The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s

“Take The A Train”

Billy Strayhorn for the Duke Ellington Orchestra

You must take the A train

To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem
If you miss the A train
You'll find you missed the quickest
way to Harlem
Hurry, get on, now it's coming
Listen to those rails a-humming
All aboard, get on the A train
Soon you will be on Sugar Hill in
Harlem

•What is the tone or mood of this recording?

•Why do you think the original recording was made and for what audience?
•List two things in this sound recording that tell you about life in the United States at the time.
 What is it?
• The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of
African American social thought which was
expressed through
– Paintings
– Music
– Dance
– Theater
– Literature
 Where is Harlem?
The island of Manhattan Neighborhoods

New York City is on Manhattan island

 Where was the Harlem
Renaissance centered?
• Centered in the
Harlem district of
New York City, the
New Negro
Movement (as it
was called at the
time) had a major
influence across the
Unites States and
even the world.
 How does the Harlem
Renaissance connect to
the Great Migration?
• The economic opportunities of the era triggered a
widespread migration of black Americans from the
rural south to the industrial centers of the north - and
especially to New York City.
• In New York and other cities, black Americans
explored new opportunities for intellectual and social
freedom.
• Black American artists, writers, and musicians began
to use their talents to work for civil rights and obtain
equality.
 How did it impact history?
• The Harlem Renaissance helped to redefine how
Americans and the world understood African
American culture. It integrated black and white
cultures, and marked the beginning of a black urban
society.
• The Harlem Renaissance set the stage for the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s.
Now that you’ve learned “Take The A Train”
Billy Strayhorn for the Duke Ellington Orchestra
more about the Harlem
You must take the A train
Renaissance, listen again To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem
to this song. Does it If you miss the A train
change your answers to You'll find you missed the quickest
way to Harlem
the analysis questions
Hurry, get on, now it's coming
below? Listen to those rails a-humming
All aboard, get on the A train
Soon you will be on Sugar Hill in
Harlem

•What is the tone or mood of this recording?

•Why do you think the original recording was made and for what audience?
•List two things in this sound recording that tell you about life in the United States at the time.
Who do we associate with the
Harlem Renaissance?
• Artists such as Jacob Lawrence
• Authors such as Langston Hughes
• Musicians such as Duke Ellington, Louis
Armstrong, and Bessie Smith
Jacob Lawrence
• Jacob Lawrence grew up in a
settlement house in Harlem during
the Harlem Renaissance
• Lawrence's parents were among
those who migrated between 1916-
1919, considered the first wave of
the migration.
• His own life in Harlem ,
and the struggle of other Black
Americans
inspired his earliest work
 Lawrence’s Work

• Jacob Lawrence painted his Great Migration

series during the 1940s to capture the experience
of African Americans during the 1920s
[Link]
010/edit/migration/[Link]
 Painted scenes of:
•his own background in Harlem
Jacob Lawrence Painter •the hard life of black Americans
in the 1920s

The Great Migration series is his

most recognized work
Langston Hughes
• Hughes is known for his insightful,
colorful, realistic portrayals of black
life in America.
• He wrote poetry, short stories,
novels, and plays, and is known for
his involvement with the world of
jazz and the influence it had on his
writing.
• His life and work were enormously
important in shaping the artistic
contributions of the Harlem
Renaissance in the 1920s.
• He wanted to tell the stories of his
people in ways that reflected their
actual culture, including both their
suffering and their love of music,
laughter, and language itself.
The Negro Speaks of Rivers I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the
(1919) world and older than the
flow of human blood in human
To listen to Langston Hughes read veins.
his poem, click here. My soul has grown deep like
the rivers.
One of Hughes's poetic innovations was to draw on I bathed in the Euphrates when
the rhythms of black musical traditions such as jazz dawns were young.
and blues, but in 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' it's I built my hut near the Congo
the heritage of Negro spirituals which is recalled by and it lulled me to sleep.
the poem's majestic imagery and sonorous
repetitions. Written when Hughes was only I looked upon the Nile and
seventeen as he traveled by train across the raised the pyramids above it.
Mississippi, 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' is a I heard the singing of the
beautiful statement of strength in the history of black Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
people, which Hughes imagines stretching as far went down to New Orleans,
back as ancient Egypt and further into Africa and the and I've seen its muddy
cradle of civilization. The poem returns at the end to
America in a moment of optimistic alchemy when bosom turn all golden in the
he sees the "muddy bosom" of the Mississippi "turn sunset.
all golden in the sunset". I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
From [Link]
My soul has
•What is the tone or mood of this poem? grown deep like
the rivers.
•Why do you think the poem was written and for what audience?
•List two things in this poem that tell you about life in the United States at the time.
 I, too, sing America.
I, too, sing America
I am the darker brother.
(1920s)
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
To listen to Langston Hughes read
But I laugh,
his poem, click here.
And eat well,
And grow strong.
'I, Too' written just before Hughes’ return to the
States from Europe and after he'd been denied
passage on a ship because of his color, has a Tomorrow,
contemporary feel in contrast to the mythical I'll be at the table
dimension of 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers'. It is
When company comes.
no less powerful however, in its expression of
social injustice. The calm clear statements of the 'I' Nobody'll dare
have an unstoppable force like the progress the Say to me,
poem envisages. Hughes's dignified introductions
"Eat in the kitchen,“
to these poems and his beautiful speaking voice
render them all the more moving. Then.

From [Link] Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

•What is the tone or mood of this poem?

•Why do you think the poem was written and for what audience? I, too, am America.

•List two things in this poem that tell you about life in the United States at the time.
 Wrote poetry, short stories,
novels, and plays.
Langston Hughes Poet and Author
Known for his colorful,
realistic portrayals of black
life in America.
 Duke Ellington
• Ellington was a jazz composer,
conductor, and performer during the
Harlem Renaissance.
• During the formative Cotton Club
years, he experimented with and
developed the style that would
quickly bring him worldwide
success. Ellington would be among
the first to focus on musical form
and composition in jazz.
• Ellington wrote over 2000 pieces in
his lifetime.
The Cotton Club
• The Duke Ellington Orchestra
was the "house" orchestra for a
number of years at the Cotton
Club. The revues featured
glamorous dancing girls,
acclaimed tap dancers, vaudeville
performers, and comics. All the
white world came to Harlem to
see the show.
• The first Cotton Club revue was
in 1923. There were two new fast
paced revues produced a year for
at least 16 years.
 Jazz composer, conductor,
Duke Ellington Composer/Conductor and performer during the
Harlem Renaissance

To hear Duke Ellington, click the link.

Louis “Satchmo”Armstrong

• Louis Armstrong was a jazz

composer and trumpet player
during the Harlem Renaissance.
• He is widely recognized as a
founding father of jazz.
• He appeared in 30 films and
averaged 300 concerts per year,
performing for both kids on the
street and heads of state.
 Composer and trumpet
player during the Harlem
Louis Armstrong Composer/Trumpeter Renaissance

Widely recognized as a
founding father of jazz

To hear Louis Armstrong, click the link.

Bessie Smith

• Bessie Smith was a famous jazz and

blues singer during the Harlem
Renaissance.

• Smith recorded with many of the

great Jazz musicians of the 1920s,
including Louis Armstrong.

• Smith was popular with both blacks

and whites
 Famous jazz and blues singer
during the Harlem
Bessie Smith Jazz & Blues Renaissance
Singer
Popular with both blacks and
whites

To hear Bessie Smith, click the link.

“Ascent from Ethiopia”, Louis Mailou Jones. 1932