois Mailou Jones

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.