In the 1920s and 1930s the soulful rhythms of blues and jazz signaled an explosion of African American creativity. During this period, known as the New Negro Movement and later as the Harlem Renaissance, musicians, dancers, visual artists, writers, and scholars sought to define their African heritage in American culture. From just after World War I until just after the stock market crash in 1929, the vibrancy of the newly discovered African American art, music, and literature was celebrated in cities such as Harlem, Chicago, Washington, New York, and even as far away as Paris. In this course we will explore the Harlem Renaissance, which is considered the first important movement of black artists and writers in the United States.
