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There are 12 matching records, sorted by relevance. Displaying matches 1 through 12 .
Harlem History
Columbia University.
This website offers a collection of oral history interviews, images, videos, and scholarship on various aspects of the history of Harlem. It is divided into three main sections. “Arts and Culture” has six exhibits that include two video interviews focusing on Harlem’s artists, writers, and musicians, oral history interviews with A. Phillip Randolph on the Harlem Renaissance and Dorothy Height on Harlem’s theatrical scene, and a multimedia presentation on the Harlem Renaissance. “The Neighborhood” provides seven exhibits that include an oral-history interview with the first African American patrolman in New York City, an essay and video on the architecture and development of Harlem, an e-seminar about classic New York ethnic neighborhoods, an essay on the decline of Jewish Harlem, Bayard Rustin’s reflections on different ethnic groups with economic interests in Harlem, and civil-rights leader Dorothy Height’s description of changes in Harlem and her attachment to the neighborhood. “Politics” offers four exhibits: oral history interviews with A. Phillip Randolph on Marcus Garvey’s movement in Harlem and Bayard Rustin on Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a video lecture on Harlem politicians, and a video interview with David Dinkens on 1950s Harlem. The site also offers a short (eight images) photo essay entitled “The Streets of Harlem” and a multimedia presentation on the 1945 Negro Freedom Rally. This site offers a useful and varied collection of material for those researching or teaching Harlem or 20th-century African American history.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES, AUDIO, VIDEO.
Website last visited on 2005-09-06.
Columbia University.
This website offers a collection of oral history interviews, images, videos, and scholarship on various aspects of the history of Harlem. It is divided into three main sections. “Arts and Culture” has six exhibits that include two video interviews focusing on Harlem’s artists, writers, and musicians, oral history interviews with A. Phillip Randolph on the Harlem Renaissance and Dorothy Height on Harlem’s theatrical scene, and a multimedia presentation on the Harlem Renaissance. “The Neighborhood” provides seven exhibits that include an oral-history interview with the first African American patrolman in New York City, an essay and video on the architecture and development of Harlem, an e-seminar about classic New York ethnic neighborhoods, an essay on the decline of Jewish Harlem, Bayard Rustin’s reflections on different ethnic groups with economic interests in Harlem, and civil-rights leader Dorothy Height’s description of changes in Harlem and her attachment to the neighborhood. “Politics” offers four exhibits: oral history interviews with A. Phillip Randolph on Marcus Garvey’s movement in Harlem and Bayard Rustin on Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a video lecture on Harlem politicians, and a video interview with David Dinkens on 1950s Harlem. The site also offers a short (eight images) photo essay entitled “The Streets of Harlem” and a multimedia presentation on the 1945 Negro Freedom Rally. This site offers a useful and varied collection of material for those researching or teaching Harlem or 20th-century African American history.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES, AUDIO, VIDEO.
Website last visited on 2005-09-06.
The Crisis
The Crisis was a monthly magazine put out by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization that advocated for African-American civil rights, and was edited by the black activist intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois. Heralding the style and substance of the Harlem Renaissance, The Crisis reached from 60,000 to nearly 100,000 readers monthly during the 1920s. The flowering of black culture known as the Harlem Renaissance took inspiration from the emergence of pan-Africanism as an intellectual and political movement, and a growing sense of racial pride. In an era when white publications largely ignored African Americans, The Crisis presented a mix of news of African-American accomplishment; exposes of southern and northern racism; reports on efforts to improve the political, economic, and social circumstances of African Americans; and incisive editorials penned by Du Bois himself. The magazine also promoted African-American artistic production by publishing the work of and sponsoring contests for writers, composers, and visual artists.
Resources Available: IMAGES.
The Crisis was a monthly magazine put out by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization that advocated for African-American civil rights, and was edited by the black activist intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois. Heralding the style and substance of the Harlem Renaissance, The Crisis reached from 60,000 to nearly 100,000 readers monthly during the 1920s. The flowering of black culture known as the Harlem Renaissance took inspiration from the emergence of pan-Africanism as an intellectual and political movement, and a growing sense of racial pride. In an era when white publications largely ignored African Americans, The Crisis presented a mix of news of African-American accomplishment; exposes of southern and northern racism; reports on efforts to improve the political, economic, and social circumstances of African Americans; and incisive editorials penned by Du Bois himself. The magazine also promoted African-American artistic production by publishing the work of and sponsoring contests for writers, composers, and visual artists.
Resources Available: IMAGES.
Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten, 1932–1964
American Memory, Library of Congress.
This collection presents 1,395 photographs by the American photographer, music and dance critic, and novelist Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964). The site consists primarily of studio portraits of celebrities, most of whom were involved in the arts, including actors, such as Marlon Brando and Paul Robeson; artists, such as Marc Chagall and Frida Kahlo; novelists, such as Theodore Dreiser and Willa Cather; singers, such as Ethel Waters and Billie Holiday; publishers, such as Alfred A. Knopf and Bennett Cerf; cultural critics, such as H. L. Mencken and Gilbert Seldes; and figures from the Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston. More than 80 photographs capture Massachusetts and Maine landscapes and seascapes; others include eastern locations and New Mexico. Many photographs of actors present them in character roles. Searchable by keyword and arranged into subject and occupational indexes, this collection also includes a 9-title bibliography and background essay of 800 words on Van Vechten’s life and work. A valuable collection for the documentation of the mid-20th century art scene.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2002-10-28.
American Memory, Library of Congress.
This collection presents 1,395 photographs by the American photographer, music and dance critic, and novelist Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964). The site consists primarily of studio portraits of celebrities, most of whom were involved in the arts, including actors, such as Marlon Brando and Paul Robeson; artists, such as Marc Chagall and Frida Kahlo; novelists, such as Theodore Dreiser and Willa Cather; singers, such as Ethel Waters and Billie Holiday; publishers, such as Alfred A. Knopf and Bennett Cerf; cultural critics, such as H. L. Mencken and Gilbert Seldes; and figures from the Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston. More than 80 photographs capture Massachusetts and Maine landscapes and seascapes; others include eastern locations and New Mexico. Many photographs of actors present them in character roles. Searchable by keyword and arranged into subject and occupational indexes, this collection also includes a 9-title bibliography and background essay of 800 words on Van Vechten’s life and work. A valuable collection for the documentation of the mid-20th century art scene.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2002-10-28.
“If We Must Die”: Claude McKay Limns the “New Negro”
Hundreds of writers and artists lived in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s and were part of a vibrant, creative community that found its voice in what came to be called the “Harlem Renaissance.” Alain Locke’s 1925 collection The New Negro—a compilation of literature by and essays about “New Negro” artists and black culture—became a “manifesto” of the movement. Some of black America’s foremost writers contributed stories and poems to the volume. The work of these artists drew upon the African-American experience and expressed a new pride in black racial identity and heritage. Several factors accounted for the birth of the movement and propelled it forward. By 1920 the once white ethnic neighborhood of Harlem in upper Manhattan overflowed with recent African-American migrants from the South and the Caribbean. Black soldiers returning from World War I shared a new sense of pride, militancy, and entitlement, as expressed in Claude McKay’s 1919 protest poem "If We Must Die."
Resources Available: TEXT.
Hundreds of writers and artists lived in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s and were part of a vibrant, creative community that found its voice in what came to be called the “Harlem Renaissance.” Alain Locke’s 1925 collection The New Negro—a compilation of literature by and essays about “New Negro” artists and black culture—became a “manifesto” of the movement. Some of black America’s foremost writers contributed stories and poems to the volume. The work of these artists drew upon the African-American experience and expressed a new pride in black racial identity and heritage. Several factors accounted for the birth of the movement and propelled it forward. By 1920 the once white ethnic neighborhood of Harlem in upper Manhattan overflowed with recent African-American migrants from the South and the Caribbean. Black soldiers returning from World War I shared a new sense of pride, militancy, and entitlement, as expressed in Claude McKay’s 1919 protest poem "If We Must Die."
Resources Available: TEXT.
Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro
Matthew Kirschenbaum and Catherine Tousignant, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia.
Complete facsimile and transcript versions of the March 1925 Survey Graphic special “Harlem Number,” edited by Alain Locke, who later republished and expanded the contents as the famous New Negro anthology. The effort constituted “the first of several attempts to formulate a political and cultural representation of the New Negro and the Harlem community” of the 1920s. The journal is divided into three sections: “The Greatest Negro Community in the World,” "The Negro Expresses Himself,“ and ”Black and White—Studies in Race Contacts." The site also includes essays by Locke, W. E. B. Du Bois, and James W. Johnson; poems by Countee Cullen, Anne Spencer, Angelina Grimke, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Langston Hughes; and quotations from reviews of the issue. A well-presented, primary source document of value for those studying the Harlem Renaissance.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2007-10-18.
Matthew Kirschenbaum and Catherine Tousignant, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia.
Complete facsimile and transcript versions of the March 1925 Survey Graphic special “Harlem Number,” edited by Alain Locke, who later republished and expanded the contents as the famous New Negro anthology. The effort constituted “the first of several attempts to formulate a political and cultural representation of the New Negro and the Harlem community” of the 1920s. The journal is divided into three sections: “The Greatest Negro Community in the World,” "The Negro Expresses Himself,“ and ”Black and White—Studies in Race Contacts." The site also includes essays by Locke, W. E. B. Du Bois, and James W. Johnson; poems by Countee Cullen, Anne Spencer, Angelina Grimke, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Langston Hughes; and quotations from reviews of the issue. A well-presented, primary source document of value for those studying the Harlem Renaissance.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2007-10-18.
The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship
American Memory, Library of Congress.
More than 240 items dealing with African-American history from collections of the Library of Congress, including books, government documents, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, plays, films, and recordings. The exhibition explores black America’s quest for political, social, and economic equality from slavery through the mid-20th century. Organized into nine chronological periods covering the following topics: slavery; free blacks in the antebellum period; antislavery movements; the Civil War and African-American participation in the military; Reconstruction political struggles, black exodus from the South, and activism in the black church; the “Booker T. Washington era” of progress in the creation of educational and political institutions during a period of violent backlash; World War I and the postwar period, including the rise of the Harlem Renaissance; the Depression, New Deal, and World War II; and the Civil Rights era. Each section includes a 500-word overview and annotations of 100 words in length for each object displayed. In addition to documenting the struggle for freedom and civil rights, the exhibit includes celebratory material on contributions of artists, writers, performers, and sports figures. Valuable for students and teachers looking for a well-written and documented guide for exploring African-American history.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2008-10-08.
American Memory, Library of Congress.
More than 240 items dealing with African-American history from collections of the Library of Congress, including books, government documents, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, plays, films, and recordings. The exhibition explores black America’s quest for political, social, and economic equality from slavery through the mid-20th century. Organized into nine chronological periods covering the following topics: slavery; free blacks in the antebellum period; antislavery movements; the Civil War and African-American participation in the military; Reconstruction political struggles, black exodus from the South, and activism in the black church; the “Booker T. Washington era” of progress in the creation of educational and political institutions during a period of violent backlash; World War I and the postwar period, including the rise of the Harlem Renaissance; the Depression, New Deal, and World War II; and the Civil Rights era. Each section includes a 500-word overview and annotations of 100 words in length for each object displayed. In addition to documenting the struggle for freedom and civil rights, the exhibit includes celebratory material on contributions of artists, writers, performers, and sports figures. Valuable for students and teachers looking for a well-written and documented guide for exploring African-American history.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2008-10-08.
Breaking Racial Barriers: African Americans in the Harmon Foundation Collection
National Portrait Gallery.
This site is based on the 1997 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery featuring 20 portraits from the Harmon Foundation Collection. Real estate developer William E. Harmon (1862–1928) “one of the many white Americans who expressed his interest in the artistic achievements of black Americans during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s,” established the Harmon Foundation in New York City in 1922 intending to “recognize African American achievements, not only in the fine arts but also in business, education, farming, literature, music, race relations, religious service and science.” The portraits included in this exhibit were originally exhibited by the Harmon Foundation in 1944 "with the express goal of reversing racial intolerance, ignorance and bigotry by illustrating the accomplishments of contemporary African Americans. Each portrait is accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of its subject.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 0000-00-00.
National Portrait Gallery.
This site is based on the 1997 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery featuring 20 portraits from the Harmon Foundation Collection. Real estate developer William E. Harmon (1862–1928) “one of the many white Americans who expressed his interest in the artistic achievements of black Americans during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s,” established the Harmon Foundation in New York City in 1922 intending to “recognize African American achievements, not only in the fine arts but also in business, education, farming, literature, music, race relations, religious service and science.” The portraits included in this exhibit were originally exhibited by the Harmon Foundation in 1944 "with the express goal of reversing racial intolerance, ignorance and bigotry by illustrating the accomplishments of contemporary African Americans. Each portrait is accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of its subject.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 0000-00-00.
The Harlem Renaissance: George Schuyler Argues against “Black Art”
Hundreds of writers and artists lived in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s and were part of a vibrant, creative community that found its voice in what came to be called the “Harlem Renaissance.” Vigorous debate also characterized the Harlem Renaissance. Rejecting stereotypical depictions of African-American life that had dominated all the arts, Alain Locke urged black artists to incorporate the themes and styles of African art into sophisticated, genteel, modern works. But journalist George Schuyler denied that there was such a thing as “black art” or a black sensibility. In this 1926 article, “The Negro Art Hokum,” Schuyler argued that black artists in America were equally as diverse as white artists, and that to expect a uniform style or subject matter was as insulting as the stereotypes that were being rejected. In a scathing response, Langston Hughes argued that for black artists to paint anything but images of African Americans was tantamount to wanting to be white.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Hundreds of writers and artists lived in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s and were part of a vibrant, creative community that found its voice in what came to be called the “Harlem Renaissance.” Vigorous debate also characterized the Harlem Renaissance. Rejecting stereotypical depictions of African-American life that had dominated all the arts, Alain Locke urged black artists to incorporate the themes and styles of African art into sophisticated, genteel, modern works. But journalist George Schuyler denied that there was such a thing as “black art” or a black sensibility. In this 1926 article, “The Negro Art Hokum,” Schuyler argued that black artists in America were equally as diverse as white artists, and that to expect a uniform style or subject matter was as insulting as the stereotypes that were being rejected. In a scathing response, Langston Hughes argued that for black artists to paint anything but images of African Americans was tantamount to wanting to be white.
Resources Available: TEXT.
The Harlem Renaissance: Zora Neale Hurston’s First Story
Hundreds of writers and artists lived in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s and were part of a vibrant, creative community that found its voice in what came to be called the “Harlem Renaissance.” Alain Locke’s 1925 collection The New Negro—a compilation of literature by and essays about “New Negro” artists and black culture—became a “manifesto” of the movement. Some of black America’s foremost writers contributed stories and poems to the volume. The work of these artists drew upon the African-American experience and expressed a new pride in black racial identity and heritage. Zora Neale Hurston—novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist—was known during the Harlem Renaissance for her wit, irreverence, and folk writing style. She won second prize in the 1925 literary contest of the Urban League’s journal, Opportunity, for her short story “Spunk,” which also appeared in The New Negro.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Hundreds of writers and artists lived in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s and were part of a vibrant, creative community that found its voice in what came to be called the “Harlem Renaissance.” Alain Locke’s 1925 collection The New Negro—a compilation of literature by and essays about “New Negro” artists and black culture—became a “manifesto” of the movement. Some of black America’s foremost writers contributed stories and poems to the volume. The work of these artists drew upon the African-American experience and expressed a new pride in black racial identity and heritage. Zora Neale Hurston—novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist—was known during the Harlem Renaissance for her wit, irreverence, and folk writing style. She won second prize in the 1925 literary contest of the Urban League’s journal, Opportunity, for her short story “Spunk,” which also appeared in The New Negro.
Resources Available: TEXT.
The Zora Neale Hurston Plays at the Library of Congress
American Memory, Library of Congress.
See JAH web review by Karin Zipf.
Reviewed 2011-12-01.
This site offers 10 unpublished plays (four sketches or skits and six full-length plays) written by American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. Although the plays were written and submitted to the Copyright Office between 1925 and 1944, they were remained unknown until 1997. The plays reflect Hurston’s life experiences. As an anthropologist and folklorist, Hurston traveled the American South, collecting and recording the sounds and songs of African Americans. Her research in Haiti is reflected in the voodoo scenes and beliefs woven into several of the plays. The collection holds approximately 700 digitized pages. These are scanned as she wrote them and have not been transcribed. This site would be useful for research in early-20th-century southern or cultural history.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2004-06-08.
American Memory, Library of Congress.
See JAH web review by Karin Zipf.
Reviewed 2011-12-01.
This site offers 10 unpublished plays (four sketches or skits and six full-length plays) written by American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. Although the plays were written and submitted to the Copyright Office between 1925 and 1944, they were remained unknown until 1997. The plays reflect Hurston’s life experiences. As an anthropologist and folklorist, Hurston traveled the American South, collecting and recording the sounds and songs of African Americans. Her research in Haiti is reflected in the voodoo scenes and beliefs woven into several of the plays. The collection holds approximately 700 digitized pages. These are scanned as she wrote them and have not been transcribed. This site would be useful for research in early-20th-century southern or cultural history.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2004-06-08.
Elise Johnson McDougald on “The Double Task: The Struggle of Negro Women for Sex and Race Emancipation”
Through a range of political, social, and organizational venues, African-American women struggled to participate in the racial awareness and pride that characterized the “New Negro” movement of the 1920s. Alain Locke’s important 1925 compilation of Harlem Renaissance writings, The New Negro, included an essay by Elise Johnson McDougald, a prominent black educator, social investigator, and journalist. McDougald’s essay, originally published in the Survey, employed socioeconomic analysis to explore the particular problems, as well as contributions to society, of four groups of black women, from wealthy to working-class. Seeking to repudiate the monolithic way in which black women were perceived and represented by white America, McDougald not only focused on economics but also challenged stereotypical representations of blacks in the arts and advertising, as well as those surrounding black women’s sexuality.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Through a range of political, social, and organizational venues, African-American women struggled to participate in the racial awareness and pride that characterized the “New Negro” movement of the 1920s. Alain Locke’s important 1925 compilation of Harlem Renaissance writings, The New Negro, included an essay by Elise Johnson McDougald, a prominent black educator, social investigator, and journalist. McDougald’s essay, originally published in the Survey, employed socioeconomic analysis to explore the particular problems, as well as contributions to society, of four groups of black women, from wealthy to working-class. Seeking to repudiate the monolithic way in which black women were perceived and represented by white America, McDougald not only focused on economics but also challenged stereotypical representations of blacks in the arts and advertising, as well as those surrounding black women’s sexuality.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Testing History?
Standardized tests for history and social studies (among other subjects) have spread rapidly in the past few years. How well do they test student knowledge and understanding of the past? Most of these questions came from actual junior high school and high school standardized tests; at least one did not. As you read through the test questions below, answer “yes” if you think the question came from a state exam; “no” if you think the question did not come from a real exam.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Standardized tests for history and social studies (among other subjects) have spread rapidly in the past few years. How well do they test student knowledge and understanding of the past? Most of these questions came from actual junior high school and high school standardized tests; at least one did not. As you read through the test questions below, answer “yes” if you think the question came from a state exam; “no” if you think the question did not come from a real exam.
Resources Available: TEXT.