Browse Items (12 total)

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

"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…

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…

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…

The exact location of this street scene in Harlem is unknown, however, it captures the energy, commerce and fashion in Harlem during the 1920s. As James Weldon Johnson described in The Making of Harlem, Harlem was a "self supporting community".…

Harlem cabarets became an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. They acted as a casual setting where people could break away from the social norms of race and sexuality. They started as establishments for primarily colored people but soon whites…