The Harlem Renaissance: An African American Cultural Movement
A Mythical City Working-class black Americans brought their unique culture to their new urban settings Notable black American contributions contributions to society included blues and jazz music which first emerged in New Orleans Louisiana before traveling up the Mississippi River and spreading east to Chicago Illinois and New York City In the world of literature authors such as Paul Laurence Dunbar whose parents had been slaves achieved fame writing about life in the poetic dialect of southern southern African Americans Dunbar’s 1902 book The Sport of the Gods was the first novel about black life in New York City In it Dunbar described the mythical status status the city held in the imaginations of black southerners They had heard of New York as a place vague and far away a city that like Heaven to them had existed by faith alone All the days of their lives they had heard about it and it seemed to them the centre of all the glory all the wealth and all the freedom of the world 1 While getting a job was possible for many black Americans many employment options were low paying and considered by some to be low status 10 The Harlem Renaissance An African American Cultural Movement
Like some European immigrants who may had heard rumors that New York’s streets were paved with gold the reality of the city may have disappointed disappointed some African Americans Unskilled black women living in Harlem labored as maids dressmakers beauticians and cooks Men were hired as elevator operators operators shoe shiners porters doormen messengers waiters janitors and day laborers However even these jobs presented presented better opportunities than those in the South Additionally unlike most of the South Harlem had many black-owned black-owned shops and restaurants as well as black professionals including lawyers doctors nurses teachers and preachers A Thin Veil While a few black business owners landlords landlords and artists were financially successful successful many Harlem residents remained poor before during and after the renaissance renaissance However the mix of old and new cultures from the South New York City and even the Caribbean provided artistic inspiration for those leading the Harlem Renaissance As history professor Cary D Wintz wrote in Black Culture and the Harlem Renaissance The neighborhood provided the material and the setting for many literary creations of the Renaissance The poetry short stories and novels of the period abound with scenes and characters lifted from Harlem’s streets and cabarets Harlem though was a teeming overcrowded ghetto and much of its laughter and gaiety only thinly veiled the misery and poverty that was becoming the stan dard of life for the new black urban masses This too was reflected by the Harlem Renaissance 2 What made the era so unique was the fact that it was not only black people people celebrating their culture in what was called the the World’s Greatest Negro Metropolis White Americans were also learning about the joys troubles successes and degradations of life for African Americans The Harlem Renaissance was one of the first times that black and white Americans Americans read the same literature attended theater together danced together and sang together It was a brief period however and racism was still rampant among many white Americans However However for those in New York City’s black communities the renaissance proved to be a celebration of pride culture identity and history For the first time the achievements of black Americans were visible for all to see and after three centuries of racism enslavement and prejudice black Americans ceased being invisible A Great Awakening 11
Chapter One A CHANGING URBAN CULTURE Harlem covers around 3 square miles 7 77 sq km of Manhattan Island in the northern or uptown area of New York City The neighborhood’s original borders borders were 125th Street to the South 155th Street to the North Morningside Drive on the West and the East and Harlem Rivers on the East In the early 1900s Harlem was home to more than 150,000 black people people who represented a melting pot of African Americans from around the United States as well as immigrants immigrants from African countries Jamaica Jamaica Haiti Cuba and Puerto Rico In 1925 Harlem had only been the center center of black urban culture for about 15 years How it transformed into the World’s Greatest Negro Metropolis Metropolis can be traced to a combination of capitalism poverty opportunity and racism Historian Leon Litwack described the early decades of the 20th century as the most violent and repressive period period in the history of race relations in the United States 3 This was especially true in Virginia Louisiana Alabama Mississippi Georgia and the Carolinas Carolinas where 80 percent of black Americans Americans lived in rural areas as sharecroppers sharecroppers which means they farmed land owned by others for a small percentage percentage of the crops Sharecroppers were the poorest of the poor often working long hours living in bad conditions and suffering from malnutrition and ill health Between 1910 and 1930 about 1 5 million black southerners had had enough They left behind terrible conditions conditions in the South and moved north settling in cities such as Chicago Detroit Michigan Cleveland Ohio and Philadelphia Pennsylvania The Great 12 The Harlem Renaissance An African American Cultural Movement
UPPER MANHATTAN INWOOD 220th DYCKMAN HUDSON HEIGHTS SUGAR WASHINGTON HEIGHTS HILL HAMILTON HEIGHTS MANHATTANVILLE MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS HARLEM MANHATTAN VALLEY UPPER WEST SIDE UPPER EAST SIDE EAST HARLEM YORKVILLE LINCOLN SQUARE HELL'S KITCHEN MIDTOWN CENTRAL PARK THEATER DISTRICT WEST UPPER WEST SIDE UPPER EAST SIDE MIDTOWN LOWER MANHATTAN VILLAGE GARMENT DISTRICT CHELSEA 173rd 155th 145th 135th 125th 123rd 110th 96th 84th 79th 77th 72nd 59th 53rd 42nd 40th 34th 30th 24th 23rd 20th 18th 14th GANSEVOORT ASTOR PLACE 5th HOUSTON BROOME GRAND HESTER CANAL SOHO NICHOLTA UNION SQUARE GREENWICH VILLAGE NOHO BOWLERY ALPHABET CITY EAST LENOX HILL AUTSOR PLACE MIDTOWN EAST MURRAY HILL KIPS BAY ROSE HILL PLATRON DISTRICT ORAMERCY PARK INVISIANT TOWN VILLAGE LOWER EAST SIDE LITTLE ITALY CHINATOWN TRIBICA CIVIC CENTER TWO BRIDGES WORTH CHAMBERS BROOKLYN BRIDGE FINANCIAL DISTRICT BATTERY PARK CITY SOUTH While the names and borders of many of Manhattan's neighborhoods have remained unchanged for more than a century the constant arrival of new residents from across the country and around the world has transformed many areas of New York City A Changing Urban Culture 13
