5.8 Visual Essay - Harlem Renaissance by Billy Barth

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 07:28:22 UTC

Wallace Thurman was an African American novelist, editor, and screenwriter, Upon moving to Harlem in 1925, Thurman founded the magazine "The Looking Glass" and became editor of Asa Philip Randolph's "The Messenger." In 1928 Thurman became the first black reader at the New York publishing company, Macaulay. Thurman founded his third journal "Fire!!" which had received notable contributions from Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas, and Zora Neale Hurston. Despite contributing to the Harlem Renaissance as a novelist, poet, and playwright, Thurman not only questioned but sought to debunk its existence.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 07:33:53 UTC

James Mercer Langston Hughes was a central literary figure during the Harlem Renaissance and is even regarded as the most famous poet from Harlem. Hughes wrote poetry, short stories, novels, and plays. Hughes sought to tell the stories of his people, placing emphasis on their difference of treatment compared to white Americans and the unique challenges his community faces. Hughes' prose was influenced by the sporadic yet free verse of jazz music. Hughes' most famous poem "Harlem" is also referred to as "Dream Deferred" and depicts the effect of putting off the goal of equality.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 08:12:21 UTC

Dr. Charles S. Johnson was an American Sociologist, the founding editor of the National Urban League's monthly magazine "Opportunity" and the first black president of Fisk University. Dr. Johnson is credited for organizing the Civic Club Dinner that marked the emergence of the Harlem Renaissance as a distinct literary movement. It should be noted that the dinner served to honor Jessie R. Fauset on the publication of her novel "There Is Confusion." However, with the influence of Alain Locke, the event evolved to honor African American writers as a whole.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 09:01:02 UTC

Langston Hughes' poem "I, Too, sing America" challenges the relationship between the African American community and America, illustrating that African American's are deserving of being represented both for their skills and as citizens of our country. The metaphor of "eating in the kitchen" is indicative of this representation and relies on the phrase "having a seat at the table" which references having equal opportunities. Hughes' poem makes this comparison to denote that, in the future, nobody will question the right of African American's to "sit at the table" as everyone will have equal opportunities.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 09:11:00 UTC

Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay was a Jamaican-American poet and central figure during the Harlem Renaissance. McKay is regarded as one of the first poets of the Harlem Renaissance and helped paved the way for notable poets such as Langston Hughes. McKay's most famous poem, "America" depicts both the positive and negative aspects of American society through the lens of an immigrant.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 09:14:04 UTC

Claude McKay's "America" embodies the attitude of the Harlem Renaissance, embracing America's possibilities to foster culture while acknowledging the nations violence and systemic racism. McKay's personification of the United States is representative of its political climate and how it may feel like that of a tiger "sinking its teeth" into ones throat within any given moment.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 10:32:48 UTC

Countee Cullen was an American poet and novelist active during the Harlem Renaissance. Cullen's poetic talent had been recognized from an early age and his first contribution to the literary movement was with the publication of "color" a collection of poems that placed him within the center of the Harlem Renaissance. Cullen, favoring the more conservative approach to poetry, critiqued Langston Hughes' experimentation and jazz influence. Cullen would go on to publish "Heritage" and "Yes I Do Marvel" cementing his legacy and presence during the Harlem Renaissance.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 10:34:14 UTC

William Edward Burghardt Dubois was an educator, an essayist, a scholar, and an activist among many more. In 1895 Du Bois became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard University. Du Bois was not only active during the Harlem Renaissance but made great strives towards activism outside of the literary movement. Du bois co-founded the NAACP and later served as the editor of its magazine "The Crisis."

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 10:34:59 UTC

Du Bois "The Souls of Black Folk" directly challenged the rhetoric of Booker T. Washington and further discussed black life in America and the relation of race in the United States. Du Bois disputed Washington's claim that voting and civil rights were not a priority within the black movement.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 10:38:22 UTC

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was one of the most influential black nationalist leaders. In 1914, Garvey, inspired by the autobiography of Booker T. Washington, would go on to establish the UNIA in Kingston, Jamaica. In 1917 Garvey relocated the UNIA to Harlem and began spreading his message to the African American community. The UNIA expanded following the race riots in the red summer of 1919.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 10:39:45 UTC

Ella Fitzgerald was a female jazz singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Following success at a young age, Fitzgerald would go on to join Chick Webb's band and preform at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom. After Webb's death, Fitzgerald led the band for the next three years. Fitzgerald would preform notable songs such as "Lady Be Good" How High The Moon" and other compositions from Duke Ellington, among others.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 11:22:55 UTC

Zora Neale Hurston was an anthropologist and a writer during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston was studying anthropology just ten blocks away from Harlem while the literary movement was in its prime. Hurston became an author during the movement and her story "Spunk" made its way in a notable collection of stories alongside other leaders of the Harlem Renaissance.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 11:43:05 UTC

The Cotton Club was a nightclub situated in the Harlem district of New York. Despite giving a platform to notable talent such as Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, the Cotton Club was for a white audience only. The Cotton Club is notable for introducing the white population, and the rest of the world, to the up incoming sensation that is jazz music.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:11:22 UTC

Ella Fitzgerald's jazz rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" would become her first national hit in 1938. The melody of the rhyme is synonymous with that of "rain rain go away." Fitzgerald and Al Feldman would extend the piece into a jazz cover, with slight alterations to the lyrics.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:17:00 UTC

Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" follows Janie Crawford through three separate marriages that end in tragedy. Hurston's novel challenges expectations regarding gender and race. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" has become notable as a piece of literature that has emerged from the Harlem Renaissance.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:21:16 UTC

Jacob Lawrence was an American painter well known for depicting African American life and culture. Lawrence grew up in a settlement house during the Harlem Renaissance. His own life, as well as the struggles of his fellow black Americans, served as inspiration for his earliest work. Lawrence painted the "Great Migration" series which depicts the mass movement of African Americans from Africa to the South.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:29:02 UTC

Jacob Lawrence's "The Great Migration" is a series of sixty small, tempera paintings, that depict the mass movement of African American's from their starting point in Africa, to the rural South, to the migration to the North. Lawrence's "The Great Migration" embodies everything the Harlem Renaissance sought to encapsulate; the glorification of African heritage, the expression of artistic freedom, and the acknowledgement of culture.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:34:01 UTC

Duke Ellington was a jazz composer, conductor and pianist during the Harlem Renaissance. Well known for his years at the Cotton Club, Ellington would be among the first to focus on musical form and composition in jazz. The Duke Ellington Orchestra was the house orchestra at the Cotton Club for a number of years, despite not serving a black audience. Ellington would go on to write over two thousand pieces in his lifetime, most notably, "In my Solitude" which was composed by Ellington and sung by Billie Holiday.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:40:44 UTC

Bessie Smith was a jazz and blues singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Smith's voice won her the title "Empress of the Blues." Smith recorded with many great jazz musicians of her era, such as Louis Armstrong. Smith's songs put primacy on classical blues subjects such as oppression and poverty. Smith had fans from both the white and black communities.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:43:26 UTC

Louis Daniel "Louie" Armstrong is one of the most well known and influential musicians in the history of jazz and swing music. Armstrong, would begin his career performing with bands in small clubs, funerals, and parades in New Orleans. In 1922, Armstrong was invited to move to Chicago to play the second cornet in a Creole Jazz band. However, Armstrong would go on to New York and begin playing with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra at the Roseland Ballroom, and in 1929 Armstrong would make his first appearance on the Broadway stage.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:43:52 UTC

Charles S. Johnson's "Opportunity" was an academic journal published by the National Urban League (NUL). The journal would act as a forum for African American studies regarding sociology. "Opportunity" was published monthly and has been credited as advancing the literary side of the Harlem Renaissance.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:44:25 UTC

Alain Leroy Locke was a lead intellectual figure during the twentieth century and a support of the Harlem Renaissance literary movement. Locke has been widely regarded as the originator of the Harlem Renaissance through his promotion of diversity, emphasis on values, and race relations. Locke perpetuated that African American's should acknowledge their cultural heritage while also integrating into a larger society.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:45:14 UTC

Billie Holiday was one the most prominent and notable jazz vocalists of the twentieth century. Holiday began singing in Harlem nightclubs following a brief time in jail. Holiday had changed her name, Billie from the actress Billie Dove, and Holiday from her absent father Clarence Holiday. John Hammond arranged for Holiday to make her debut recording with the Benny Goodman Band. Holiday's recording "Riffin' the Scotch" would go on to sell five thousand copies, letting her go on to sign with Brunswick Records.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:46:20 UTC

Following the Harlem Renaissance, Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" serves as a commentary on the state of America. Armstrong's lyrics depict a world of peace amidst the threat of war and civil violence. The Harlem Renaissance was able to lay the ground work for the civil rights movement and establish a culture of appreciation for art.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 12:59:14 UTC

Aaron Douglas was an African American painter and a lead figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas contributed illustrations to the magazine "The Opportunity" and the NAACP's "The Crisis." Douglas depicted the struggles of African American's through a unique blend of modernism and African inspired art. Douglas would found the art department at Fisk University, where he would remain teaching for the rest of his career.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 13:01:47 UTC

In 1925, Bessie Smith would go on to record "St. Louis Blues" "Cold in Hand Blues" and "Careless Love Blues" with jazz player Louis Armstrong.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 13:07:37 UTC

Jessie Redmon Fauset was an African American editor, essayist, and poet during the Harlem Renaissance. After resigning from her teaching job, Fauset moved to New York City and became the literary editor for the NAACP's "The Crisis." Faust would leave her editing position and go back to teaching in 1926. Despite this change in career, Fauset would go on to publish "There is Confusion" (1924), "Plum Bun" (1928), "The Chinaberry Tree" (1931), and "Comedy: American Style" (1933)

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 13:09:08 UTC

Lois Mailou Jones was an African American visual artist. Jones's career as a painter began when she met sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller, who inspired one of her earliest paintings titled "The Ascent of Ethiopia" which serves as a tribute to both Africa and the Harlem Renaissance. Fuller would persuade Jones to study at Academie Julian in Paris and begin her art career.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 13:10:42 UTC

While associated with the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine Baker's career would take off in Paris, first appearing on stage "La Revue Negre." Baker would also perform in the infamous all black musical "Shuffle Along" which has given claim to inspiring the Harlem Renaissance's musical theatre scene. Following Shuffle Along, Baker went on to perform in "Chocolate Dandies" until she got her big break when she opened in "La Revue Negre."

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 13:11:56 UTC

Modeled after the Roseland Ballroom, The Savoy would serve as the black communities venue for swing dancing within Harlem. The Savoy Ballroom sought elegance and a refined atmosphere in lieu of the stuffy, smoke filled, nightclubs.

billysbarth — 2024-07-13 13:15:43 UTC

Augusta Savage was an African American sculptor, teacher, and advocate for her fellow black artists. After moving to Harlem in 1921, Savage would go on to study art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and and Art. Savage's sculptor of a Harlem child titled "Gamin" would lead to her rise in fame and a scholarship to study at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, France.