The Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance

I. The Great Migration

A. Between 1910 and 1920, hundreds of thousands of African-Americans uprooted themselves from their homes in the South to move into the big cities of the North in search of jobs.

1. By 1920, 5.2 out of 12 million of African Americans lived in cities

2. Job opportunities were available during World War I with many men overseas.

3. Northerners would not welcome this which caused 25 race riots in the summer of 1919.

B. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was founded on February 12, 1909, by a diverse group composed of W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, Henry Moskowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, William English Walling

1. W.E.B. Dubois would urge African Americans to protest racial violence

2. Led a parade of 10k African American men in NY

3. NAACP’s The Crisis publication was used to get their message out.

4. James Weldon Johnson led the NAACP in influencing Congress into passing anti-lynching legislation (None were passed but the amount of lynching dropped)

C. Marcus Garvey and the UNIA1. Immigrant from Jamaica that

believed the African Americans should have a separate society

2. Formed the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) to help promote black pride, economic independence, and a reverence of Africa in the urban ghettos of NYC.

3. Called on African Americans to return to Africa and overthrow the white oppressors

4. Garvey’s movement would dwindle in the mid-1920s when he was arrested for mail fraud (Black Star Line), but his message of Black Nationalism would endure

II. Harlem Renaissance

A. Many African Americans would migrate to Harlem, a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of NY’s Manhattan Island.

B. Harlem would become the world’s largest black urban community

1. Capital of “Black America”2. Like most urban areas,

Harlem suffered from overcrowding, unemployment, and poverty

C. Problems in Harlem were eclipsed by the flowing of creativity in the community that became known as the Harlem Renaissance

1. Literary and artistic movement celebrating African American culture.

D. The literary movement was led by well educated, middle class African Americans who expressed pride in the African American experience.

E. Mentors of these young talents included NAACP leaders like W.E.B. Dubois and James Weldon Johnson

F. Important African American Literary Figures

1. Claude McKay-work reflected resisting prejudice/discrimination and the pain of life in the black ghettos

2. Jean Toomer- “Cane” book of sketches and poetry that reflected African Americans in the North and South

3. Langston Hughes- best known poet of the HR; wrote about the difficulties of the African American working class.

4. Zora Neale Hurston- wrote about the lives of poor unschooled Southern African Americans.

G. Significant African American Performers. Many believe what kick started the Harlem Renaissance was started through a black musical comedy known as Shuffle Along. Famous hit, Love will find a way

1. Florence Mills - the "Queen of Happiness" was an African-American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian

2. Josephine Backer –First Black women to star in a major motion picture (Zouzou), and become a worldwide star (Parents were French), helped the French resistance in WWII and received the Croix de guerre

3. Mabel Mercer-English born Cabaret singer

4. Paul Robeson-Major dramatic actor and received worldwide acclaim for his role in Shakespeare's Othello

H. Jazz was born in the early 1900s in New Orleans but would flourish in Harlem in the 1920s to become a mainstream form of music.

I. Jazz is known for its personal expression and improvisation

J. It would become the most popular music for dancing

K. Significant singers and musicians

1. Louis Armstrong -known for popularizing jazz and his distinct voice, Armstrong would be main attraction for American Jazz

2. “Duke” Ellington -jazz pianist and composer at the Cotton Club in Harlem

a. Still renowned as one of America’s great composers

b. Mood Indigo

3. Cab Calloway and “scat” (jazz improvised with sounds instead of words)

4. Bessie Smith -most outstanding vocalist of the decade

a. Highest paid African American in the world in 1927.