The Harlem Renaissance

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the Harlem Renaissance and how it transformed African-American identity and history, as well as American culture in general. It describes some of the prominent writers who were discovered during the Harlem Renaissance, such as Claude McKay, Alain Locke, James Weldon Johnson, W.E.B. Dubois and Marcus Garvey. It also describes some of the artists and musicians who became famous at that time.

From the Paper:

"Musicians were also a tremendous source of enlightenment during this period. Specifically, during the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, "somewhere around the year 1918, this melting pot of southern blacks deeply rooted in the traditions of spirituals and blues mixed with the more educated northern blacks to create an atmosphere of artistic and intellectual growth never before seen or heard in America." In the case of music which may be the expressive form most frequently associated with experiences of spirit possession, contemplative revere, and wistful or violent nostalgia--our most striking experiences often takes place at moments of half-understood haunted-ness. Therefore, the intersection of, music and social memory constitutes and especially propitious site for cultural analysis, not least in the study of the Harlem Renaissance intellectual life" (Anderson 16). Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker are some of the musicians during the Harlem Renaissance that moved the spirit in most of the African-Americans. "Ragtime was the one artistic production of American music" (Huggins 282). It was originated by colored piano player in the questionable resorts of St. Louis, Memphis and other Mississippi River Town. Ragtime got it first hearing in Chicago and made its way to New York during 1918."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, Paul A. Deep River Music and Memory in Harlem Renaissance Thought. Durham: Duke UP, 2001. 1-346.
• Belton, Val G. African American and Political Dissent Boring the Harlem Renaissance. New York. 6-13.
• Flynn, Patricia. "Immigrants & American Identity." The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute @ (2001): 2-26.
• Harris, Veronica. Time Periods Occupied by Artists in the Walter O. Evans Collection. 25 Mar. 2007 <http://www.thebrogan.org/Archives/walter/time.html>.
• Hawkins, Aaron. Uppity-Negro.Com. 1 Sept. 2002. 25 Mar. 2007 <http://www.uppity-negro.com/2002/09/no_se_apoye_contra_la_puta.html>.

More papers on The Harlem Renaissance:

• Analytical Essay # 121042 : "Poets of the Harlem Renaissance"
• Analytical Essay # 133568 : "The Harlem Renaissance and the Concept of Negro Art"
• Analytical Essay # 130542 : "Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance"
• Research Paper # 103229 : "Changing Times and the Harlem Renaissance"

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