The Who, What, and How of the Harlem Renaissance

• The Harlem Renaissance was an African American cultural movement that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York.
• The Harlem Renaissance took place during the 1920s and early 1930s.
• The Renaissance goes by several alternate names, including "the New Negro movement", "the New Negro Renaissance", and "the Negro Renaissance"
• This renaissance marked the first time in history that African American literary works were taken seriously and brought to the Nation's attention.
• This renaissance focused on the uprise of the credibility of African American media.
• The movement began at the end of World War I.
• One of the reasons the renaissance emerged was due to the formation of an African American middle class after the Civil War.
• The renaissance was primarily a literary movement.
• The movement occured during a period of upheaval in African American rights.
• Many African Americans moved to northern cities to take advantage of employment oppritunities.

• Claude McKay was born in Jamaica and later moved to and lived in America.
• McKay was an author who wrote poetry and novels depicting life as an African American.
• He was one of the first African American writers to attract a widespread white audience.
• His first book was called "Home to Harlem", which depicted the life of an African American soldier returning home from war.
• He converted to Catholicism in 1942.



• Zora Neale Hurston was an African American writer and folklorist.
• Hurston was famous for her interpretations of African American folktales and her literary works focusing on African American life in the southern United States.
• She wrote the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", which was published in 1937.
• She was a major influence on African American writers during the Harlem Renaissance.
• Hurston died due to health problems and passed relatively unrecognized by the literary community.

• Jean Toomer was an influential American writer during the Harlem Renaissance.
• Toomer's novel "Cane" was an innovative and influential literary landmark that signified a new energy in African American arts.
• His novel "Cane" was a largely experimental combination of poetry and prose.
• The book documented the life of African Americans in the rural South and urban North.
• Was elected into the Georgia Hall of Fame in 2002.

**All photos and facts were taken from Microsoft Student/Encarta. No copyright infringement intended.