The nation's postwar fear of the new Bolshevik, or “red,” regime in Russia heightened racial tensions. Many efforts by blacks to improve their economic and political status were met with white suspicions that they were as “radical” as the Russian Bolsheviks.

Life in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s

Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, emerged as the leading black urban enclave in the United States in the early twentieth century, following a significant migration of blacks from southern and rural areas. Previously a wealthy white neighborhood, economic hardships and soaring real estate prices at the turn of the century led savvy entrepreneurs to lease vacant rooms in white-owned buildings to black newcomers. Harlem's black population grew from about fifty thousand in 1914 to two hundred thousand by 1930.

The neighborhood attracted black intellectuals, artists, and others eager to engage in Harlem's increasingly dynamic cultural scene. Black political organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League, set up offices in Harlem. Major black newspapers, including The Messenger and The New York Age, also established their presence there. Marcus Garvey, the leader of the "back-to-Africa" movement, founded his Universal Negro Improvement Association in Harlem. Garvey and others inspired Harlemites with their messages of black pride and self-reliance.

Harlem quickly became an entertainment hub in the early 20th century. Musical performers flocked to Harlem, attracted by its vibrant atmosphere and the numerous nightclubs where jazz was immensely popular. Artists like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Waller entertained enthusiastic audiences at venues such as Smalls’s Inn and the Savoy Ballroom. However, it wasn't just locals who frequented these lively nightclubs; whites from other parts of New York City "discovered" Harlem, making it the hotspot for Saturday night outings. Ironically, some of these clubs, including the famous Cotton Club, were off-limits to blacks until 1928, catering exclusively to a wealthy white clientele seeking to experience the "exotic" Harlem nightlife.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time between World War I and the Great Depression when African American artists and writers thrived in the United States. Although critics and historians debate the exact start and end dates of the movement, most agree that by 1917, there were clear signs of increased cultural activity among black artists in Harlem, New York City. By the mid-1930s, however, the movement had lost much of its initial energy. While Harlem was undoubtedly the epicenter of black culture during this era, other cities like Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia also nurtured smaller but similar communities of black artists.

The movement arose for several reasons. Between 1890 and 1920, the near collapse of the southern agricultural economy, coupled with a labor shortage in the north, led approximately two million African Americans to migrate to northern cities in search of work. Additionally, World War I had left a generation of African Americans questioning why they were still treated as second-class citizens despite their service and sacrifices for their country. By the war's end, many northern cities, including Harlem, had significant African American populations who were emboldened by new opportunities and better wages, energized by the prospect of change. Influential black intellectuals like W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke made it clear that it was time for white America to acknowledge the accomplishments of African-American artists and thinkers. The idea that whites might accept blacks if they were exposed to their artistic achievements became widely accepted.

To support this goal, magazines such as the Crisis, published by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Opportunity featured the works of Harlem Renaissance luminaries like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Nella Larsen, and Zora Neale Hurston. Major New York-based publishing houses began seeking new black voices to publish their poems, short stories, and novels. White intellectual society embraced these writers and supported their efforts both financially and through social connections, aiming to educate Americans about African-American race, culture, and heritage through their art. However, the financial backing began to dwindle in the early 1930s with the collapse of the New York stock market and the ensuing global economic depression. By then, the Renaissance had reached its end.

Countee Cullen (1903–1946)

Born on May 30, 1903, in Louisville, Kentucky (though some sources suggest Baltimore or New York City), Countee Cullen was likely raised by his paternal grandmother until her death when he was fifteen. Afterward, he was adopted by Reverend Frederick Cullen, who later became the head of the Harlem chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This connection introduced Cullen to the vibrant intellectual and cultural scene of New York. He earned his undergraduate degree from New York University and his master’s degree from Harvard University.

Cullen, an accomplished writer of both poetry and prose, believed that art should serve as a bridge between whites and blacks. His most renowned work, Color, was published in 1925 and received widespread acclaim. In the 1930s, Cullen transitioned to teaching and began producing plays. Throughout his career, he received numerous accolades, including a Guggenheim fellowship in 1928. Cullen passed away from uremic poisoning on January 9, 1946, in New York City.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963)

William Edgar Burghardt Du Bois, more commonly known as W. E. B. Du Bois, was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. A trained sociologist, Du Bois earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. He was a staunch critic of racism in America and co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Du Bois authored numerous books addressing race issues and held positions as a university professor.

In addition to supporting young writers during the Harlem Renaissance, Du Bois’s 1903 sociological study, The Souls of Black Folk, helped create an environment where Renaissance writers and artists could thrive. He introduced the term “talented tenth” to describe the educated, culturally adept, and politically astute blacks who would lead the race to improved lives. By the early 1930s, Du Bois grew disillusioned with American society, leading him to resign from his NAACP position. His political views led him to join the Socialist Party and brought him into conflict with the U.S. government multiple times. In 1960, Du Bois joined the Communist Party and subsequently moved to Ghana, where he died on August 27, 1963.

Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882–1961)

Jessie Redmon Fauset was born on April 27, 1884, in Snow Hill, New Jersey, to a minister. She became the first black woman to graduate from Cornell University, earned a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Fauset wrote novels, poetry, short stories, and essays, and taught French in Washington, D.C., schools. She also served as the literary editor for the Crisis, where she encouraged many prominent writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

Although she is often more renowned for her editorial work on others' writings, many critics regard Plum Bun as Fauset’s finest novel. The story revolves around a young black girl who can pass for white but ultimately embraces her racial identity with pride. Fauset authored three additional novels, which received mixed reviews. However, most readers from that era believe her true strengths were in nonfiction. Fauset passed away from heart disease on April 30, 1961, in Philadelphia.

Langston Hughes (1902–1967)

James Langston Hughes, widely known as Langston Hughes, was a prolific writer of poetry, short stories, novels, plays, song lyrics, and essays. His candid depictions of the black community often drew sharp criticism from African-American literary critics. Hughes's defense, that he was merely portraying life as he saw it, did not satisfy those who felt he should highlight black life in a more positive light to aid the African-American cause.

Born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902, Hughes was the son of a rancher, businessman, and lawyer, and a teacher. His diverse and colorful background included roles such as cook, waiter, truck farmer, college student, nightclub doorman in Paris, and sailor. By the time his first poetry collection, The Weary Blues, was published in 1926, he had lived in numerous American cities and foreign countries. Hughes died of congestive heart failure on May 22, 1967, in New York City.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)

Zora Neale Hurston, born on January 7, 1891, in Eatonville, Florida, was the daughter of a preacher and a seamstress. She left school at thirteen to care for her brother’s children but later attended a high school in Baltimore with the help of a generous patron. Her studies in anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University deeply influenced her novels, plays, and two published collections of African-American folklore.

Hurston challenged the notion that the poverty often linked with black American culture diminished its value. She urged blacks, particularly the educated middle class, to appreciate their rural cultural heritage. While some criticized her work as bawdy and her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, as simplistic and reactionary, many others praised it for its positive self-affirmation for African Americans.

In addition to her writing, Hurston worked as a maid, a staff writer for Paramount Studios, a librarian at the Library of Congress, and a theater professor. She received Guggenheim fellowships in 1936 and 1939. Hurston died on January 28, 1960, in Fort Pierce, Florida.

James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)

Though James Weldon Johnson created literature during the Harlem Renaissance, he is especially recognized for his civic leadership and encouragement of emerging black writers. Born on June 17, 1871, in Jacksonville, Florida, Johnson assumed various roles throughout his life, including poet, novelist, editor, lawyer, journalist, educator, civil rights leader, songwriter, translator, and diplomat. He earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Atlanta University and pursued further graduate studies in creative literature at Columbia University.

Johnson’s work as a newspaper owner drew the attention of prominent black figures such as W. E. B. Du Bois. His sole novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, is remembered for its realistic portrayal, and his pioneering study of black music, The Book of American Negro Spirituals, educated many Americans that black music included more than just minstrel shows. This work also paved the way for his depiction of black sermons as poetry in God’s Trombones. In the 1920s, Johnson led the NAACP and edited a critically acclaimed poetry collection titled The Book of American Negro Poetry. He passed away in a car accident in Wiscasset, Maine, on June 26, 1938.

Nella Larsen (1891–1964)

Nella Larsen was born on April 13, 1891, in Chicago, Illinois, to a black West Indian father and a Danish mother. This diverse heritage informed her novels Quicksand and Passing, where the protagonists grapple with the complexities of being neither fully black nor white. Many critics consider Quicksand, which won a Harmon Foundation Prize in 1928, one of the strongest novels of the Harlem Renaissance. Larsen's education included time at Fisk University in Nashville, the University of Copenhagen, and various librarian and nursing schools in New York. In 1930, she became the first African-American woman to receive a Guggenheim fellowship.

A series of events, including a wrongful accusation of plagiarism and her divorce from physicist Elmer S. Imes, led Larsen to withdraw from literary society. She spent the last twenty years of her life working as a nurse in Manhattan hospitals. She died of heart failure on March 30, 1964, in New York City.

Alain Locke (1886–1954)

Alain Le Roy Locke was born on September 13, 1886, in Philadelphia to two schoolteachers. He earned a doctorate from Harvard in 1918 after studying philosophy at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He also studied at universities in Paris and Berlin. Some critics credit Locke with initiating the Harlem Renaissance in earnest with the 1926 publication of The New Negro: An Interpretation, a compilation of the best early-twentieth-century African-American literature.

Locke believed that the best way for blacks to gain acceptance in America was by exposing white communities to the work of black writers and artists. He also encouraged black artists to draw inspiration from their history and culture. In addition to serving as the chair of the Howard University philosophy department for over forty years, Locke published and edited several other books on African-American music, history, and poetry. He died in New York City on June 9, 1954, after a prolonged illness.

Claude McKay (1889–1948)

Claude McKay, originally named Festus Claudius McKay, was born on September 15, 1889, to a farming couple in the British West Indies, now known as Jamaica. While in school, he delighted in reading British poetry and exploring European philosophy. When he started writing his own poetry, one of his teachers advised him to stop mimicking the English style and cultivate his unique voice—a suggestion he wholeheartedly accepted.

In 1912, he left Jamaica to attend the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, funded by an award for his poetry book, Songs of Jamaica. He later moved to New York City, supporting himself through labor jobs. Experiencing racism first-hand, McKay’s poetry grew more militant, and he began publishing in the Liberator, a magazine managed by prominent American communist Max Eastman. In 1928, after traveling extensively, including visits to the Soviet Union, McKay released his bold and controversial debut novel, Home to Harlem. Throughout the 1920s, he was also active in Communist Party activities in the United States. McKay passed away due to heart failure in Chicago on May 22, 1948.

Jean Toomer (1894–1967)

Jean Toomer was born in Washington, D.C., on December 26, 1894, into a racially mixed family. He spent his early years in predominantly white, affluent neighborhoods. However, during his teenage years, his family faced financial difficulties, leading them to live as a typical black family and sending Jean to an all-black high school. He attended several universities but decided to pursue writing during his time at the City College of New York. Between 1921 and 1922, Toomer served as the principal of a rural black school in Georgia, an experience that allowed him to explore his black heritage.

Toomer produced some of the most experimental and progressive literature of the early twentieth century. His first novel, Cane, published in 1923, is a blend of poetry and prose and is hailed as a masterpiece of avant-garde literature (writing that is considered ahead of its time or experimental). He also wrote plays, and his essays and short stories were featured in numerous journals. Toomer passed away in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on March 30, 1967.

Dialect and Colloquialisms

There was no agreement on the use of black or rural dialect among Harlem Renaissance writers. Some embraced it extensively, while others avoided it completely. Hurston employed dialect in Their Eyes Were Watching God to capture the atmosphere and tone of the language she encountered while gathering folktales. This choice led Richard Wright to criticize the novel, accusing her of perpetuating a negative and stereotypical portrayal of black people for white audiences.

Johnson incorporated dialect and misspellings in some of his poems but chose to abandon these techniques when composing his collection of rural sermons in verse, God’s Trombones, widely regarded as his finest work. He reportedly felt that dialect limited his creative expression in God’s Trombones. The sermons maintain the rhythm and pacing he admired in black preachers but are presented in a more refined manner. For instance, the poem-sermon “The Creation” is written in standard English but retains the cadence of powerful oratory:

Then God himself stepped down—
And the sun was on his right hand,
And the moon was on his left;
The stars were clustered about his head,
And the earth was under his feet . . . .

Music

Many Renaissance poets experimented with the rhythms of popular music in their work, but none was as renowned for this technique as Hughes. He infused his poetry with the beats of blues and jazz, echoing the sounds and music he experienced in Harlem's clubs and streets. Hughes’s poetry not only captures the rhythms of familiar music but also addresses themes common in many blues songs: financial struggles, failed relationships, loneliness, and sexual longing. In the poem “The Weary Blues,” Hughes describes a piano player performing at a club, using repetition, a common technique in blues music.

Urban and Rural Settings

Since many Harlem Renaissance writers migrated from rural areas to cities, both settings became vital elements of their work. For instance, Toomer’s book Cane, which includes poetry, stories, and a play, features a section focused entirely on characters in a rural Georgian setting, with vivid images of trees and sugar cane. The second section shifts to Washington, D.C., filled with depictions of streets, nightclubs, houses, and theaters. Hurston, on the other hand, set most of her stories in rural towns, aligning with her lifelong mission to collect black rural folktales.

The transition between rural and urban settings is crucial to many Renaissance novels. In McKay’s Home to Harlem, the main setting is Harlem. However, each protagonist hails from a different place: Jake is believed to originate from the rural South, while Ray is Haitian. Larsen’s novel Quicksand follows a biracial woman who journeys from her position at a black southern college to various major cities worldwide in her quest to find a place she can genuinely call home. Ultimately, she ends up in rural Alabama, where she feels stifled.

Visual Arts during the Harlem Renaissance

During the Harlem Renaissance, visual arts made a powerful impact by portraying images that reflected a newly awakened awareness of heritage and culture. Michele Y. Washington, in her article on Harlem Renaissance art and artists in Print, highlights that black artists' fascination with Egypt as part of their African heritage influenced many motifs in the Art Deco style, which became popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

Aaron Douglas, a prominent artist of the era, incorporated images of African masks and sculptures into his geometric, Art Deco-style illustrations. He apprenticed under Winold Reiss, a German artist known for his geometric and angular designs, which graced the original cover of Alain Locke’s The New Negro. Douglas emerged as a leading illustrator for the period’s magazines and books and also painted large murals in several Harlem nightclubs.

Many of the foremost artists of the Renaissance had formal art education but embraced vibrant and dynamic African imagery to diverge from traditional European art forms. Similar to Douglas, numerous artists collaborated with black writers to adorn the covers and interiors of their poetry collections, novels, and magazines.

The Renaissance in Other American Cities

Although the epicenter of the African-American cultural explosion in literature, music, art, and politics was Harlem, other cities also experienced their own versions of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s and 1930s. Cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., were also buzzing with artistic and literary activity.

For instance, Alain Locke maintained his connection with Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he chaired the philosophy department for over forty years. Washington, D.C., was a starting point for several writers, including Jean Toomer and Rudolph Fisher, and Langston Hughes frequently spent time there. Chicago was not only a hub of musical innovation during the 1920s and 1930s but also home to writers like Frank Marshall Davis. Additionally, Richard Wright, writing just after the Renaissance, drew heavily from his Chicago experiences in his work.

Music during the Harlem Renaissance

Music deeply permeated Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. Protestant churches resonated with both traditional and new spirituals that uplifted congregations, while the neighborhood's numerous speakeasies, nightclubs, and theaters thrummed with jazz and blues, keeping dancers on their feet until the early morning hours.

Among the various musical styles in Harlem, the area is most renowned for its jazz. Prominent black bandleaders like Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, and Duke Ellington elevated jazz to become the foremost musical genre in both the neighborhood and the nation during the 1920s and 1930s. Despite this, many individuals, including numerous black intellectuals, considered its rhythms to be too rough and risqué. Nevertheless, the passion for jazz persisted, with patrons flocking to Harlem's numerous clubs nearly every night to experience the energy and spontaneity that defined jazz.

In 1926, the Savoy Ballroom opened its doors, offering affordable cover charges that attracted people from all races and economic backgrounds to enjoy evenings filled with dancing and the finest jazz in the world. While the venue hosted many famous musicians, it also provided a platform for unknown artists to test their talent. Jazz and blues legends Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald both launched their careers at the Savoy.

1920s–1930s: Harlem is renowned for its entertainment spots, such as the Savoy Ballroom, the Cotton Club, and the Apollo Theater. These venues frequently host national acts like Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and Lionel Hampton.

Today: After shutting down in the 1970s due to African-American performers finding higher-paying venues, the Apollo is now a national historic landmark managed by a nonprofit organization. It features international stars like Luther Vandross, B.B. King, hip-hop artists, and emerging musicians aspiring for national recognition.

1920s–1930s: Claude McKay publishes his novel Home to Harlem, the first bestselling book in the United States written by an African American. Major New York publishing houses begin seeking the next black writer to meet the public's newfound interest in African-American literature.

Today: Prominent black authors are no longer a rarity. Works by Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Henry Louis Gates Jr. frequently appear on national bestseller lists.

1920s–1930s: Lynchings and racially motivated murders of blacks are tragically common. In 1920, approximately thirty-three blacks are lynched; in 1930, around twenty-four blacks fall victim to lynchings.

Today: According to national hate crime statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, three racially motivated murders of African Americans and 462 racially motivated aggravated assaults against African Americans occurred in the year 2000.

Cane

Jean Toomer’s Cane is a three-part novel that blends poems and short stories. Released in 1923, the book was celebrated as a groundbreaking examination of black urban and rural life in early 20th-century America.

Toomer’s innovative approach to style, structure, and language was influenced by the many avant-garde writers and artists he encountered while residing in Greenwich Village, New York City. Critics praised the novel for its departure from traditional realism and its vibrant use of language, though it achieved limited popular success. Despite Toomer’s subsequent work on essays and plays, Cane remained his only published book.

Color

In 1925, Countee Cullen released his first poetry collection, Color, to widespread acclaim. Cullen’s work, including the poems in Color, was celebrated for its beauty and lyricism, even as it addressed themes of racism. Alain Locke, in his review in Opportunity, published shortly after the collection’s release, hailed Cullen as “a genius,” likening him to poets A. E. Houseman and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Both black and white readers eagerly anticipated Cullen’s debut collection; his poetry, especially from Color, became so popular that many African Americans of the time memorized his verses. The most famous poem from this collection is “Heritage,” where Cullen reflects on the significance of Africa to himself and African Americans. The collection won a Harmon Foundation award in 1925.

God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse

James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse was published in 1927. This poetry collection established Johnson as a literary luminary of the era and echoed the style and rhythm of the sermons he heard in African-American churches. Countee Cullen, reviewing the collection in The Bookman, described Johnson’s work as “magnificent.” Critics have frequently noted Johnson’s choice to avoid using dialect in this collection, a decision that has generally received positive feedback.

Home to Harlem

Claude McKay’s novel Home to Harlem was published in 1928 and is the first in a series of three novels often considered a trilogy depicting black life in America. The narrative focuses on the relationship between two black men, Jake and Ray. Jake, an AWOL soldier, is eager to return to Harlem and the good times he remembers. In contrast, Ray is a highly educated man who has become disconnected from his culture. Through their interactions, McKay illustrates two different responses to racial prejudice in 1920s America. Ray, struggling with intellectual turmoil, leaves the United States for Europe, while Jake stays in Harlem, content with his life and friends but determined to preserve his pride.

Home to Harlem was the first book by a black author to become a bestseller in the United States. The novel's immense commercial success led to it being reprinted five times within two months. Many readers were drawn to its vivid portrayal of jazz-age Harlem, featuring scenes of prostitutes, nightclubs, and wild parties. However, numerous critics, especially black critics who believed that positive depictions of African Americans could help resolve racial issues in the country, condemned McKay’s novel for its risqué depiction of black life in Harlem.

The New Negro: An Interpretation

Many historians and critics of the Harlem Renaissance attribute the surge of creativity among black artists and writers in the 1920s and 1930s to the 1925 release of Alain Locke’s anthology, The New Negro: An Interpretation. This collection features poetry and prose from prominent Renaissance figures like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, and Claude McKay. The anthology’s high-quality work garnered attention from literary critics of the era and introduced the public to the talents of previously unknown writers. Additionally, the book helped black writers realize they were not alone by showcasing others' efforts and fostering an atmosphere of inspiration.

The anthology received rave reviews, including praise from W. E. B. Du Bois. Locke was convinced that a group of African-American artists and writers could bridge the gap between white and black communities, and the publication of The New Negro was an attempt to initiate that process.

Quicksand

Nella Larsen authored two novels on the experiences of light-skinned blacks living as whites, Quicksand and Passing, with Quicksand, published in 1928, being the first and more acclaimed. In Quicksand, Larsen narrates the story of a woman of mixed heritage, much like herself, who feels out of place in both black and white societies.

Critics admired the rich psychological depth Larsen provided her characters, as well as the novel’s use of symbolism. Many readers also appreciated that a black writer addressed sensitive issues of race and culture while setting most of the story in a relatively refined environment, contrasting with many other novels depicting impoverished black communities. The publication of Quicksand brought Larsen to the attention of Harlem Renaissance intellectuals, including W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke, who predicted her continued success as an author. The novel earned the Harmon Foundation’s bronze medal in 1928.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Critics regard Their Eyes Were Watching God as Zora Neale Hurston’s finest work of fiction. This 1937 novel, although published late in the Harlem Renaissance period, is deeply influenced by Hurston’s extensive efforts in collecting black folktales during the 1920s and 1930s. It narrates the journey of a black woman striving to assert her identity—both as an African American and as a woman—in the southern United States around the year 1900.

The reception of Their Eyes Were Watching God was mixed. Some readers appreciated its authentic depiction of life in small black communities, while others, like Richard Wright, criticized Hurston for allegedly using racial stereotypes to appeal to white audiences. Initially, the novel was undervalued and seen as escapist fiction. However, it gained significant recognition in the latter half of the twentieth century as a feminist story of empowerment and self-fulfillment.

The Weary Blues

The Weary Blues, Langston Hughes’s debut poetry collection published in 1926, features both traditional lyric poems on classical themes and poems addressing the black experience in early twentieth-century America. Some of Hughes’s most powerful verses in this collection reflect his love for blues and jazz, mimicking the rhythms of popular tunes heard in Harlem nightclubs and on the streets.

Although a few poems in this collection were written during Hughes’s teenage years, critics noted a unique energy and vitality in the volume. Many of these poems, including “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” remain among Hughes’s most famous and beloved works. However, some black critics were uneasy with his unconventional rhyming schemes and felt that his portrayals of unrefined blacks and their everyday lives perpetuated negative stereotypes. They labeled him a “racial artist,” suggesting he overly relied on his African American identity. Conversely, other critics lauded his successful incorporation of musical styles into his poetry, especially in the title poem, “The Weary Blues,” which captures the essence of a piano player in a nightclub. Hughes’s experimental style garnered both admiration and criticism from various readers and critics.

In 1984, Francis Ford Coppola directed The Cotton Club, a film starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Gregory Hines. The movie focuses on the iconic jazz nightclub in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. It was distributed by Orion Pictures Corporation.

In 1937, Claude McKay’s novel Banjo was adapted into the film Big Fella, which was distributed by British Lion Film Corporation.

Langston Hughes's short story “Cora Unashamed” was turned into a television film of the same name in 2000. The movie was distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service.

Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words from the Harlem Renaissance is a boxed set featuring four CDs with various artists from the era performing their works. For instance, Langston Hughes reads his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and Duke Ellington performs “The Cotton Club Stomp.” Additionally, contemporary artists also contribute to the recording; rapper Ice-T reads Claude McKay’s poem “If We Must Die.” The set was released in 2000 by Wea/Rhino.

Langston Hughes’s first poetry collection, The Weary Blues, is celebrated on a CD of the same name. The CD features Hughes reciting his poems, accompanied by the legendary jazz musician Charles Mingus, who performs music that captures the essence of a Harlem blues club. Originally released in 1958, the CD is available on the Uni/Verve label.

Sources

Baker, Houston A., Jr., Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance, University of Chicago Press, 1987, p. 85.

Bamikunle, Aderemi, “The Harlem Renaissance and White Critical Tradition,” in CLA Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1, September 1985, pp. 33–51.

Cullen, Countee, “And the Walls Came Tumblin’ Down,” in the Bookman, Vol. LXVI, No. 2, October 1927, pp. 221–22.

English, Daylanne K., “Selecting the Harlem Renaissance,” in Critical Inquiry, Vol. 25, No. 4, Summer 1999, pp. 807–15.

Huggins, Nathan I., Harlem Renaissance, Oxford University Press, 1971, pp.10–11.

Hughes, Langston, “The Dream Keeper,” in Survey Graphic, Vol. 6, No. 6, March 1925, p. 664.

Janken, Kenneth R., “African American and Francophone Black Intellectuals during the Harlem Renaissance,” in the Historian, Vol. 60, No. 3, Spring 1998, pp. 487ff.

Kent, George E., “The Fork in the Road: Patterns of the Harlem Renaissance,” in Black Word, Vol. 21, No. 8, June 1972, pp. 13–24, 76–80.

Locke, Alain, “Color—A Review,” in Opportunity, Vol. 4, No. 37, January 1926, pp. 14–15.

—, “Enter the New Negro,” in Survey Graphic, Vol. 6, No. 6, March 1925, pp. 631–34.

—, “Youth Speaks,” in Survey Graphic, Vol. 6, No. 6, March 1925, pp. 659–60.

McKay, Claude, “White Houses,” in Survey Graphic, Vol. 6, No. 6, March 1925, p. 662.

Perry, Margaret, The Harlem Renaissance: An Annotated Bibliography and Commentary, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1982, pp. xxxv–xxxvi.

Singh, Amritjit, “‘When the Negro Was in Vogue’: The Harlem Renaissance and Black America,” in The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance: Twelve Black Writers, 1923–1933, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976, pp. 1–39.

Stuart, Andrea, “The Harlem Renaissance in the Twenties Produced a Wealth of Black Talent. But What Was Its Legacy and Who Did It Really Benefit?” in the New Statesman, Vol. 10, No. 459, June 27, 1997, pp. 40–41.

Wall, Cheryl A., “Poets and Versifiers, Singers and Signifiers: Women of the Harlem Renaissance,” in Women, the Arts, and the 1920s in Paris and New York, edited by Kenneth W. Wheeler and Virginia Lee Lussier, Transaction Books, 1982, pp. 74–98.

Washington, Michele Y., “Souls on Fire: The Artists of the Black Renaissance in the 1920s and ’30s Defined a New Cultural Identity Reflecting Their African Roots,” in Print, Vol. 52, No. 3, May–June 1998.

Further Reading

Bontemps, Arna, The Harlem Renaissance Remembered, Dodd, Mead, 1972. This collection of essays is by a writer and thinker who participated in the Harlem Renaissance. The second chapter offers a helpful overview of the era.

Hughes, Langston, The Big Sea, Hill and Wang, 1993. Originally published in 1940, this is a reprint of Hughes’s autobiography, detailing his life as a poet in Harlem and his experiences as a cook and waiter in various Paris nightclubs during the 1920s.

Lewis, David L., When Harlem Was in Vogue, Alfred A. Knopf, 1981. This book provides a social history of Harlem in the 1920s, focusing on the literature and music produced during that time.

—, ed., The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader, Penguin USA, 1995. This anthology includes essays, memoirs, drama, poetry, and fiction from forty-five prominent and lesser-known writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

Wintz, Cary D., Black Culture and the Harlem Renaissance, Rice University Press, 1988. Wintz's book delves into the Harlem Renaissance within the framework of African American social and intellectual history in the United States. It links the Renaissance authors to the broader literary community.