Pictures that depicted the Harlem Renaissance

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/harlem/harlem.html

Art

During the Harlem Renaissance African Americans became more expressive
about their culture and lifestyle. Many artists depicted the “New Negro” in their work, the better self image of African Americans. Painters such as Palmer C. Hayden, Malvin Gray Johnson, and Laura Wheeler Waring exhibited bold portraits of Negros and the black life from different prospectives. Sculptors used a variety of materials, such as clay, wood, and bronze to create representations of African Americans and their lifestyles. Richmond Barthe, Sargent Johnson, and Augusta Savage are among these sculptors. The illustrations and jacket covers of Aaron Douglas, who is considered to be the “Father of Afro-American Art”, can be found in the pages of The Crisis, Opportunity, and New Masses. The pictures in these books and magazines produce imagery that depicts the Negroes new self image during the Harlem Renaissance. Artists were influenced by jazz music and folk traditions.

Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting, 1934

This moral depicts the history of African Americans, from their origins in Africa to life in America in the 1930s

Kaleigh L.

Sources Cited:
http://www.askart.com/askart/interest/black_american_artists_1.aspx?id=33#Harlem
http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/a/african_american_4.html
http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/harrenaiss.htm
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/118282

Social Thought
The goals that African Americans had during the Harlem Renaissance were to show that African Americans were capable as an individual. They wanted to provide a positive self-image for Negroes. The Harlem Renaissance period depicted the African Americans as individuals who were capable of making great achievements if given the opportunity.
The Harlem Renaissance was the first period in the history of the United States in which a group of black poets, authors, and writers took the opportunity to express themselves. What conditions lead to this situation? 1) Contact with other blacks from different parts of the world gave them a renewed sense of self-respect and 2) Mass migration of African Americans from the South to major Northern areas…one which was Harlem!
What does the term renaissance mean? The dictionary definition is “a rebirth or revival of literary ideas”. So technically the term Harlem Renaissance doesn’t qualify as a “renaissance” but because no prior time in American History had a group of African Americans attempted to make any progress in major literary contributions the name has justification to be known as the “Harlem Renaissance”.

sources cited:
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78.02.08.x.html http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78.02.08.x.html
http://www.42explore2.com/harlem.html
http://www.42explore2.com/harlem.htm
jupiterimages.com

Kaleigh L.

Dance
Dance played a huge part in the music. Tunes played by the "big bands" or a group of multiple musicians in a band, got many African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance up and moving to the upbeat rythme played by the big bands. Frankie Manning was one of the most influential Lindy Hoppers, and he helped change the dance with new steps, techniques, and stunt moves. With these new changes or influences made the Lindy Hop more entertaining to watch, and to participate in. Some of the dances that performed during this period include; the Lindy Hop and
the Charleston.

David H.

sources:
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/harlem/themes/lindyhop.html
savoystyle.com

Harlem Renaissance Women

Harlem Renaissance Women

This article depicts African American women in a positive light, post the WWI era. Many African American Women were successful business owners, singers, dancers, actors, etc.


Ingrid

African American New Women

African American New Women

Women in the Harlem Renaissance

At the end of the Civil War, there were few doors of opportunities that opened to African Americans. But when the doors opened, many African Americans stepped through. African Americans were moving out of the South and headed to cities and towns in the North. In the North, theyformed a black culture that consisted of singing and story-telling, which led to what we call, "The Jazz Age."
This was a time that many African American women were fighting for their rights and the rights of all African Americans. Many African American women were teachers, writers, singers, dancers, librarians, business owners andentrepreneurs. These women were integral parts the Harlem Renaissance for the roles they played. As organizers, editors, decision-makers, they helped publicize, support and shape the movement of the Harlem Renaissance. These women celebrated who they were and their black culture and worked diligently to develop that culture.Some of the women that were vital characters in the development of the Harlem Renaissance were: Regina Anderson, a professional librarian in New York City, who sponsored and promoted many artists and projects in the Harlem Renaissance. Josephine Baker, an entertainer and dancer, who fought for racial equality by refusing to sing in clubs that were not integrated, thereby breaking the color barrier in many of these establishments. Hallie Quinn Brown, educator, lecturer, reformer (civil rights, women's rights) wasknown for her role in Harlem Renaissance by the preservation of Frederick Douglass' home.
These are to name a few of the faces that helped shape the era of the Harlem Renaissance. Today, their works live on through many African American writers, poets, singers and dancers that try to imitate or teach the legacy that these women left behind. Through hard work and dedication to their race, they became known for being instrumental in the movement of the Harlem Renaissance.

Ingrid C.

Photos courtesy of: http://womenshistory.about.com/od

Works cited: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/harlemrenaissance/a/dreaming_color_2.htm

Harlem Renaissance

Aaron Douglas, Idylls of the Deep South, 1934



Welcome and Introduction

The Harlem Renaissance began as a black arts movement which consisted of artists, writers and musicians. The many artists who flocked to a part of Manhattan called Harlem were eager to express their talents and show the country just who they were. Among the emerging national culture was jazz and blues music. According to Jones (2008), with the help of the recording industry, jazz and blues became very popular among blacks and whites alike, with blues music allowing blacks to “express themes of working class protest and resistance to racism.” Harlem Renaissance was the beginning of the emergence of black culture and identity. According to Rhapsodies in Black, “Harlem was not so much a place as a state of mind, the cultural metaphor for black America itself.”

Lisa M.

sources cited:
Rhapsodies in Black, retrieved from http://www.iniva.org/harlem/home.html
Jones, J. (2008). Created equal:a social and political history of the United States. Brief 2nd edition. New York: Pearson.
http://php.scripts.psu.edu/users/b/m/bma5043/English263/Art.htm