The Harlem Renaissance

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The Harlem Renaissance
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What was the Harlem Renaissance?

• An American literary movement that began around
  1920 (opinions range from 1914-1927, with most
  being from 1918-1920)
• Featured the work of African-American writers
• Most famous for its poetry

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Why was it significant?

• Took place in the early 1900s, the writers
  involved were removed from slavery by only one
  generation.
• People moved from the South to the North to find
  more freedom.
• Wrote about their experiences in an America that
  still denied them many freedoms

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Langston Hughes1902-1967

• Born in Joplin, Missouri
• Considered by many to be the central figure of
  the Harlem Renaissance
• Wrote 12 volumes of poetry
• Was said to have been discovered by poet Vachel
  Lindsay

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Jean Toomer1894-1967

• Born in Washington D.C.
• His most important work, Cane, was published in
  1923.
• Declared himself a member of the American race.

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Countee Cullen1903-1946

• He was adopted by a minister and his wife.
• He was 22 years old when his first and most
  important book of poetry, Color, was published in
  1925.

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Zora Neale Hurston1891-1960

• Born in the all black town of Eatonville, Florida
• Her best known novel, Their Eyes Were Watching
  God, was published in 1937
• She died broke in Fort Pierce, Florida

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Gwendolyn Brooks1917-2000

• Born in Topeka, Kansas
• Her family moved to Chicago soon after her birth
• Influenced by the Renaissance writers, she wrote
  later