The Harlem Renaissance

THE HARLEM
RENAISSANCE

Approximately 1918 till mid 1930s

Introduction & Historical Background

Introduction

■ Gatsby represents the culture of the upper classes in the East Coast in the

roaring 20s. What else was taking place?

■

The HARLEM RENAISSANCE – an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion
among African Americans that took place in Harlem, NY, between the end of
WWI (1918) and the beginning of the Great Depression (1929).

■

What do we have to look forward to?!?
–

Louis Armstrong

- Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God)

–

Billie Holiday

- Langston Hughes

Multiple Choice

What is the Harlem Renaissance?

• An intellectual, social, and artistic explosion among immigrants

• A rebirth of culture in Harlem

• An intellectual, social, and artistic explosion among African Americans

• A rebirth of culture in the US

Where is Harlem?
Let’s start with the US map.

Here’s NY State. See how small
NYC is?

Here are the different parts of NYC.

Harlem is a small part of
Manhanttan.

History - Part I: The Civil War and
Reconstruction

■ Civil War ends in 1865 and the Reconstruction era begins.

■ 13th Amendment outlawed slavery.

■ The 14th Amendment guaranteed African Americans civil

rights.

■ Many Southern states looked to limit these rights and

created separate facilities for African Americans.

■ The Supreme Court held in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 that

these Facilities so long as Equal to others were
constitutionally protected. This began the era of “Separate
but Equal” and the Jim Crow south.

Multiple Choice

What were the Jim Crow laws

• withheld rights of African Americans

• separate white and blacks but has to be equal

• guaranteed African Americans civil rights

• outlawed slavery

History – Part II: The Great
Migration
■ Jim Crow laws forced many African Americans to move

North in search of a better life.

■ Approximately 1.6 million African Americans moved

from rural Southern areas to urban Northeast areas
where there was greater industrialization between
1916 and 1930.
– A second “Great Migration” occurred after the

Great Depression to areas including the Midwest
and the West.

History – Part III: The Development
of Harlem

■ Originally developed as an exclusive suburb for the white middle

class. It was filled with stately houses, polo grounds and the
Harem Opera House.

■ As it became a destination for European immigrants, it was

abandoned by white middle class who moved farther north.

■ With the Great Migration, Harlem became an African American

neighborhood It attracted two groups:
1.

People searching for work from the South.

2.

Educated class who made Harlem a cultural center, including
a growing African American middle class.

Multiple Choice

What was Harlem originally developed for?

• To be an exclusive suburb for the white middle class

• To be an exclusive suburb for the black middle class

• To be an exclusive suburb for the immigrant working class

• To be a destination vacation spot

Impact: Mainstream Recognition of
Harlem Culture

■

As of 1917, America began to embrace Harlem culture and recognize the African
American experience as conveyed complex emotions that affect all of humanity.
These works rejected African American stereotypes.
–

Three Plays for a Negro Theater written by Ridgely Torrence.

–

If We Must Die by Claude McKay

■

“The Negro was in Vogue” wrote Langston Hughes. White society accepted new
African American music (especially, jazz), art and literature.

■

Impact can be looked at in two ways:
–

Humanization

–

Activism - Awareness/understanding of African American suffering and
inequality.

■

Paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Multiple Select

The impact of the Harlem Renaissance can be seen in two ways:

• Humanization

• Justice

• Endurance

• Activism

Example: Humanization

■

America learned that African Americans experience the same range of emotions as
the rest of humanity. White culture began to accept African American culture as its
own.

■

Louis Armstrong

–

Vocalist & trumpet player.

–

Born in New Orleans in 1901.

–

Left school in 5th grade to help support his family.

–

Greatly influenced by jazz of the era.

–

Moved to NYC in 1924.

–

Some of his greatest achievements:

•Developed a way of playing Jazz as an instrumentalist and a vocalist.

•Was the only Black Jazz musician to publicly speak out against school segregation in
1957.

•Appeared in more than 30 films (known for his comedic timing).

•Composed many songs that became jazz standards.

■

Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve seen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVKKRzemX_w

Multiple Choice

White culture began to accept African American culture as its own.

• True

• False

Example: Activism

■

Claude McKay (1889 – 1948)
–

Jamaican writer and poet who began to write in standard
English when he moved to the U.S. in 1912.

–

He attended the Tuskegee Institute and was shocked by the
intense racism he encountered in Charleston, SC, where many
public facilities were segregated. This inspired him to write
poetry.

–

In 1914, McKay moved to NYC.

–

If We Must Due is a reaction to the Red Summer, the summer
and early autumn of 1919 marked by hundreds of deaths and
casualties across the US as a result of racial riots that occurred
in more than 3 dozen cities and one rural county (e.g. in the
area around Elaine, Arkansas, 5 “whites” and an estimated
100-240 African Americans were killed).

Example 2: Activism

▪Billie Holiday (1915 – 1959) (born Eleanora Fagan)

•American jazz musician and singer-songwriter.

•Kicknamed “Lady Day.”

•Known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills, which
made up for her limited range and lack of formal music education.

•Known for the Hit “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” which
became a jazz standard.

•Had success through the 1930s.

•In the 1940s, she became overwhelmed with legal and drug abuse
problems.

•Died of cirrhosis on July 17, 1959.

•Strange Fruit brought attention to the problem of lynching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web007rzSOI

Multiple Choice

What is activism?

• a conservative approach to solving problems in an indirect way

• to denounce any changes in society and culture

• to bring attention the problems in society and culture

• to continue traditions