A PERIOD OF REBIRTH OR REVIVAL

RENAISSANCE

The Harlem Renaissance was a blossoming (1918–37) of African American culture and the most influential movement in African American history. Embracing literary, musical, theatrical,

and visual arts, participants sought to re-conceptualize “the Negro” apart from the white

stereotypes that influenced black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other.

They sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of

their lives that might, as seen by whites, reinforce racist beliefs. The movement laid the groundwork for all later African American literature. While the

renaissance was not confined to the Harlem district of New York City, Harlem attracted a

remarkable concentration of intellect and talent and served as the symbolic capital of this cultural

awakening.

HARLEM

HARLEM IN BLACK AND WHITE

**Primary Source comparison

• This was taken in the 1930’s. What details tell you its from this period?

• Note the sign’s text: “50 sepian stars.” What does sepia mean?

• Why might the club owners have used that word to describe the entertainers? What might that say about the club’s white patron’s?

Only the wealthiest, most influential, famous, and notorious went to The Cotton Club. Once new owner/"mob gangster"

Madden redesigned the look and feel of the club he made it a "whites only" club. This attracted not just New Yorkers but international visitors. Only the very best African American

musicians and performers exhibited their talents at The Cotton Club. Many early black entertainers got their start at the Cotton Club including Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, and Lena Horne. At the time, Owen Madden also

selected specific ladies to be "Chorus Girls". He wanted them to have a light complexion and the term he used was "tall, tan and terrific". That was how Lena Horne got her start. She was a chorus girl at the age of sixteen. Famous Dorothy Dandrige

got her start there also. The Cotton Club served as a launching pad for so many African Americans. It was definitely

a hot spot but not the only hot spot in Harlem.

HARLEM AFTER DARK-THE COTTON CLUB

The Savoy Ballroom was another hot spot in Harlem located on Lenox Avenue between 140th and 141st Streets. It

opened in 1926 and closed in 1958. It was a place to enjoy music and dancing and it

became the home of the Lindy Hop, a form of swing dancing. Unlike The Cotton Club,

blacks and whites mingled and danced together at The Savoy Ballroom.

**Junior Scholastic article

BEFORE YOU LEAVE…

Considering the definition of the word “renaissance,” why do you think historians refer to what you learned today as

the Harlem Renaissance?