The Harlem Renaissance (1920s-1930s) was an African-American
cultural movement known for its proliferation in art, music, and
literature.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Discuss the characteristics, themes, and contributing factors of the Harlem Renaissance.
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
The cultural and political Harlem Renaissance produced novels, plays, poems, music, dance and
other artwork that represented the flowering of a distinctive African-American expression.
Along with the artists, political leaders such as Marcus Garvey founded potent philosophies of
black self-determination and unity among black communities in the United States, the Caribbean,
and Africa.
Harlem became an African-American neighborhood in the early 1900s, during the Great
Migration in which many African Americans sought a better standard of living and relief from the
institutionalized racism in the South.
While there was no unifying characteristic of the movement, common themes included the
influence of slavery, black identity, the effects of institutional racism, and how to convey the
experience of modern black life in the urban North.
The Harlem Renaissance helped lay the foundation for the post-World War II phase of the Civil
Rights Movement and inspired countless future black artists.
TERMS [ edit ]
race riots
Riots caused by racial hatred or dissension. Race riots occurred throughout the 20th century,
especially before and during the Civil Rights Movement.
Red Summer
Red Summer describes the race riots that occurred in more than three dozen cities in the United
States during the summer and early autumn of 1919.
blackface
a style of theatrical makeup in which a white person blackens the face in order to represent a
negro
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [edit ]
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural
movement in the United States that
spanned the 1920s and 1930s. While the
zenith of the movement occurred between
1924 and 1929, its ideas lived on much
longer. At the time, it was known as the
"New Negro Movement," named after the
1925 anthology by Alain Locke. The
cultural and political renaissance
produced novels, plays, poems, music,
Register for FREE to stop seeing ads
dance, and other artwork that represented the flowering of a distinctive African-American
expression. Along with the artists, political leaders such as Marcus Garvey founded potent
philosophies of black self-determination and unity among black communities in the United
States, the Caribbean, and Africa. At the same time, activists like Hubert Harrison challenged
the notion of the renaissance, arguing that the term was largely a white invention that
overlooked the continuous stream of creativity that had emerged from the African-American
community since 1850.
Harlem's Background
The district of Harlem had originally developed in the 19thcentury as an exclusive suburb for
the white middle and upper classes. During the enormous influx of European immigrants in
the late 19th century, the once exclusive district was abandoned by its native whites, who
moved further north. Harlem became an African-American neighborhood in the early 1900s,
during the Great Migration in which many sought a better standard of living and relief from
the institutionalized racism in the South. Others of African descent came from
racially stratifiedcommunities in the Caribbean, seeking a better life in the U.S. By 1930,
90,000 new arrivals joined the African Americans already living there, creating a community
of nearly 200,000.
Despite the increasing popularity of Negro culture, virulent white racism continued to affect
African-American communities. Race riots and other civil uprisings occurred throughout the
US during the Red Summer of 1919, reflecting economic competition over jobs, housing, and
social territories.
An Explosion of Culture
The first stage of the Harlem Renaissance started in the late 1910s. Three Plays for a Negro
Theatre, written by white playwright Ridgely Torrence,premiered in 1917 and featured
African-American actors conveying complex human emotions and yearnings. They rejected
the stereotypes of the "blackface" and minstrel show traditions. That same year Hubert
Harrison, known as "The Father of Harlem Radicalism," founded The Liberty
League and The Voice, the first organization and newspaper of the New Negro Movement.
Harrison's organization and newspaper were political, but also emphasized the arts with
sections for poetry and book reviews. Another landmark came in 1919, when the poet Claude
McKay published his militant sonnet, "If We Must Die". Although the poem never alluded to
race, African-American readers heard its note of defiance in the face of racism. By the end of
WWI, the fiction of James Weldon Johnson and the poetry of Claude McKay were describing
the reality of contemporary African-American life in America.
Characteristics and Themes
Characterizing the Harlem Renaissance was an overt racial pride and the developing idea of
the New Negro, who through intellect and production of literature, art, and music could
challenge the pervading racism and promote progressive politics. The creation of art and
literature would serve to "uplift" the race. There was no uniting form characterizing the art
that emerged, however. It encompassed a wide variety of styles, including Pan-African
perspectives; "high-culture" and "low-culture"; traditional music to blues and jazz; traditional
and experimental forms in literature such as modernism; and the new form of jazz poetry.
Because of this diversity, numerous artists came into conflict with conservatives in the black
intelligentsia, who took issue with certain depictions of black life.
Some common themes represented during the Harlem Renaissance were the influence of
slavery, black identity, the effects of institutional racism, the dilemmas of performing and
writing for elite white audiences, and how to convey the experience of modern black life in
the urban North.
New authors attracted a great amount of national attention, and the Harlem Renaissance led
to more opportunities for blacks to be published by mainstream houses. Some authors who
became nationally known were Jean Toomer, Jessie Fauset, Claude McKay, Zora Neale
Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Alain Locke, Eric D. Walrond and Langston Hughes . A
new way of playing the piano called the Harlem Stride Style was also created during the
Renaissance, and jazz musicians like Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, and
Willie "The Lion" Smith are considered to have laid the foundation for future musicians of
their genre. Visual artists of the time included Charles Alston, Henry Bannarn, Leslie Bolling,
Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, and Archibold Motley .
Archibald Motley painting "Black Belt" (original painting in color)
Archibald Motley painting "Black Belt" (original painting in color)
Motley is most famous for his colorful chronicling of the African­American experience during the 1920s
and 1930s and is considered one of the major contributors to the Harlem Renaissance.
Lansgton Hughes
Langston Hughes was one of the most well­known writers to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance.
The Harlem Renaissance helped lay the foundation for the post-World War II phase of the
Civil Rights Movement and inspired countless future black artists. The Renaissance was more
than a literary or artistic movement; it possessed a certain sociological development—
particularly through a new racial consciousness—through racial integration.