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Founding of NAACP
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), founded by Mary White Ovington and W.E.B. Dubois, was formed in order to make whites aware of the need for racial equality. This was done by giving speeches and publicizing the matter. The NAACP would take on the issues of racism and segregation in court. The Crisis, a magazine, was also created by the NAACP leaders. -
Beginning of World War I
World War I was one major event that led to the Harlem Renaissance. In this war, England turned to the U.S. for more supplies. There was an increase in job opportunities in the North in order to supply England with the goods their troops needed. This lead African Americans to migrate from the South to the North to take these job opportunities. -
The Great Migration
In the Great Migration, African Americans living in the South decided to move north due to many factors. Push factors included southern white supremacy and discrimination in the South. Factors that “pulled” the African Americans north were a better economy and more job opportunities. This migration occurred in the 1890s and led to a large African American presence in Harlem, New York. This city became the “virtual capital of black America,” or a safe house for many African Americans. -
Claude McKay
Claude McKay is a Jamaican-American writer who wrote poems and stories that were published in many white publications such as the periodical Seven Arts and Pearson’s Magazine. McKay wrote to challenge white oppressors and bigots and defend black rights. In McKay’s poem, “If We Must Die,” he says
“If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain;” -
The Jazz Age
Jazz music became increasingly popular among black and white people during the Harlem Renaissance. Those that viewed African American music as the defining feature of the era referred to it as the “Jazz Age.” Jazz artists such as Ma Rainey were being signed by African American and eventually white record companies. Many clubs opened in Harlem to feature jazz orchestras or blues singers. Famous jazz singers to impact the era included Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong. -
Summer of 1919
The Summer of 1919 was a series of riots between black and white residents that occurred from May to October. In one riot in Washington, D.C., black and white residents fought for four days due to a rape accusation towards a black man. The most violent riot occurred in Chicago when a black man swam on the white side of Lake Michigan and was stoned and drowned. Police refused to arrest those responsible. This caused a violent uproar, and whites destroyed black businesses and homes for two weeks. -
The Cotton Club
The Cotton Club, a fixture in the upper class portion of New York, led to many riots and start-ups for African American singers. It was decorated with the mindset of creating a “stylish plantation environment” for its white patrons.The Cotton Club first excluded all but white patrons although the entertainers and most of staff were African American. The segregation of the Cotton Club was reinforced by its depiction of the African American employees as exotic savages or plantation residents. -
Aaron Douglas
Artist Aaron Douglas traveled to New York to study under Winold Ross, a German artist. Douglas used cubist techniques, along with incorporating shapes and styles from African art. He used geometric shapes to “energize his illustrations” adding a new depth to the paintings. By using these skills, Douglas showed the dreams of what was called “the New Negro”, and showed the harsh reality of African American struggle for political and creative freedom in America. -
Civic Club Dinner
The Civic Club Dinner occurred on March 21, 1924 in Manhattan, New York. The purpose of the dinner was to honor Jessie Fauset for the publication of her novel, however, it transformed into a dinner that would honor all African American writers on the request of Alain Locke. At this dinner, African American writers and philosophers and white publishers and critics had the rare opportunity to meet. Publishers offered African American writers the opportunity to write for them and be published. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression began when the stock market crashed in 1929 and seems to be a factor in the end of the Harlem Renaissance. Blacks were the first to be fired from jobs. Even though the Harlem Renaissance was thought to have ended with the Great Depression, it lived on for several decades.
