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African-American Writers and the Legacy of the Harlem Renaissance

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African-American Writers and the Legacy of the Harlem Renaissance AFRICAN-AMERICAN WRITERS AND THE LEGACY OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE, 1920-1970 By AMY ELIZABETH CARREIRO Bachelor of Arts Roger Williams Colleg~ Bristol, Rhode Island 1991 Master of Arts Providence College Providence, Rhode Island 1993 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May, 1997 ~e:.11C:1 lqcr,D C !!\~0t, COPYRIGHT By Amy Elizabeth Carreiro May, 1997 AFFRICAN-AMERICAN WRITERS AND THE LEGACY OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE, 1920-1970 Dissertation Approved: Dean of the Graduate Collge ii PREFACE This study began several years ago in an English graduate seminar on the Harlem Renaissance. It has since evolved into a reinterpretation of this period and its cultural implications for race relations. Past scholarship of the Harlem Renaissance limits it to an artistic movement ·With little historical consequence. This dissertation challenges the older interpretations and argues that the Harlem Renaissance is significant for its influence on the development of int~rracial relationships. Black writers and some white social reformers and humanitarians, or Negrotarians, established a. cultural bridge which provided an intellectual interracial forum. The bridge represented a recognition of cultural equality and provided strength for many African-American writers of the late 1930s through the early 1950s to criticize the commanding role of white social reformers in the struggle for racial equality. The steps taken by writers such as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison influenced African-American intellectuals and leaders of the 1960s to claim independence from white dominance and take control O·f the civil rights movement. This study was written to highlight the significance and historical importance of the, Harlem Renaissance and its legacy. iii Chapter One discusses the origins of the Harlem Renaissance. Included is an overview of the Great Migration of African Americans to the North in the late Nineteenth century. The effects of the migration on the development of black neighborhoods or ghettos is important to understand why Harlem became the "Negro Mecca." Chapter One also describes the evolution of African-American intellectual history, contrasting the division between Booker T. Washington and his advocation of racial compliance with W.E.B. Du Bois and the black avant:garde's support of integration. Finally, this chapter depicts Harlem in the 1920s--the nightlife, the artists, and the importance of jazz as a cultural bridge between black and white Americans. Chapter Two focuses on relationships between the most influential Negrotarians and their beneficiaries. The Negrotarians under study are photographer and novelist Carl Van Vechten; publisher Alfred Knopf and his wife, Blanche; political activist Joel Spingarn, his wife, Amy, and brother Arthur; and the socialite Charlotte Osgood Mason. A discussion of the artists who received financial and aesthetic support from the abovementioned patrons includes Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Wallace Thurman, Jean Toomer, and Walter White. Lastly, this chapter will examine the relationship between the Negrotarians and artists to assess the effects of patronization on the cultural exchange. Chapter Three concentrates on novelist and poet Langston Hughes. Hughes seems to have had a more emotional iv attatchment to his patron than did other artists. However, a closer examination of his personal correspondence and works published at the end of the Harlem Renaissance reveals Hughes's skill in subtly ridiculing Negrotarians who unconsciously maintain a racist society by supporting its political and social institutions. This chapter also reviews literature of this period with a theme similar to Hughes's. The literary use of "the art of the trickster" or deception and "passing," or African Americans portraying themselves as white in society, ·are discussed. Chapter Four focuses on Richard Wright. Living in New York at the time of the Harlem Renaissance, he began writing in the late 1930s. Wright represents a generation of writers influenced by the cultural movement of the 1920s. His style is different from the earlier generation, overtly reflecting the growing resentment of white patronization .. In his novel, Native Son, Wright ridicules and chastises white humanitarians and social reformers and the paradoxes in their concern for racial inequality. Wright is also critical of political and social activists such as white members of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) and their attempts to organize African Americans. Chapter Five examines the generation of writers following the Harlem Renaissance. This chapter focuses on Ralph Ellison and his response to white humanitarians and the CPUSA taking the role of Negrotarian. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the ordeals of many black intellectuals in the CPUSA created a chasm between black writers and white V social activists. A comparison of Native Son and Invisible Man finds a growing frustration of the writers with the role played by white social activists in the movement for racial equality. However, the two writers differ in their approach to criticize white chauvinism or racial bias in the party. For instance, Ellison in Invisible Man adopts Langston Hughes's method and is more subtle in his criticism than Wright. The Conclusion analyzes the influence of the Harlem Renaissance generation, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison on the writers of the 1960s. This discussion will focus on writers such as Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) and James Baldwin and the relationships between black social reformers and white politicians. A recurring theme emerges in literature from the 1920s through the 1960s in which white paternalism is rejected by some black intellectuals choosing to control their own destiny. This theme is evident in the protest literature of the 1960s and in the reaction of black leaders to political and legal reform. The frustration espoused by some African-American intellectuals in the 1960s indicates that the cultural bridge formed during the Harlem Renaissance created a legacy of greater independence for the African-American intelligentsia. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the OSU Foundation, the McAlester Scottish Rite Foundation and the OSU Department of History for research funding. To my "Patrons": Mom and Dad, Jane and Peter, Eli, Bert, Nicki, Joann, John, and Gene, my undying gratitude for their encouragement and support (both emotional and aesthetic). A special thanks to friends, colleagues, and associates whq provided assistance, suggestions, and reassurance: Julie Jones, Susan Oliver, Patty Loughlin, Jen Till, Steve Kite, Phil Schuyler, Malcolm Brown, Rick Rohrs, and L.G. Moses. I wish to express appreciation to my committee. I am grateful to Linda Leavell and Mike Smith for their time and advice on the dissertation during the last four years. My sincere gratitude to my dissertation advisor and friend, Mike Logan, for his direction, recommendations, and patience. A heartfelt thanks to Ron Petrin, who, as chairman of my commi'ttee supervised and guided, while, as a compaesano assured and consoled. Finally, this work is dedicated to A.R. The opinions expressed are my own and I take full responsibility for any errors or blunders in the text. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page INTRODUCTION ............................................• . 1 I. ORIGINS OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE ................. 19 II. NEGROTARIANS AND THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERARTI ... 56 III. LANGSTON HUGHES AND "THE WAYS OF WHITE FOLKS" ..... 98 IV. RICHARD WRIGHT'S PROTEST LITERATURE ............... 127 V. RALPH ELLISON'S ART AND PROTEST ................... 156 CONCLUSION ..................... ~ . .. 185 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............... _- . .. .. ... .. 2 0 8 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Increase of African Americans Born in the South and living in the North, 1880-1930 ................ 24 2. African-American Population of the United States, 1880-1930......................................... 26 3. African-American Population of New York State, 1880-1930 ........... ;............................. 29 4. African-American Popuiation of New York City, 1890-1930 ... ; ... ·. ; .. ~ ... :. 30 5. African Americans employed in the Arts, 1890-1930......................................... 44 6. Time Line to the Harlem Renaissance ............... 55 7. Selected List of African-American Works Before the Harlem Renaissance, 1890-1919 .......... 61 8. Major Harlem Renaissance Works Published by Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1920-1935 .................. 66 9. Carl Van Vechten's Nigger Heaven "Glossary of Negro Words and Phrases 11 ••••••••••••••••••••••••• ~ • • • • • • 70 10. Harlem II Slanguage 11 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 86 11. Time Line of the Harlem Renaissance ............... 93 12. Major Works Published During the Harlem Renaissance ............................ 94 13 . FIRE ! ! . .. 9 5 14. FIRE! ! , Table of Contents. 96 15. Godmother's Easter Card ........................... 97 16. Langston Hughes Chronology ........................ 125 17. _Richard Wright Chronology ......................... 155 18. Ralph Ellison Chronology .......................... 184 ix NOMENCLATURE LH, JWJ, Beinecke: Langston Hughes Papers, James Weldon Johnson Memorial\Special Collections, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Division, Yale University Library, New Haven. ZNH, JWJ, Beinecke:
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