Harlem Renaissance
In the early 1900s, particularly in the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. During the mass migration of African Americans from the rural agricultural South to the urban industrial North (1914-18), many who came to New York settled in Harlem, as did a good number of black New Yorkers moved from other areas of the city. This African-American cultural movement became known as "The New Negro Movement" and later as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is a term used to describe a flowering of African-American literature and art in the 1920s, mainly in the Harlem district of New York City. More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. The area soon became a sophisticated literary and artistic center. Responding to the heady intellectual atmosphere of the time and place, writers and artists, many of whom lived in Harlem, began to produce a wide variety of fine and highly original works dealing with African-American life. African-Americans was encouraged to c
elebrate their heritage. The main factors contributing to the development of the Harlem Renaissance were African-American urban migration, trends toward experimentation throughout the country, and the rise of radical African-American intellectuals. James Van Der Zee (1889-1983) was the most popular African-American photographer of that time. The son of Ulysses S. Grant's maid and butler, Van Der Zee opened his first studio in Harlem, New York City, in 1915. For 60 years, working in obscurity, he made a visual record of Harlem life unsurpassed in scope and detail. In 1967 the Metropolitan Museum of Art found the remaining 40,000 prints and negatives which displayed the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance transformed African-American identity and history, but it also transformed American culture in general. Thematic content included Africa as a source of inspiration, African-American history, folk idioms, including music and religion of the South, and social injustice. Their collective efforts not only established this new African-American identity, but also contributed to the development of our modern American culture. Never before had so man
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Approximate Word count = 783
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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