Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance Known also by the names “New Negro Movement” or Black Renaissance”, the Harlem Renaissance symbolized an enriched movement among African Americans between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. The names given to this movement shows its main features. The words "Negro" and "black" mean that this movement centers around African Americans, and the word "renaissance" refers to something new was born or, more specifically, that a cultural spirit was brought back to life in African American cultural life. Even though most historians remember the Harlem Renaissance as a literary movement, African Americans during the 1920s also made great strides in musical and visual arts, as well as science. The Harlem Renaissance pushed for American progressivism in faith in democratic reform, in belief in the arts as agents of change, and in an almost uncritical belief in itself and its future. The main point of Harlem, an old Dutch-built neighborhood of New York City, shows that this "renaissance" was something of an urban marvel. During the early part of the 20th Century, Harlem became home to a climbing population in the "Negro" middle class. “The district had originally been created in the 19th Century as an exclusive suburb for the white middle and upper middle classes; its prosperous beginnings led to the creation of stately houses, grand avenues, and world class attractions such as the Harlem Opera House” (Kramer 35 ). During the enormous movement of European immigrants in the late nineteenth century, the once exclusive district was abandoned by the native white middle-class. Harlem became an African-American neighborhood in the early 1900s. In 1910, a huge block along 135th Street and Fifth Avenue was bought by select African-American realtors and a church group (Kellner 111). “Many more African Americans arrived during the First World War. Due to the war, the migration of laborers from Europe ultimately ended, while the

Bibliography: and Commentary. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1982. A wonderful research tool on nineteen influential period authors, complete with citations of published works. Singh, Amritjit. The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance: Twelve Black Writers, 1923–1933. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976. Literary study of wide cross-section of black authors. Waldron, Edward E. Walter White and the Harlem Renaissance. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1978. A mono-graph on the influential civic leader 's role during the period.