Harlem Renaissance: African Americans In The 1920s And 1930s

During the early 1920’s, African American artists, writers, musicians, and performers took part in a cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. This migration took place after World War 1 and brought African Americans of all ages to the city of Harlem located in New York (Holt). There were many inspiring young artists; one of them in particular was Augusta Savage.

The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The years of 1920 and 1990 and “were clear peak periods of African American cultural production.” During these years blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. “It is difficult not to recognize the signs that African Americans are in the midst of a cultural renaissance” (English 807). This renaissance allowed Blacks to have a uniform voice in a society based upon intellectual growth. The front-runners of this revival were extremely focused on cultural growth through means of intellect, literature, art and music. By using these means

There were many notable events taking place in the years 1900-1940, some being Pablo Picasso painting one of the first cubist paintings is 1907 , the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 , the 18th Amendment being added to the Constitution (prohibiting the use of intoxicating liquors) and then being repealed in 1933 , the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote in 1920 , Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928 , and the list continues. Undoubtedly one of the most influential of events during this time was the Harlem Renaissance. Even with its many leaders and innovators, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective had it not been for Alain LeRoy Locke: black writer, philosopher, and teacher who influenced black artists to look to African sources for pride and inspiration. Without Locke’s contribution, the Renaissance would not have flourished as much as it did, and black pride would have taken longer to develop and accept.

History.com (2009) describes the Harlem Renaissance movement as “a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity.” The 1920s and 1930s emcompass a time in history where blacks found themselves ostracized from mainstream society. It was uncommon to see the expressions of black artistry in everyday life, especially on a literary level.

In the 1920s the expanding culture of African Americans was wildly represented by the Harlem Renaissance. It happened after the Great Migration, when they started to develop new styles of literature, art, and music (doc. 6,7). The 1920s were called the “Jazz Age” because musicians recombined blues, European- based music, and ragtime. The Harlem Renaissance changed the way African Americans were looked at by other people in the U.S. and how they lived. It did this by giving them the chance to overcome the things they had gone through in the past. The Harlem Renaissance also allowed them to express how they feeled and show their talents.

The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York between the conclusion of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period, Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Many had come from the South, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents; this became known as The Great Migration. Among those artists whose works achieved recognition were Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Toomer. The Renaissance involved racial pride, fueled in part by the violence of the "New Negro" demanding civil and political rights. The Renaissance incorporated jazz and the blues, attracting whites to Harlem speakeasies, where interracial couples danced. However, the Renaissance had little impact on breaking down the rigid barriers of Jim Crow that separated the races; while it may have contributed to a certain slackening of racial attitudes among young whites, perhaps its greatest impact was to reinforce race pride among blacks. The importance of the social movement we refer to as the Harlem Renaissance cannot afford to be overlooked. Like the musicians of their day, Harlem Renaissance poets advocated for an equal society, and incorporated personal anecdotes and historical snippets into their compositions to make the

In response to the Jim Crow laws, a massive stream of over a million African American migrants moved up north and out west during the 1910’s and 1920's, in search for high paying jobs during World War One and the chance to escape disenfranchisement and racism. However, when many blacks arrived up north they were introduced to new obstacles. Many migrants found themselves segregated into the ghettos of Chicago, Detroit, and Harlem.

World War I created the greatest social, economic and political shifts in African American history. Some of the changes were nothing short of cataclysmic, but some carried the promise of a more prosperous life for those who had been abandoned by American society. These changes played a crucial part in restructuring the socioeconomic, cultural, and political attitude. One of the greatest and most pivotal changes was known as the Great Migration. A mass migration of African Americans from the South and resettlement in the North, where they sought elevate themselves from the lower rungs of the American hierarchical system, by gaining employment, social equity from society, and liberation from constant bloodshed. In the process they infused, to

“Between 1920-1930 an outburst of creativity among African Americans occurred in every aspect of art.” (historyoftheharlemrenaissance.weebly.com) Due to all of the new African American members living in New York, it sparked a want to become a new type of African American. African Americans wanted to become more intelligent and better in every way. This want for a better quality of life greatly impacted the different types of art. There was paintings, dances, and even theatrical performances. “The names of the artists who blossomed during the Harlem Renaissance era included Aaron Douglas, Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Palmer C. Hayden, Laura Wheeler Waring, Meta Fuller, Archibald Motley, Augusta Savage, William Johnson, Charles Alston and photographer James Van Der Zee.” (www.american-historama.org) Aaron Douglas was a well known artist that created murals and made many other artistic contributions that still influence people

The early 1920’s was a time of change and a new beginning for African Americans. The Great Migration to the North, between 1915 and 1930, was the starting point of a new chapter in African American lives. African Americans escaping discrimination and poverty, walked into what is known as the Harlem Renaissance. This era was a time of rebirth and positive influence for African Americans all over the world. African Americans migrated to many places in the North, however, many settled in New York City in a neighborhood called Harlem.

As well as challenging social norms in the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance also redefined these expectations in society. One way the Harlem Renaissance did this was through poets, musicians, and writers. The making of a unique form of artistic impression redefined the norm; blacks were capable of impacting society away from white mainstream. As more of these artists became well known, influential figures in society, white-dominant talent became less significant because black artists such as Langston Hughes and Rudolph Fisher rose to fame. The introduction of more talented African-American’s reformulated what was expected in the country.

in the 1920s the reason why this movement began was due to the harmful effects of

The Harlem Renaissance represents the rebirth and flowering of African-American culture. Although the Harlem Renaissance was concentrated in the Harlem district of New York City, its legacy reverberated throughout the United States and even abroad, to regions with large numbers of former slaves or blacks needing to construct ethnic identities amid a dominant white culture. The primary means of cultural expression during the Harlem Renaissance were literature and poetry, although visual art, drama, and music also played a role in the development of the new, urban African-American identity. Urbanization and population migration prompted large numbers of blacks to move away from the Jim Crow south, where slavery had only transformed into institutionalized racism and political disenfranchisement. The urban enclave of Harlem enabled blacks from different parts of the south to coalescence, share experiences, and most importantly, share ideas, visions, and dreams. Therefore, the Harlem Renaissance had a huge impact in framing African-American politics, social life, and public institutions.

From the 1920’s to the mid 1930’s a literary, intellectual, and artistic movement occurred that kindled the African Americans a new cultural identity. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance, which is also known as the “New Negro Movement”. With this movement, African Americans sought out to challenge the “Negro” stereotype that they had received from others while developing innovation and great cultural activity. The Harlem Renaissance became an artistic explosion in the creative arts. Thus, many African Americans turned to writing, art, music, and theatrics to express their selves.

Harlem Renaissance, a blossoming (c. 1918–37) of African American culture, particularly in the creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history. Embracing literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts, participants sought to reconceptualize “the Negro” apart from the white stereotypes that had influenced black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other. They also sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that might, as seen by whites, reinforce racist beliefs. Never dominated by a particular school of thought but rather characterized by intense debate, the movement laid the groundwork for all later African American literature and had