Browse Items (25 total)

This is a short sample of Zora Neale Hurston's analysis and research on African American, language and culture. Much of the analysis that she made was based off of her research on African American folklore and travelling the south. In the this…

Depicted here is a picture of Zora Neale Hurston in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida. Many of her short stories and novels were said to be based off of Eatonville. Eatonville is a majority African American community, supplying Hurston a plethora…

"So thousands of whites came to Harlem night after night, thinking the Negroes loved to have them there, and firmly believing that al Harlemites left their houses at sundown to sing and dance in cabarets, because most of the whites saw nothing but…

This photo depicts two young black couples dressed on what can be assumed their wedding day. James Van Der Zee, the photographer of this photo, was well known during the Harlem Renaissance. He documented the portraits of the African Americans that…

Harlem Renaissance what was painted by a man named Aaron Douglas. The name of the piece was created for the book The New Negro by Alain Locke. The art work is meant to depict different parts of Afro-American history. You see on the left people…

This is a cover of the Crisis magazine designed by Aaron Douglas, a famous artist during the Harlem Renaissance. The cover is very similar to his other work that is featured in Fire!!. Many geometric shapes are used to vaguely represent human arms.…

It shows a Jazz player at the center of a very chaotic and apocalyptic setting. The reason it caught my eye is because it shows what is a seemly positive and powerful image in the middle of a dark place which can be correlated to its influence from…

It is a mixture of the harsh broad colors of the street and environment met with much brighter and happier colors that were found in the shops and homes of those living in Harlem.

The illustration depicts the many African Americans that were fleeing the south for better opportunity in the North. In the painting you see 3 major cities: New York, Chicago, and St. Louis. These as well as cities like Detroit and LA experience a…

This painting by Albert Potter appeared very informative to me as it so vividly depicts New York's Lower East Side. During the beginning of twentieth century, the Lower East Side was essentially the main area where a large amount of Jewish…

This is the cover to an experimental musical that Zora Neale Hurston wrote in 1925, early in her career. It was interesting to see another play written to by Hurston. Unlike Hurston's play in Fire!!, this musical takes place in New York City. To see…

Jazz was a major part of the culture of 1920s. The newly available technology such as radio and phonographs allowed this type of music to be easily accessed by all groups. For one of the first times in history, it was easy for the general public to…

“We have to-morrow
Bright before us
Like a flame”
(663, Hughes)

This quote from one of Langston Hughes’ many poems expresses the hope that African Americans have during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes refers to this bright future as…

Lenox Avenue was the most popular street in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. Lenox Avenue served as a major hub for African American culture during the Harlem Renaissance. Here, clubs and restaurants sprung up that featured some of the most…

This photo is an picture of Lenox Avenue in the 1920s. Lenox Ave seems to be a predominately African American area and also very busy and bustling. Lenox Ave is filled with identical buildings, all of which have the same height, same width, and…

"Vos Yede Froy Darf Visen Vegen Birgershaft", which directly translates to "What Every Woman Should Know about Citizenship." The book is written in both Yiddish and English. This information booklet was made in 1926 by the National Council of Jewish…

This image demonstrates a labor strike. The workers are upset with their low wages and poor working conditions. This image was taken during the Great Depression but it is described in the article that minority workers found little difference…

This map depicts the social nightlife of Harlem in the early 1930’s. It was drawn by E. Simms Campbell who was an African American artists in the 1900’s, who frequently had his work publish in African American magazines. The map shows specific night…

Louis Armstrong was an important figure in the development of jazz music. He influenced the jazz we know today as a pivotal trumpeter, singer and song writer. He was one of the first popular African-American entertainers. Starting with his trumpet…

The photo featured here is the orchestra that played at the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem. As Langston Hughes mentioned in his reflective piece about Harlem Renaissance, the Cotton Club was a club exclusively for white patrons in the middle of…