The Critics and the
Harlem Renaissance
Edited with introductions by
Cary D. Wintz
Texas Southern University
GARLAND PUBLISHING, INC.
New York & London
1996
Contents
xiii
xvii
Series Introduction
Volume Introduction
Essays and Editorials
2
A Note on the New Literary Movement
4
Welcoming the New Negro
4
For Negro Novelists
5
The Negro Renaissance
Walter White
11
The Negro in American Literature
24
The Negro in American Fiction
34
Negro Poets and Their Poetry
47
From the Darker Side
49
51
52
On the Need of Better Plays
Arthur Davison Ficke to Carl Van Vechten
The New Negro as Revealed in His Poetry
57
The Negro Literary Renaissance
66
Conquest by Poetry
70
Our Negro "Intellectuals"
Allison Davis
Langston Hughes to the Editor of The Crisis,
July 28, 1928
Harlem Goes to Work
William Stanley Braithwaite
Benjamin Griffin Brawley
Wallace Thurman
Izetta Winter Robb
Charlotte E. Taussig
Benjamin Brawley
Robert T. Kerlin
73
74
Elmer Anderson Carter
vi
CONTENTS
75
Some Reflections on the Negro in American Drama
79
Post-Bellum—Pre-Harlem
81
Introduction to a Speech by Langston Hughes Given
at Fisk University, January 29, 1932
The Negro Renaissance
Randolph Edmonds
Charles W. Chesnutt
84
Martha Gruening
96
Jean Toomer—Apostle of Beauty
Eugene Holmes
101
Jessie Fauset
Marion L. Starkey
105
108
Claude McKay to Nancy Cunard, September 18, 1932, from
Tangier, Morocco.
The Novels of Jessie Fauset
113
The Growth of Negro Literature
119
Sterling Brown: The New Negro Folk-Poet
124
The Negro Theater—A Dodo Bird
128
Negro Creative Musicians
132
Remarks Concerning Kay Boyle's Analysis
William Stanley Braithwaite
V.F. Calverton
Alain Locke
Ralph Matthews
Edward G. Perry
of On the Road
Langston Hughes
Reviews and Related Materials
135
Review of The Book of American Negro Spirituals
by James Weldon Johnson
136
W.E.B. Du Bois
Review of Second Book of Negro Spirituals
by James Weldon Johnson
137
138
Melville Charlton
Review of Dark Laughter by Sherwood Anderson
William H. Baldwin
Review of Porgy by Du Bose Heyward
Countee Cullen
139
Review of Porgy by Du Bose Heyward
140
Color—A Review
142
Review of The New Negro, edited by Alain Locke
W.E.B. Du Bois
Alain Locke
W.E.B. Du Bois
CONTENTS
144
145
146
147
149
Review of The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
Countee Cullen
Review of The New Negro—An Interpretation,
edited by Alain Locke
Robert W. Bagnall
Review of Color by Countee Cullen
Jessie Fauset
The Jazz Band's Sob [Review of The Weary Blues]
Du Bose Heyward
Review of The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
Jessie Fauset
151
Review of The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
Alain Locke
156
Singers of New Songs
Robert T. Kerlin
159
Review of Poets of America by Clement Wood
Robert T. Kerlin
Review of Flight by Walter White
Frank Home
Review of Flight by Walter White
Nora E. Waring
Correspondence
Nella Imes [Larsen]
Correspondence
Frank Home
Correspondence
Walter White
Charles S. Johnson to Carl Van Vechten,
August 10, 1926
160
161
162
163
164
165
167
170
173
175
176
177
178
180
Review of Color by Countee Cullen
John M. Weatherwax
Romance and Tragedy in Harlem—A Review
James Weldon Johnson
Review of Nigger Heaven by Carl Van Vechten
W.E.B. Du Bois
In Our American Language
Waldo Frank
Fine Clothes to the Jew
Du Bose Heyward
The Growth of a Poet
Walter F White
A Poet for the People—A Review
Margaret Larkin
Keats in Labrador: A Review
E. Merrill Root
vii
viii
182
CONTENTS
Review of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
by James Weldon Johnson
Alice Dunbar Nelson
184
Review of Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse
by Negro Poets, edited by Countee Cullen
186
The Browsing Reader (January 1928)
187
The Browsing Reader (June 1928)
188
Review of Home to Harlem by Claude McKay
189
Review of Home to Harlem by Claude McKay
191
202
Review of Quicksand by Nella Larsen
Eda Lou Walton
Review of Dark Princess by W.E. Burghardt Du Bois
Leon Whipple
Review of Dark Princess by W.E. Burghardt Du Bois
William A. Aery
Review of The Walls of Jericho by Rudolph Fisher
W.E.B. Du Bois
The Lighter Touch in Harlem [Review of The Walls of Jericho
by Rudolph Fisher]
B.A. Botkin
The Browsing Reader (April 1929)
W.E.B. Du Bois
The Browsing Reader (May 1929)
W.E.B. Du Bois
The Browsing Reader (July 1929)
204
Review of Mamba's Daughters by DuBose Heyward
206
Review of The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman
208
Review of Banjo by Claude McKay
Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Review of Passing by Nella Larsen
Mary Fleming Labaree
Review of Plum-Bun by Jessie Fauset
Idella Purnell
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois
A.B. Doggett, Jr.
Herschel Brickell
193
194
197
198
199
201
W.E.B. Du Bois
Sterling A. Brown
Eunice Hunton Carter
210
211
Gwendolyn Bennett
212
214
Review of The Black Christ and Other Poems by Countee Cullen
Edward Shillito
The Black Pegasus [Review of The Black Christ and Other Poems
by Countee Cullen]
Clement Wood
C O N T E N T S
215
A Negro Miracle Play [Review of The Green Pastures by Marc
Connelly]
Howard Bradstreet
217
This Negro [Review of Not Without Laughter
by Langston Hughes]
V.F. Calverton
219
Review of Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes
Sterling A. Brown
221
Review of Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes
Alice M. Paxton
223
225
226
227
228
Away from Harlem [Review of Not Without Laughter
by Langston Hughes]
Walt Carmon
Review of Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes
Wallace Thurman
Review of God Sends Sunday by Arna Bontemps
Sterling A. Brown
Review of God Sends Sunday by Arna Bontemps
W.E.B. Du Bois
Two Book Reviews
George A. Kuyper
233
235
Review of The Chinaberry Tree by Jessie Fauset
Edwin Berry Burgum
Review of Infants of the Spring by Wallace Thurman
Lois Taylor
236
Infants of the Spring—Author Review
Wallace Thurman
238
Along This Way: A Review of the Autobiography
of James Weldon Johnson
William Stanley Braithwaite
241
Review of The Ways of White Folks
by Langston Hughes
E.C Holmes
243
244
246
The Impact of Races [Review of The Ways
of White Folks by Langston Hughes]
Leane Zugsmith
Stormy Weather [Review of The Big Sea
by Langston Hughes]
Ralph Ellison
Forerunner and Ambassador [Review of
The Big Sea by Langston Hughes]
Richard Wright
Surveys of Literature
247
Stories and Poetry of 1926
x
CONTENTS
248
1928: A Retrospective Review
Alain Locke
252
A Decade of Negro Literature
256
This Year of Grace
260
We Turn to Prose: A Retrospective Review of the Literature
of the Negro for 1931
266
Black Truth and Black Beauty: A Retrospective Review
of the Literature of the Negro for 1932
272
The Saving Grace of Realism: Retrospective Review
of the Negro Literature of 1933
278
The Eleventh Hour of Nordicism: Retrospective Review
of the Literature of the Negro for 1934
288
Deep River: Deeper Sea: Retrospective Review
of the Literature of the Negro for 1935
296
God Save Reality!: Retrospective Review of the Literature
of the Negro: 1936
307
Jingo, Counter-Jingo and Us: Retrospective Review
of the Literature of the Negro: 1937
318
The Negro: "New" or Newer: A Retrospective Review
of the Literature of the Negro for 1938
Robert T. Kerlin
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Interviews and Letters
333
The Poet and the Race Problem
335
New Author Unearthed Right Here in Harlem
336
337
New York Telegram, April 13, 1929 [Article on Nella Larsen]
Negro Writers Come into Their Own
Edward Shillito
Thelma E. Berlack
Marion L. Starkey
341
343
344
345
Langston Hughes, Novelist
Louise Thompson
Wallace Thurman to Langston Hughes
Wallace Thurman to Langston Hughes from Mamaronec
Wallace Thurman to Langston Hughes from Santa Monica
C O N T E N T S
The Negro in Art: How Shall He Be Portrayed?
347
349
366
A Questionnaire
The Negro in Art, How Shall He Be Portrayed: A Symposium
(March 1926)
The Negro in Art, How Shall He Be Portrayed: A Symposium
(April 1926)
The Negro in Art, How Shall He Be Portrayed: A Symposium
(May 1926)
The Negro in Art, How Shall He Be Portrayed: A Symposium
(June 1926)
The Negro in Art, How Shall He Be Portrayed: A Symposium
(August 1926)
The Negro in Art, How Shall He Be Portrayed: A Symposium
(September 1926)
The Negro in Art, How Shall He Be Portrayed: A Symposium
(November 1926)
Criteria of Negro Art
375
Acknowledgments
351
354
356
359
361
363
W.E. Burghardt Du Bois