In 1910s, 20s, 30s, many African Americans moved to Harlem in New York City because work was plentiful there.

These newcomers built an incredible creative community in Harlem.

This flowering of artistic and critical work is known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem artists drew from their cultural roots to make work that expressed the value of African American history and heritage.

Through music, literature, art, and activism, Harlem’s art community changed America. Today, the Harlem Renaissance continues to greatly influence American and world culture.

History

The Harlem Renaissance was an expression of African-American social thought and culture which took a place in newly-formed Black communities in neighborhoods of Harlem.

The Harlem Renaissance flourished from early 1920-1940 and was expressed through every cultural medium—visual art, dance, music, theatre, literature, poetry, history, and politics.

History

Instead of using direct political means, African-American artists, writers, and musicians employed culture to work for goals of civil rights and equality.

Its lasting legacy is that for the first time (and across racial lines), African-American paintings, writings, and jazz became absorbed into mainstream culture.

History

At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after an anthology, entitled The New Negro, of notable African-American works, published by philosopher Alain Locke in 1925.

 It is certainly an era that African-Americans can be proud of and a time when a once severely oppressed people, began to expect more from life. They became more vocal and expressive about the state of their affairs. They took charge of adding flair and joviality to their lifestyle.

History

Where did people go to experience the Harlem Renaissance cultural scene?

Harlem had many grand theaters and dance halls, such as the Apollo Theater and the Savoy Ballroom, where people went to hear the latest music.

Places

Also, many people held gatherings in their homes for important artists and thinkers of the time. These parties gave people the opportunity to share their ideas about art and society.

Places

The Apollo

The Apollo Theater has closed and reopened a couple times over the years, but has remained open steadily since 1985.

The Apollo Theater played an important role in Harlem’s cultural life. Its weekly Amateur Nights showcased many talents –Ella Fitzgerald

Almost every major African American performer played at the Apollo at least once.

The Savoy Ballroom stretched across an entire block and was one of Harlem’s hottest dance spots.

The Savoy often featured two bands, one on either end of its enormous ballroom.

Places

Legends like Chick Webb, Cab Calloway, and Duke Ellington performed at this luxurious nightclub.

The Savoy

A’Lelia Walker , the daughter of Madame C. J. Walker, was an heiress who used her money to support Harlem’s cultural life.

She invited black and white artists, writers, and intellectuals to her beautiful home (and salon) to meet. Her parties sparked many interesting debates and collaborations.

Places

She nicknamed her home “The Dark Tower” after poet Countee Cullen’s column in the popular African American literary journal, Opportunity.

The Dark Tower

The Harlem Renaissance is famous for the popular music it produced. Harlem hosted the best Big band jazz musicians in the world, including Cab Calloway!

Music

Jazz and Blues singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday got their starts in Harlem and were among the most famous singers of their time.

Cab Calloway

Music

1907-1994

Big Hit: Minnie the Moocher

Cab Calloway is famous for energetic big band and “scat jive” performances, when he made up inventive lyrics on the spot.

Calloway was also a successful movie star and performed around the US in Gershwin’s famous musical, Porgy and Bess.

Ella Fitzgerald

Music

1917-1996

Big Hit: How High the Moon

Ella Fitzgerald was called “The First Lady of Song,” and enjoyed a wildly successful singing career. She was discovered at Harlem’s Apollo while performing at Amateur Night.

Over Fitzgerald’s 50-plus year career, she recorded over 200 albums. Despite her fame, she still faced discrimination Still, she demanded equal treatment for her musicians, regardless of their color.

Billie Holiday

Music

1915-1959

Big Hit: Good Morning Heartache

Many consider Billie Holiday to be the greatest jazz vocalist of all time. Her unusual singing style brought a slow, rough quality to jazz standards which were usually performed in an upbeat way.

Holiday’s most famous record is “Strange Fruit,” a tragic song about the murder of black men in the South.

Writers

During the Renaissance, African American newspapers and magazines promoted Harlem’s literary community by publishing it work and holding writing contests.

Much of the writing from this period explores African American cultural heritage and tensions between black traditions and mainstream culture and society. Many writers celebrated black culture as an important source of art and inspiration.

Charles W. Chesnutt

Writers

1859-1932

Big Hit: The Marrow of Tradition

Charles W. Chesnutt was a writer of mixed-race and was one of the first authors to address racial themes in his writing.

From 1885 to1905, Chesnutt published three novels, two books of short stories, a biography, and countless essays. He only lived in Harlem a short time, but Chesnutt greatly influenced the Renaissance.

Langston Hughes

Writers

1902-1967

Big Hit: “Dreamed Deferred”

Langston Hughes was known as the “Poet Laureate of Harlem” in the 1920s. His work explores race and social justice and was influenced by life in Harlem. His award-winning poem “The Weary Blues” combined urban slang and blues rhythms and bravely broke from poetry traditions.

Zora Neale Hurston

Writers

1891-1960

Big Hit: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston was first published in one of the great African American literary journals.

Her writing explores the struggles of black people living in the South in the early 1800s. Hurston brings to life local customs and folklore rarely explored before her time.

Art

Visual artists played a key role in creating depictions of the African-American during the Harlem Renaissance.

Art

Aaron Douglas (1898-1979) was the Harlem Renaissance artist whose work best exemplified the 'New Negro' philosophy. He painted murals for public buildings and produced illustrations and cover designs for many black publications including The Crisis and Opportunity. In 1940 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he founded the Art Department at Fisk University and taught for twenty nine years.

Art

God’s Trombones

Art

Idylls of the Deep South, 1934

Art

William H. Johnson arrived in Harlem when the Renaissance was in the making. He had come to New York in 1918 from Florence, South Carolina, and became a student at the national Academy of Design. He remained there for five years, absorbing the teachings of George Luks and Charles Hawthorne, and readying himself for a career in art that would take him to places in North Africa and Europe in search of a permanent residence. It was through the influence of Hawthorne that Johnson traveled first to Paris in 1926, where he settled, painted, and studied the works of modern European masters.

Art

Chain Gang Going to Church

Art

Self Portrait I Baptized Thee

Art

Lawrence was the first American artist of African descent to receive sustained mainstream recognition in the United States. His success came early at the age of twenty-four, but lasted almost uninterrupted until his death in June 2000. His renown is mostly in his "Migration" series, in which he documents the migration of blacks from Africa to America, focusing mostly on their history in the South. In the last ten years of his life, he received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Arts and more than eighteen honorary post-doctorate degrees.

Art

BuildersDreams

Art

Supermarket

The Seamstress