Jennell Hill 5P PPT The Harlem Renaissance

1. The Harlem Renaissance
History 102-678
Prof. Riordan
By: Jennell A. Hill

2. The Harlem Renaissance: Thesis
After World War 1 ended, America ushered in a new a new African American
cultural identity, this was called the The Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem
Renaissance was one of the most enduring time in history for African Americans.
With the “New Negro Movement” migrating into Harlem from the South came with
a movement that gave African Americans a chance for expression and self
determination for a better life and embracing their roots as a work of art. This
contribution of the New Negro Movement came with the explosion of African
American poetry, music, art, dance, and literature. In this presentation, I will
explore the likes of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Billie Holiday, Duke
Ellington, and Josephine Baker.

3. The Harlem Renaissance cont..
• Renaissance means “rebirth”
• Harlem was known as the “Black Mecca”
• The Harlem Renaissance was movement that was created in Harlem, but this
movement spread throughout the states as well.
• Harlem was a predominantly white neighborhood but when the homes prices
dropped, it became more affordable for African Americans.
• African Americans were inspired to create works that was from their own
culture instead of emulating White Americans culture.

4. How does the Harlem Renaissance fit into the daily life of America?
Well that’s easy! With the explosion of artistic, music, and dance it still exists now.
Music and literature has always been part of our daily lives. The jazz style of
music was pretty much the beginning of music. Without these few Legends
mentioned music would not be what it is today. You can tell by some of the artists
now are influence by those in the past. A lot of artists today still pay homage to the
Greats from the Renaissance. For example, Beyonce’ did the “ banana dance” in
one of her videos to pay homage to Josephine Baker.

5. Langston Hughes

6. Langston Hughes
• Langston Hughes was born Feb. 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri.
• He was a social activist, great poet, playwright, and a novelist.
• His 1st poem was published in 1921 “The negro speaks of River”.
• Hughes earned a BA from Lincoln University in 1929.
• Hughes was the one of the 1st African Americans to earn a living from as a writer and
fund all of his work on his own.
• With his writing ability, he was able to give black a men and women a voice of their
reality to others who could not relate to the culture.
• He was influenced by the energy of jazz music while being able to capture the music
into his poetry. His poetry showed the beauty and dignity of the daily life of a black
person.

7. What was it about the Harlem Renaissance that was unique to America
and to our study of American history since 1877?
The Harlem Renaissance was unique because African Americans was finally able
to be heard. Slavery had ended in 1863 and African Americans wanted to show
what their culture consisted of and what it could offer by using their God given
talents through music, literature,dance, and other artistic views.

8. Zora Neale Hurston

9. Zora Neale Hurston
• Hurston was a well known folklorist, novelist, and an anthropologist.
• Zora Neale Hurston was born on Jan. 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama.
• Earned an ASN from Howard University, Earned a BSN from Barnard College.
• Hurston used folklore and themes of her heritage to put into her work.
• In 1934, Hurston created a dramatics of arts at Bethune- Cookman University. This
was based on pure negro expressions.

10. Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington

11. Edward Kennedy Ellington
• Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C.
• Ellington was a composer, pianist, a conductor, and a songwriter.
• He began studying piano at the age of 7.
• Ellington wrote his 1st composition at 15 “Soda Fountain Rag”
• His passion for playing the piano was strong, he turned down a scholarship to attend
college after graduating from high school.
• He married his highschool sweetheart and only had one child (son)
• “Duke” was giving to him by friends due to his piano style.
• One of his favorite songs was “Take the A Train” (video)

12. How would you have felt about the Harlem Renaissance if you had been
living during the era you are covering?
Since this is one of my favorite times in History, I know that I would have enjoyed
every moment of it as I do now. It seemed as if Americans had at least 10 years
of some kind of peace before The Great Depression occurred to enjoy life at it’s
fullest. I always like to see the underdogs succeed any chance they get. If I had a
time machine this is the era I would go back in time too. I’m sure after a long day
at work, I would have loved to roll up my stockings, throw on my dress, fixed my
hair up in pin curls and pearls and headed down to the Cotton Club!!

13. Eleanora “Billie Holiday” Fagan

14. Eleanora “Billie Holiday” Fagan
• Billie Holiday was a Jazz singer and songwriter.
• She was born April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Nicknamed was “Lady Day” and trademarked the Gardenia as a hairpiece.
• Fagan dropped out of school at 11 to help her mother run her business.
• She had a very hard life growing up. Fagan served time in prison for prostitution at the age of 13.
• She began to sing to turn her life around.
• When she began to sing in nightclubs, she adopted the name “Billie” from her favorite actress Billie
Dove.
• One of her famous songs was “God Bless the Child”- God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song) -
Wikipedia, the free ...

15. How has the Harlem Renaissance changed over the years (describe its’ role
in society today).
I think the harlem renaissance has changed due to the advancement of
technology and engineering. During this time, people only had to use their brains,
hands, pens to create art. This is what made this movement so special. You had
to have a imaginative mind or gift to be able to come up with this “work of art” back
then. African Americans had to be just as good as the next person to succeed
especially when they were still fighting against racism.

16. Freda Josephine McDonald

17. Freda Josephine McDonald
• Freda Josephine McDonald born on June 3, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri.
• She was an actress, singer, dancer, and a civil rights activist.
• Baker was nicknamed as the “Black Pearl”.
• She dropped out of school at the age of 13.
• Baker had become the 1st African American star
• She became a citizen of France due to her act of dance being frowned upon.
• She was a very outspoken civil rights activist that always spoke her mind.
• She had 12 children that she adopted.
• Baker “Banana Dance” was very risque’.

18. What new information did you learn about your topic that you didn’t
already know?
• I learned that the Harlem Renaissance spread across the states instead of just being in
Harlem.
• I learned that Langston Hughes taught at Atlanta University and Chicago Laboratory
school.
• I learned that the Harlem Renaissance took place before the Great Depression and not
after it. I was always under the assumption that it was the other way around.
• I learned that Billie Holliday wore Gardenias in her hair because she had burned her
hair before going out on stage. I also learned she had a rough childhood.

19. Fashion
Women:
• Dresses were the flyest clothing for women.
• Dresses were made from whatever they could
find at home and sew together.
• In order to stand out from others by adding
decorations and rhinestones to make the dress
pop!
• High heels and gloves finished off the FIERCE
look!
Men:
• ZOOT suits were the coolest style for men.
• The suits was made from many material
from wool, linen, cotton, and sometimes
leather.
• The look was completed with a hat, bow
ties, and oxford shoes.

20. Fashion cont.
Women Men

21. Music
What a Little moonlight can do- Billie Holiday
Stompin’ at the Savory- Chick Webb
Sweet Georgia Brown- Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway
St. Louis Blues- Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith (video)
Squeeze Me- Fats Waller
What a Wonderful World- Louis Armstrong

22. Dance
These are a list of some of the cool dance moves that were being displayed at the
Cotton Club and any other place of recreation.
The Charleston (the video)
The Turkey Trot
The Black Button
The Shimmy
The Cake Walk

23. Literary
There Eyes Were watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
The Weary Blues- Langston Hughes
The Heart of a Woman- Georgia Douglas Johnson
The Black Christ- Countee Cullen
The Negro Speaks of Rivers- Langston Hughes
Home to Harlem-Claude McKay

24. Sports
• With boxing, baseball, and basketball had reached new heights in the 1920’s.
• The Negro League has the first World Series in 1924 with Satchel Paige and Oscar Charleston.
• The Harlem Rems was a basketball team created in 1923.
• The Harlem Globetrotters came around in 1927.
• In 1936, Jesse Owens was breaking barriers at the Olympics by winning 4 gold medals.
• Joe Lewis became a heavyweight champion in boxing and was earned the nickname the “Brown
Bomber”!

25. Conclusion
The Harlem Renaissance was one of the most profound, engaging, and exciting
periods in American History. This showed that African Americans were smart and
intelligent just as the next race. They were the first ones to do it and start a
movement for African Americans art to be recognized. This is truly a blessing that
they were brave enough to stand behind their beliefs. With this courage, I hope
people use are able to emulate these intelligent masterminds.

26. Google Images was used to get pictures.
Wintz, Cary D. “Black Culture and The Harlem Renaissance”. Houston.Rice
University Press,1988. Print.
ushistory.org.”The Harlem Renaissance”.U.S History Online Textbook.Web. 11
May. 2016. http://www.ushistory.org/us/46e.asp
Glasrud, Bruce A and Wintz, Cary D. “The Harlem Renaissance in the American
West”. Web.New York. Routledge, 2012.
http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/harlem-renaissance-american-
west#sthash.IO8s2tBq.dpuf
Wikipedia was used for refreshers and dates in the order they occurred.
Work Cited