Harlem renaissance

A movement among African-American painters, writers and theatre persons centered in the Harlem section of New York City from 1920 through the economic Depression of the 1930s. It was a time of civil unrest when many blacks were moving from rural areas to cities. Race riots in 1919 stimulated much response including among writers such as Eugene O???Neill in his play, ???The Emperor Jones??? and James Weldon Johnson, editor in the 1922 publication, ???The Book of American Negro Poetry???. The Harlem Renaissance celebrated the unique culture of these people and in turn, stirred social revolt against racism. The term "The New Negro", coined by sociologist Alain LeRoy Locke, became rallying words. The movement began with literary discussions in Greenwich Village in south Manhattan, and remained more a literary force than one of expression by painters and sculptors. However many painters and sculptors were active including Jacob Lawrence, Augusta Savage, Ernest Crichlow, Hale Woodruff, John Biggers, Lois Mailou Jones, Raymond Barthe, E Simms Campbell, Aaron Douglas, Richard Nugent, James Van Der Zee, and Charles Alston. Sources: http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/harlem_intro.html; Paul P. Reuben, ???Harlem Renaissance-A Brief Introduction???, http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap9/9intro.html; Robert Atkins, "Art Spoke", (LPD)