Harlem Renaissance Research Paper

The Harlem Renaissance was “variously known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance, the movement emerged toward the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid- to late 1920s, and then withered in the mid-1930s. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time mainstream publishers, critics took African American literature seriously, and that African American literature and arts attracted significant attention from the nation as a whole (1).”

The Harlem Renaissance was a significant social and cultural movement throughout the 1920‘s and 30‘s. It was a time when much of the history of the African American people were given a voice through the creative efforts of those who were directly involved and affected by the Great Migration. It had a great impact on what life was like for these people and their families and also impacted the society as a whole. This Great Migration began at the end of the start of World War I from 1917, however many African Americans had begun migrating even before then. After the Civil War, at the end of the 19th century when the African Americans were no longer bound to their former masters as slaves, they began to migrate. This was called Reconstruction and began in 1865. Suddenly everything that they once knew and how they lived changed. They were free now but not truly considered equal by the whites of the south. They were now forced to migrate from place to place in order to find work and attempt to build a life for themselves and their families, and after World War I, they were able to migrate to the north to more urban settings to find work.# This movement was called the Great Migration and it led to and affected the Harlem Renaissance by inspiring great works of art from artists such as Langston Hughes and many others

     The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.

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.

African American Literature and the Harlem Renaissance differed mainly in their themes. African American Literature and the Harlem Renaissance derived during different time periods, therefore they were involved in different events. African American culture grew in the 1920’s and 30’s because according to Alain Locke, the black community was able to express themselves and gain determination. The Harlem Renaissance was known as the birth of the “New Negro Movement”. There was an unprecedented explosion of literature, music and other artistic forms created and inspired by African Americans wanting to stand up for themselves and have a voice. The theme of the Harlem Renaissance resulted in a complex idea of

After WWI, black people began to portray pride and respect for their race, sparking “The New Negro.” This revolutionary movement is more commonly known as the Harlem Renaissance- a social, cultural, and artistic explosion that took place Harlem, NY. Harlem became the cultural center and attracted many black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Those from the South began to flee from its’ oppressive caste system to escape cruelty. The goal of this movement was to face all the hate they received by accomplishing their freaks and desires without anyone getting in their way.

One of the many revolutionary eras in history was the Harlem renaissance. This was a sudden cultural revolution that was realized in the 1920s and it became popularly known as the “Harlem Renaissance” or “The New Negro movement”. This is a particular era that the African American people draw pride in. the era saw a cultural, social, music and art explosion of epic proportions This was aimed at shifting the stereotypical view of black people as uneducated, intellectually deprived farmers to one of a complex, organized and intellectually equal to the whites. The Harlem renaissance took place in 1920s thru 1930s. This era saw a phenomenon rise in famous black writers and marked the onset of blues, musical theatre, blues, dance and poetry. The new art caught on an appealed to the whites as well. Harlem became a cultural and literature center. The African Americans artists and writers were gaining recognition from the white. [2]

It was in Harlem, New York. During this time Alain Locke named the Harlem Renaissance the “New Negro Movement.” The article Harlem Renaissance by History, states the Harlem Renaissance as “the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the subsequent social and artistic explosion that resulted.” It was named from the culture of African Americans. There was artist, writers, actors, poets, fashion, and more. The Harlem Renaissance was famous for its artistry. The journal Alain Locke written by Beth Helen Stickney, mentions some famous people from the Harlem Renaissance who are Claude McKay, Alain LeRoy Locke, Aaron Douglas, Marcus Garvey, Zora Neale Hurston, Duke Ellington, Josephine Baker, and W. E. B. Du Bois, just to name a few. These are famous poets, activist, musicians, and more. These are some examples of what Alain Locke was describing the metaphor, the “New Negro.” Alain Locke writing is during the Harlem Renaissance and he references Harlem multiple of times within his work. This essay and this movement is significant to each other because of the idea each had on society. The essay the New Negro explain the new and expanded mind of an African American after slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction period, and World War 1. The Harlem Renaissance was the growth of African American

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and artistic movement that took place in Harlem, New York. This mainly took place starting from the end of the First World War until the mid-1930s. Harlem, at this time, was the center of the African-American culture, and Harlem appealed lot of black artists, writers, scholars, musicians, poets, and photographers. Lots of these artists had fled from the South because they needed to get away from their oppressive caste system so that they could express themselves freely, and display their talents. The Harlem Renaissance was considered to be the “rebirth of African-American arts”. This movement mainly started around 1918 and ended during the mid-1930s. Some of the major writers during this time of the Harlem Renaissance were Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, Countee Cullen, Zoe Neale Hurston, and Marcus Gravey. Lots of these themes that these writers wrote about are themes that to this day artists try to make a point of emphasis, including the American Dream, effects of racism on the black population, black identity, and human rights (Wormser).

The Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance is a turning point in the lives of blacks in the United States. Harlem was once a white upper class neighborhood but had developed into a predominantly black urban community. After the Civil War, many blacks moved from the south to Harlem. This Great Migration kick-started the period of time in the early 1900’s known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Alaine Locke, a Howard University professor and writer, became the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance” for his novel The New Negro which supported the revolutionary culture. This shows astounding change because African Americans were socially expressing themselves like never before. After the Harlem Renaissance, African Americans were

“The migration of over a million Black people from the Deep South to Northern industrial cities was vital to the unprecedented flourishing of Black artistic and intellectual life known collectively as the Harlem Renaissance.” (Alphonso Walter Grant and

The harlem renaissance was the golden age of the African American culture. Many things grew in the African American culture which included things such as, literature, music, stage performance, and art. This was also a time where many black African American families moved to northern cities in order to look for jobs since there was a decrease in the availability of jobs in the south. Many African American families moved to Manhattan, New York. The migration of the these families to the south lead to Americans fighting to keep these new families out of these neighborhoods because, it was originally supposed be an white upper class neighborhood in 1880.

Harlem became the center of a spiritual coming of age in which Locke’s New Negro transformed social disillusionment to race pride. Chiefly literary, the Renaissance included the visual arts but excluded jazz, despite its parallel emergence as a black art form. The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. Many had come from the South, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents. The Renaissance had little impact on breaking down the rigid barriers of Jim Crow that separated the races.