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How the Harlem Renaissance Started

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How the Harlem Renaissance Started How the Harlem Renaissance Started The main factors contributing to the development of the Harlem Renaissance were African-American urban migration, trends toward experimentation throughout the country and the rise of radical African-American intellectuals Where the Harlem Renaissance Started It started in a Northern Manhattan Neighborhood of Harlem but later spread throughout all of Harlem. *Important Places of the Harlem Renaissance* The Cotton Club Located At 644 Lenox Ave. and 142nd St. Opened in 1927. Featured scantily clad light-skinned black female dancers, high- profile black headliner entertainment and a strictly white clientele. You went there when seeking an "exotic" cultural experience while remaining shielded from personal encounters with black people. Strivers' Row It is actually a group of town homes, built in 1890, located on 138th and 139th Streets, between Powell Boulevard and Douglass Boulevard. "Strivers' Row" earned its nickname during the Harlem Renaissance era because of the ambitious residents the homes attracted, along with well-to-do doctors, entertainers and other high-status black residents. Among the many prestigious black residents was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement, Henry Pace. Pace founded Black Swan Records, the first black-owned record label in the United States. They remain a desirable address even in the 21st century. Walker School of Hair located at 108 and 110 W. 136th St. Madame C.J. Walker, the offspring of slaves, made her fortune from her invention of a series of hair grooming products. When she died her daughter inherited her entire fortune, including the Walker School She converted the building to a nightclub and salon and named it "The Dark Tower" In The Dark Tower the words of "The Weary Blues," one of the most famous poems written by Langston Hughes, Art of the Harlem Renaissance Coinciding with the Great Migration by African-Americans from the South to Northern cities, the term “Harlem Renaissance” is used to describe the thriving art, music, and literary scene in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s. This set of primary sources highlights the multi-media visual art of this era, which vibrantly celebrates African-American and African history and culture. The visual art created by African-American artists of the Harlem Renaissance sometimes offers subtle criticism of the status of African-Americans in the United States at that time. Music of the Harlem Renaissance The music of the Harlem Renaissance has its roots in jazz. Jazz is considered a musical language of communication and was the first indigenous American style to affect music in the rest of the world. During this period, the music style of blacks became more and more attractive to whites. Some important musicians of the Harlem renaissance are Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Bessie Smith, Billie "Lady Day" Holiday, and Chick Webb. The musicians of the Harlem Renaissance were very talented and competitive and were considered to have laid the foundation for future musicians of their genre. People of the Harlem Renaissance The first group is the millions of African Americans that participated in one of the main catalysts to the Harlem Renaissance – The Great Migration. The other group refers to the notable figures of the Harlem Renaissance. These are the ‘legendary’ and the ‘not often mentioned’ talents, namely, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Jessie Redmond Fauset, Jean Toomer, Arna Bontemps, Rudolph Fisher, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker and many more. The other ‘pivotal’ group often overlooked when discussing the Harlem Renaissance consists of the patrons, admirers, critics, and supporters like writer Carl Van Vechten, journalist H. L. Mencken and millionaire art collector Albert C. Barnes. .
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