Literature and Artistic Movements of

the

Harlem Renaissance
 Background Information
First important movement Many artist, writers,
of African American artists and musicians were
and writers centered in Harlem, NY.
The period from the end of
World War I through the
middle of the 1930s…
Large numbers of African
Americans left their rural
southern homes to move to
urban centers such as New
York City, Chicago, and
Washington, DC.
 Zora Neale Hurston
1891-1960
 Zora Neale Hurston,
novelist, folklorist, and
anthropologist
 Best known as a writer of
twentieth-century African-
American literature.
 Work includes: Their Eyes
Were Watching God, Dust
Tracks on the Road, Every
Tongue Got to Confess,
Mules and Men, Tell My
Zora Neale Hurston Horse.
 Co-wrote, Mule Bone with
Langston Hughes.
 Langston Hughes
1902-1967

African-American Hughes was one of the

poet, novelist, first black authors,
playwright, short- who could support
story writer, and himself by his writings.
columnist. Works include: Simple
Innovator of new Speaks His Mind, The
literary art form, jazz Book of Negro Folklore,
poetry. poetry, and plays.
Famous poem, “I, "I, Too, Sing America"
Too, Sing America.”
 Music
A uniquely Famous musicians:
American music Duke Ellington,
form, whose roots Count Basie, Louis
lay in African Armstrong, Billie
Holiday, Benny
expression, came to
Goodman.
be known as jazz.
Jazz music brought
about the birth of the
Duke Ellington nightclub: The Savoy
Ballroom, The Apollo
Theater, and The
Cotton Club.
 ART
African-Americans
celebrated their heritage Prominent artists
through artwork. included: Aaron
These artists rejected Douglass, Lois Jones,
landscapes for a more William H. Johnson,
urban look.
and Jacob Lawrence.
Artwork focused on
class and culture.
Wanted to bring ethnic
consciousness into art
and create a new black
identity.
California Content Standards
11.5 Students analyze the major political,
social, economic, technological, and
cultural developments of the 1920s.

5.Describe the Harlem Renaissance and

new trends in literature, music, and art,
with special attention to the work of
writers (e.g., Zora Neale Hurston,
Langston Hughes).
 Refer

The End

References
http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/Literature/Page_1.htm
http://www.traditional-jazz.com/mainpages/louis.htm
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/ppo/programming/soul
people/files/Zora%20Neale%20Hurston.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CUKyVrhPgM
http://www.biography.com/articles/Zora-Neale-Hurston-93476
59
http://www.afropoets.net/langstonhughes.html
http://robinurton.com/history/Harlem.htm
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.amazon.c
om/images/P/1590187024.jpg
 by
Melissa Borgen