The Harlem Renaissance

Lynn Domina, PhD, is a professor of English at the State University of New York at Delhi.

A perfect guide for use in high school classes, this book explores the fascinating literature of the Harlem Renaissance, reviewing classic works in the context of the history, society, and culture of its time.The Harlem Renaissance is one of the most interesting eras in African American literature as well as a highly regarded period in our country's literary history. The works produced during this span reflect a turbulent social climate in America . a time fraught with both opportunities and injustices for minorities. In this enlightening guide, author and educator Lynn Domina examines the literature of the Harlem Renaissance along with the cultural and societal factors influencing its writers.This compelling book illuminates the cultural conditions affecting the lives of African Americans everywhere, addressing topics such as prohibition, race riots, racism, interracial marriage, sharecropping, and lynching. Each chapter includes historical background on both the literary work and the author and explores several themes through historical document excerpts and thoughtful analysis to illustrate how literature responded to the surrounding social circumstances. Chapters conclude with a discussion of why and how the literary work remains relevant today.

Gives readers insight into how literature and other art forms reflect the social conditions and are inspired by events of the time

I Introduction and Background to the Harlem RenaissanceII ChronologyIII The Poetry of Claude McKay and Langston HughesHistorical BackgroundAbout Claude McKayAbout Langston HughesHistorical Exploration: Race Riots of 1919Newspaper Reports of RiotsFrom "A Crowd of Howling Negroes," 1919From "Street Battles at Night," 1919From "Ghastly Deeds of Race Rioters Told," 1919Responses to the RiotsFrom Walter White, "N.A.A.C.P.-Chicago and Its Eight Reasons," 1919From "The Chicago Commission on Race Relations," 1922Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsHistorical Exploration: Re-invigoration of the Ku Klux KlanLegal Responses to the Ku Klux KlanFourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 1868From the Ku Klux Klan Act, 1871William Garrott Brown's Interpretation of the History of the Ku Klux KlanFrom William Garrott Brown, "The Ku Klux Movement," 1901Newspaper Reports on the Ku Klux Klan"Atlanta's Ku-Klux Klan," 1906"Ku Klux Klan Celebrates," 1921"Ku Klux Denounced from Many Pulpits," 1922"Ku Klux Klansmen March into Church," 1922Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsHistorical Exploration: The Russian Revolution and Attraction of the Communist Party among American WritersCommunist Party WritingFrom Communist Party of America, Pamphlet No. 1, 1919From Manifesto of the Communist Party of America, 1922Newspaper Report on Communism and Race"Negro's Rights Here Derided in Moscow," 1922Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsWhy We Read the Poetry of Claude McKay and Langston Hughes TodayIV CaneHistorical BackgroundAbout Jean ToomerHistorical Exploration: LynchingIda B. WellsFrom Ida B. Wells, "Lynch Law in America," 1900Magazine Reports of Lynching"Colored Men Protest," 1892"Southern Protests against Lynching," 1898Newspaper Reports on Lynching"Lynching in Georgia," 1897"Woman Advocates Lynching," 1898Arthur A. Schomburg, "Lynching a Savage Relic," 1903The Dyer Anti-Lynching BillDyer Anti-Lynching Bill, 1922Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsHistorical Exploration: ProhibitionTemperance SongsMary Lantz, "The Drunkard and His Family," 1854Stephen G. Foster, "Comrades, Fill No Glass for Me," 1855J. M. Kieffer, "The Temperance Army," 1874Legal Documents Addressing ProhibitionEighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 1919From the Volstead Act, 1920The Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 1933Newspaper Articles Reporting on ProhibitionFrom "Whole Country Goes Dry," 1919From "Nation-Wide Prohibition Ends Fight of 112 Years," 1920Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsWhy We Read Cane TodayV Passing and QuicksandHistorical BackgroundAbout Nella LarsenHistorical Exploration: Racial Definitions and PassingDefinitions of RaceFrom Reports of the Immigration Commission, 1911From Georgia Laws on Race and Color, 1927Court Case Regarding Interracial AdoptionRobert Green v. City of New Orleans, 1956Autobiographies Discussing Racial PassingFrom William Craft, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery, 1860From John Howard Griffin, Black Like Me, 1960Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsHistorical Exploration: Interracial MarriageLegal Cases Addressing Interracial MarriageFrom Pace v. Alabama, 1883From Loving v. Virginia, 1967A Personal ExperienceMichele DeFreece, "Stop Explaining. My Name's Michele," 2014Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsHistorical Exploration: ExpatriatesExpatriate Experiences of American WritersFrom John Dos Passos, "The Republic of Honest Men," 1934From James Baldwin, "Encounter on the Sein: Black Meets Brown," 1955From Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, 1964Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsWhy We Read Quicksand and Passing TodayVI Their Eyes Were Watching GodHistorical BackgroundAbout Zora Neale HurstonHistorical Exploration: All-Black TownsZora Neale Hurston's EatonvilleFrom Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942The All-Black Town of Langston, Oklahoma"Home, Sweet Home. A Home for You and Your Children. Millions! of Acres in the Cherokee Strip Soon to Be Given to the People for Homes. This Will Tell You How You Can Get the Benefit," 1892E. P. McCabe, "Freedom. Peace, Happiness and Prosperity, Do You Want All These? Then Cast Your Lot with Us and Make Your Home in Langston City," 1892The All-Black Town of Mound BayouFrom Booker T. Washington, "A Town Owned by Negroes: Mound Bayou, Miss., An Example of Thrift and Self-Government" 1907From Day Allen Willey, "Mound Bayou-A Negro Municipality," 1907Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsHistorical Exploration: Migrant and Seasonal LaborMigrant LoggersFrom Charlotte Todes, Labor and Lumber, 1931Migrant FarmersFrom Robert Coles, Migrants, Sharecroppers, Mountaineers, 1971Labor Laws Regarding Migrant and Seasonal LaborFrom U.S. Department of Labor Poster Required to Be Displayed by Employers, Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, 1983Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsHistorical Exploration: HurricanesA Flood in FolkloreFrom Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men, 1935Personal Experiences of the Okeechobee HurricaneFrom Charles L. Mitchell, "The West Indian Hurricane of September 10-20, 1928," 1928From Eliot Kleinberg, Black Cloud: The Great Florida Hurricane of 1928, 2003The Federal Emergency Management AgencyFrom "The Federal Emergency Management Agency Publication 1," 2010The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind ScaleNational Weather Center, "Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale," 2013Discussion QuestionsSuggested ReadingsWhy We Read Their Eyes Were Watching God TodayIndexAbout the Author