Harlem Renaissance

Information about 800 black historic sites in 42 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Often, they are places where people lived, such as the Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton, Ohio; or the Blanche K. Bruce house in Washington, D.C., home of the second black man who served in the U.S. Senate. But there are also schools, hospitals, clubs, colleges, forts, cemeteries, and more. The listings (organized alphabetically by state), include brief descriptions and addresses, making this useful for those curious about black historic sites in their town or state or for anyone planning a vacation tour of historic sites.

Away from the bustling nightlife of 1920s Harlem, a literary and cultural rebirth was taking place among African American writers, artists, and performers. Producing works that reflected the racial realities of the era between the end of the Civil War and the beginnings of the civil rights movement, these cultural luminaries helped define a new black consciousness. Readers will learn how the Great Migration and changing opportunities for African Americans informed the vibrant creative period known as the Harlem Renaissance. Bridging social and literary history, this volume provides an interdisciplinary overview and serves as a companion to multiple subject areas.

Focusing on the contributions of civic reformers and political architects who arrived in New York in the early decades of the 20th century, this book explores the wide array of sweeping social reforms and radical racial demands first conceived of and planned in Harlem that transformed African Americans into self-aware U.S. citizens for the first time in history. * Documents the Harlem Renaissance period's important role in one of the greatest transformations of American citizens in the history of the United States--from slavery to a migration of millions to parity of achievement in all fields * Extends the definition of one of the most progressive periods in African American history for students, academics, and general readers * Provides an intriguing reexamination of the Harlem Renaissance period that posits that it began earlier than most general histories of the period suggest and lasted well into the 1960s

Harlem brings to mind a kaleidoscope of images--the jazz clubs and cultural ferment of the 1920s and 1930s, the urban decay of the 1960s and 1970s, and the revitalization of the past twenty years. Integral to the ongoing transformation of Harlem has been the return of the African-American middle class to what had become an overwhelmingly poor area. In this lively book, Monique M. Taylor explores the stresses created by this influx, the surprising ways class differences manifest themselves and are managed, and what we can learn from examining a community in which race and class are so closely in.

Over the course of the twentieth century, education was a key site for envisioning opportunities for African Americans, but the very schools they attended sometimes acted as obstacles to black flourishing. Educating Harlem brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars to provide a broad consideration of the history of schooling in perhaps the nation's most iconic black community. The volume traces the varied ways that Harlem residents defined and pursued educational justice for their children and community despite consistent neglect and structural oppression. Contributors investigate the individuals, organizations, and initiatives that fostered educational visions, underscoring their breadth, variety, and persistence. Their essays span the century, from the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance through the 1970s fiscal crisis and up to the present. They tell the stories of Harlem residents from a wide variety of social positions and life experiences, from young children to expert researchers to neighborhood mothers and ambitious institution builders who imagined a dynamic array of possibilities from modest improvements to radical reshaping of their schools. Representing many disciplinary perspectives, the chapters examine a range of topics including architecture, literature, film, youth and adult organizing, employment, and city politics. Challenging the conventional rise-and-fall narratives found in many urban histories, the book tells a story of persistent struggle in each phase of the twentieth century. Educating Harlem paints a nuanced portrait of education in a storied community and brings much-needed historical context to one of the most embattled educational spaces today.

In this provocative study, Michael Soto examines African American cultural forms through the lens of census history to tell the story of how U.S. officialdom -- in particular the Census Bureau -- placed persons of African descent within a shifting taxonomy of racial difference, and how African American writers and intellectuals described a far more complex situation of interracial social contact and intra-racial diversity. What we now call African American identity and the literature that gives it voice emerged out of social, cultural, and intellectual forces that fused in Harlem roughly one century ago. Measuring the Harlem Renaissance sifts through a wide range of authors and ideas -- from W. E. B. Du Bois, Rudolph Fisher, and Nella Larsen to Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Wallace Thurman, and from census history to the Great Migration -- to provide a fresh take on late nineteenth -- and twentieth -- century literature and social thought. Soto reveals how Harlem came to be known as the "cultural capital of black America," and how these ideas left us with unforgettable fiction and poetry.

Alphabetical entries for almost every important person, place, or event in America's past.

More than 300 scholars, activists, and writers have contributed to this alphabetically arranged cross-cultural guide. In addition to the clear, descriptive entries, there are many longer evaluative essays.

Challenges the standard view that an emerging middle class in the early twentieth century assumed the leadership role in the African American community that had previously belonged to the old upper class. Deeply researched and gracefully written, this volume persuasively argues that the traditional elite underwent a transformation in views and tactics that enabled it to remain the dominant force. Moore's superb book is certain to prompt a serious reassessment of the old upper class in modern America." -Willard B. Gatewood, University of Arkansas