Image Source - James Lesesne Wells, Looking Upward, 1928
Introduction
“I believe that the [African American’s] advantages and opportunities are greater in Harlem than in any other place in the country, and that Harlem will become the intellectual, the cultural and the financial center for Negroes of the United States and will exert a vital influence upon all Negro peoples.”
—James Weldon Johnson, “Harlem: The Culture Capital,” 1925
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of rich cross-disciplinary artistic and cultural activity among African Americans between the end of World War I (1917) and the onset of the Great Depression and lead up to World War II (the 1930s). Artists associated with the movement asserted pride in black life and identity, a rising consciousness of inequality and discrimination, and interest in the rapidly changing modern world—many experiencing a freedom of expression through the arts for the first time.
While the Harlem Renaissance may be best known for its literary and performing arts—pioneering figures such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Duke Ellington, and Ma Rainey may be familiar—sculptors, painters, and printmakers were key contributors to the first modern Afrocentric cultural movement and formed a black avant-garde in the visual arts. (Source - National Art Gallery - Uncovering America - The Harlem Renaissance)
Instructions
Use the following resources to learn more about these events.
Spend around 5 minutes exploring, reading and watching/listening each of the sections.
Guided Notes
Document in your notes something you learned about the following categories
“I believe that the [African American’s] advantages and opportunities are greater in Harlem than in any other place in the country, and that Harlem will become the intellectual, the cultural and the financial center for Negroes of the United States and will exert a vital influence upon all Negro peoples.”
—James Weldon Johnson, “Harlem: The Culture Capital,” 1925
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of rich cross-disciplinary artistic and cultural activity among African Americans between the end of World War I (1917) and the onset of the Great Depression and lead up to World War II (the 1930s). Artists associated with the movement asserted pride in black life and identity, a rising consciousness of inequality and discrimination, and interest in the rapidly changing modern world—many experiencing a freedom of expression through the arts for the first time.
While the Harlem Renaissance may be best known for its literary and performing arts—pioneering figures such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Duke Ellington, and Ma Rainey may be familiar—sculptors, painters, and printmakers were key contributors to the first modern Afrocentric cultural movement and formed a black avant-garde in the visual arts. (Source - National Art Gallery - Uncovering America - The Harlem Renaissance)
Instructions
Use the following resources to learn more about these events.
Spend around 5 minutes exploring, reading and watching/listening each of the sections.
- Painting/Drawing - National Blues Museum - Harlem Renaissance and Blues: 20th Century & Black Art
- Music - A Duke Named Ellington - PBS American Masters
- Music - Top 20 Female American vintage jazz singers of the 20th century (may not work on school wifi)
- Dynamic Women of Early Jazz (also may not work on school wifi)
- 14 Of The Greatest And Most Famous Female Jazz Singers Of All Time
- Fashion - What Was It Like in the Roaring Twenties in Art and Fashion?
- Film - Silence is Golden: The Best Films of the 1920s According to IMDb (may not work on school wifi - if you have data, use your phone)
- The 1920s: The 10 Best Hollywood Movies Of The Decade (may not work on school wifi)
- The 75 Best Filsm of the 1920s
Guided Notes
Document in your notes something you learned about the following categories
- Painting/Drawing
- Music
- Fashion
- Film