Transcript The Harlem Renaissance

Map of Harlem – 1920’s
• In the early 1920s, African American artists, writers,
musicians, and performers were part of a great
cultural movement known as the Harlem
Renaissance.
• The huge migration to the North after World War I
brought African Americans of all ages and walks of
life to the thriving New York City neighborhood
called Harlem.
• Doctors, singers, students, musicians, shopkeepers,
painters, and writers, congregated, forming a vibrant
mecca of cultural affirmation and inspiration.
Duke Ellington and his orchestra
W.E.B. Du Bois was a
famous writer of the
Harlem Renaissance
In the 1920’s, large numbers of African
American musicians, artists , and writers
settled in Harlem. This period of time became
known as the Harlem Renaissance. During the
Harlem Renaissance young black artists
celebrated their African and American heritage.
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THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
Great Migration saw
hundreds of
thousands of African
Americans move
north to big cities
1920:
 5 million of the
nation’s 12 million
blacks (over 40%)
lived in cities
Migration of the Negro by
Jacob Lawrence
Demographical Changes
• Demographics:
statistics that describe
a population.
• Migration North
– African Americans
moving north at rapid
pace.
• Why?
– Jim Crow laws
– New job opportunities
in north
– 1860 – 93% in south
– 1930 – 80% in south
• Struggles:
– Faced hatred from
whites
– Forced low wages
African Americans Move North
• 1865: 93% of African
Americans lived in the
South.
• 1930: 80%
• BUT
– Jobs weren’t much better in
the North
– Racial hatred in North
– Women often worked as
low-paid domestics.
HARLEM, NEW YORK
 Harlem, NY became
the largest black
urban community
Harlem suffered from
overcrowding,
unemployment and
poverty
Home to literary and
artistic revival known
as the Harlem
Renaissance
LANGSTON
HUGHES
 Missouri-born Langston
Hughes was the
movement’s best known
poet
 Many of his poems
described the difficult lives
of working-class blacks
 “Thank you Ma’am”
 Some of his poems were
put to music, especially
jazz and blues
Zora Neale Hurston was
remarkable in that she was
the most widely published
black woman of her day. She
authored more than fifty
articles and short stories as
well as four novels, two books
on folklore, an autobiography,
and some plays. At the height
of her success she was known
as the “Queen of the Harlem
Renaissance.”
Zora Neale Hurston
1891-1960
American writer
In 1925, at the height of
the jazz era in Paris, the
sensational cast of
musicians and dancers
from Harlem, assembled
as La Revue Negre,
exploded on the stage of
the Theatre des Champs
Elysees. Its talented
young star, Josephine
Baker (1906-1975),
captivated audiences with
a wild new dance called
the Charleston.
LOUIS
ARMSTRONG
 Jazz was born in the
early 20th century
 In 1922, a young trumpet
player named Louis
Armstrong joined the
Creole Jazz Band.
 Armstrong is considered
the most important and
influential musician in
the history of jazz
EDWARD KENNEDY “DUKE”
ELLINGTON
 In the late 1920s, Duke
Ellington, a jazz pianist
and composer, led his
ten-piece orchestra at
the famous Cotton
Club.
 Band: “The
Washingtonians”
 Ellington won renown
as one of America’s
greatest composers.
BESSIE
SMITH
 Bessie Smith, blues
singer, was perhaps the
most outstanding
vocalist of the decade
She achieved enormous
popularity and by 1927
she became the
highest- paid black
artist in the world
William H. Johnson Street-life Harlem
William H. Johnson
1901-1970
Chain Gang. 1939
Johnson arrived in
Harlem when the
Renaissance was in
the making. While
there he created
several paintings
that dealt with
political and social
Harlem. Chain
Gang is one
example.
William H. Johnson
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
1939
Johnson always
showed great
devotion to painting
themes that celebrated
Black Christianity. This
painting is an example
of one based on a literal
interpretation of a
spiritual occasion.
Jazz Clubs
• Artie Shaw – First to
use black musicians
for white audiences.
• Benny Goodman –
First to take jazz to
white America.
– SWING
– First racial mixed
band.
Jazz Clubs and Dance Halls
• To hear the “real” jazz
– NYC and the
neighborhood of
Harlem.
– 500 jazz clubs
– Cotton Club the most
famous
– BUT
• Most white Americans
did not want to hear
jazz. However, they
liked Cab Calloway,
King of Scat, (Made it
up as he sang!)
AFRICAN AMERICAN
GOALS
 Founded in 1909, the
NAACP urged African
Americans to protest
racial violence
W.E.B Dubois, a
founding member, led
a march of 10,000
black men in NY to
protest violence
MARCUS GARVEY - UNIA
 Marcus Garvey believed that
African Americans should
build a separate society
(Africa)
 In 1914, Garvey founded the
Universal Negro
Improvement Association
 Garvey claimed a million
members by the mid-1920s
Garvey represented a more
radical approach
 Powerful legacy of black pride,
economic independence and
Pan-Africanism
W.E.B. Dubois
• Didn’t think the
answer was
separation of the
races.
• Also didn’t approve of
Garvey’s business
practices.
Work hard, study,
educate yourself,
earn money, open a
business be
independent.