HARLEM RENAISSANCE
The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood
in New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the
subsequent social and artistic explosion that resulted. Lasting roughly from
the 1910s through the mid-1930s, the period is considered a golden age in
African American culture, manifesting in literature, music, stage performance
and art.
Great Migration
The northern Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem was meant to be an
upper-class white neighborhood in the 1880s, but rapid overdevelopment led
to empty buildings and desperate landlords seeking to fill them.
In the early 1900s, a few middle-class black families from another
neighborhood known as Black Bohemia moved to Harlem, and other black
families followed. Some white residents initially fought to keep African
Americans out of the area, but failing that many whites eventually fled.
Outside factors led to a population boom: From 1910 to 1920, African
American populations migrated in large numbers from the South to the North,
with prominent figures like W.E.B. Du Bois leading what became known as
the Great Migration.
In 1915 and 1916, natural disasters in the south put black workers and
sharecroppers out of work. Additionally, during and after World War I,
immigration to the United States fell, and northern recruiters headed south to
entice black workers to their companies.
By 1920, some 300,000 African Americans from the South had moved north,
and Harlem was one of the most popular destinations for these families
Cotton Club
With the groundbreaking new music came a vibrant nightlife. The Savoy
opened in 1927, an integrated ballroom with two bandstands that featured
continuous jazz and dancing well past midnight, sometimes in the form of
battling bands helmed by Fletcher Henderson, Jimmie Lunceford and King
Oliver.
While it was fashionable to frequent Harlem nightlife, entrepreneurs realized
that some white people wanted to experience black culture without having to
socialize with African Americans and created clubs to cater to them.
The most successful of these was the Cotton Club, which featured frequent
performances by Ellington and Calloway. Some in the community derided the
existence of such clubs, while others believed they were a sign that black
culture was moving toward greater acceptance.
Harlem Renaissance Ends
The end of Harlem’s creative boom began with the stock market crash of
1929 and The Great Depression. It wavered until Prohibition ended in 1933,
which meant white patrons no longer sought out the illegal alcohol in uptown
clubs.
By 1935, many pivotal Harlem residents had moved on to seek work. They
were replaced by the continuous flow of refugees from the South, many
requiring public assistance.
The Harlem Race Riot of 1935 broke out following the arrest of a young
shoplifter, resulting in three dead, hundreds injured and millions of dollars in
property damage. The riot was a death knell for the Harlem Renaissance.
Impact of the Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a golden age for African American artists,
writers and musicians. It gave these artists pride in and control over how the
black experience was represented in American culture and set the stage for
the civil rights movement.
The Harlem Renaissance
It was time for a cultural celebration. African Americans had endured centuries
of slavery and the struggle for abolition. The end of bondage had not brought
the promised land many had envisioned. Instead, WHITE SUPREMACY was
quickly, legally, and violently restored to the New South, where ninety percent
of African Americans lived. Starting in about 1890, African Americans
migrated to the North in great numbers. This GREAT MIGRATION eventually
relocated hundreds of thousands of African Americans from the rural South to
the urban North. Many discovered they had shared common experiences in
their past histories and their uncertain present circumstances. Instead of
wallowing in self-pity, the recently dispossessed ignited an explosion of
cultural pride. Indeed, African American culture was reborn in the HARLEM
RENAISSANCE.
The Great Migration
The Great Migration began because of a "push" and a "pull."
Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws led many African Americans to hope
for a new life up north. Hate groups and hate crimes cast alarm among African
American families of the Deep South. The promise of owning land had not
materialized. Most blacks toiled as sharecroppers trapped in an endless cycle
of debt. In the 1890s, a boll weevil blight damaged the cotton crop throughout
the region, increasing the despair. All these factors served to push African
Americans to seek better lives. The booming northern economy forged the
pull. Industrial jobs were numerous, and factory owners looked near and far
for sources of cheap labor.
Unfortunately, northerners did not welcome African Americans with open
arms. While the legal systems of the northern states were not as obstructionist
toward African American rights, the prejudice among the populace was as
acrimonious. White laborers complained that African Americans were flooding
the employment market and lowering wages. Most new migrants found
themselves segregated by practice in run down urban slums. The largest of
these was Harlem. Writers, actors, artists, and musicians glorified African
American traditions, and at the same time created new ones.
Writers and Actors
The most prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance was LANGSTON
HUGHES. Hughes cast off the influences of white poets and wrote with the
rhythmic meter of blues and jazz. CLAUDE MCKAY urged African Americans
to stand up for their rights in his powerful verses. JEAN TOOMER wrote plays
and short stories, as well as poems, to capture the spirit of his times. Book
publishers soon took notice and patronized many of these talents. ZORA
NEALE HURSTON was noticed quickly with her moving novel, THEIR EYES
WERE WATCHING GOD. Music met prose in the form of musical comedy.
The 1921 production of SHUFFLE ALONG is sometimes credited with
initiating the movement. Actor PAUL ROBESON electrified audiences with his
memorable stage performances.
Musicians
No aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world
as much as jazz. JAZZ flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated
rhythms and improvised instrumental solos. Thousands of city dwellers
flocked night after night to see the same performers. IMPROVISATION meant
that no two performances would ever be the same. Harlem's COTTON CLUB
boasted the talents of DUKE ELLINGTON. Singers such as BESSIE SMITH
and BILLIE HOLIDAY popularized blues and jazz vocals. JELLY ROLL
MORTON and LOUIS ARMSTRONG drew huge audiences as white
Americans as well as African Americans caught jazz fever.
The continuing hardships faced by African Americans in the Deep South and
the urban North were severe. It took the environment of the new American city
to bring in close proximity some of the greatest minds of the day. Harlem
brought notice to great works that might otherwise have been lost or never
produced. The results were phenomenal. The artists of the Harlem
Renaissance undoubtedly transformed African American culture. But the
impact on all American culture was equally strong. For the first time, white
America could not look away.
