Duke Ellington composed dozens of tone poems throughout his career. The Harlem Renaissance consisted of a variety of African Americans from all parts of the world who started to embrace their culture, showcase their talents, and speak out about injustices. The music and movements created in Harlem shaped society today. This approach culminated in a vast collection of historically significant works, from the powerful and poignant sculptures of female artist Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller to the modernist murals of the Jazz Age by Aaron Douglas. TC’s celebration of the Harlem Renaissance highlights the period’s relevance to current times. In order to help achieve this shared objective, artistic African Americans from all over the country flocked to Harlem, where their creativity was fostered and their work was groundbreaking. The Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement, was also a time of intellectual, social, and artistic awakening that was centered in, but not limited to, Harlem, New York. The Cotton Club closed following a race riot in 1935—an event that, along with the Great Depression, marked the end of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a open minded, recreational, and artistic nuke that happened in Harlem harlem, New York, throughout the 1920’s. “Let’s bare our arms and plunge them deep through laughter, through pain, through sorrow, though hope, through disappointment, into the very depths of the souls of our people and drag forth material crude, rough, neglected,” Douglas wrote, in what could stand as a rallying cry for the Harlem Renaissance as a whole. Literature during the Harlem Renaissance lead African Americans writers to create new images of the black community that would replace the stereotypes placed on them by society. Like the ragtime and blues genres that inspired it, jazz was invented by black musicians, making it an intrinsic part of the Harlem Renaissance. Kelly Richman-Abdou is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. Tobi Haslett of The New Yorker has argued that this moment inaugurated the Harlem Renaissance. In the early 20th century, New York City's Harlem neighborhood underwent a historic transformation. * Lawrence was best known for his modern depictions of everyday life of African Americans as well as epic narratives of black history and historical figures. [The book talk by Erickson and Morrell, also titled “Educating Harlem,” was hosted by TC’s Center on History and Education. In Washington, D.C., the movement began on July 19, 1919, with the alleged sexual assault of a white woman by a black predator. Release date: 21 Feb 2017. After World War I, many African Americans that were part of the Harlem Renaissance began developing artistic styles which represented black culture and the truths about African American injustice. The dancers/dance educators Beryl McBurnie, Gertrude Colby and Charles Williams, The poet and short story writer Gwendolyn Bennett, The painters Charles Alston, Alma Thomas, Herbert Gentry and James Lesesne Wells, The jazz and R&B trumpeter and vocalist Donald Byrd, The pioneering physician May Edward Chinn. Notable pieces by Hughes include “Dreams,” “The Weary Blues,” and “Words Like Freedom.”, A bronze plaque in New York City Stock Photos from Oleg Anisimov/Shutterstock, Three African American women in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, c. 1925 (Photo via Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0 [Public Domain]), Photo: Stock Photos from Africa Studio/Shutterstock. Du … Date Event; 1870: Freed slaves move past slavery (1870's) Starting in the 1870's, many former slaves began migrating out of the intolerant south and into the more prosperous north.

[3], While the Black Renaissance movement ultimately began in Harlem, Manhattan, New York, with the Harlem Renaissance, the movement ultimately spread to cities across the United States.