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In Memory of Mary Turner: As a Silent Protest Against Mob Violence
sculpted by Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller. Fuller made this statue in response to the murder of Mary Turner, a young, pregnant, married, black woman who protested the lynching of her husband. A mob of hundreds grabbed her, hung her upside down from a tree, killing her and her unborn child. This sculpture shows Mary holding an infant and keeping them from flames and grasping hands. -
Period: to
Art of the Harlem Renaissance
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"If We Must Die"
Written by Claude McKay. McKay wrote this poem in the aftermath of "Red Summer" a period of time where there were intense race riots in more than three dozen cities in America and resulting in hundreds of deaths and even higher injuries. This poem is sadly still relevant to this day and resonates with young people of color who feel as though their very lives are in jeopardy if they step outside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqy7uUdNwK0&ab_channel=TimGracyk(https://www.timetoast.com) -
Rachel
Rachel is a play written by Angelina Weld Grimke. The play protests racial violence and lynching and attempts to show white people just how hard it was (and still is) to be a black person in America. Grimke was one of the first women of color to have her play publicly performed. -
"Cemetery Blues"
Sung by Bessie Smith. Bessie Smith was nicknamed "the Empress/Queen of the Blues". Bessie Smith's song was the first recorded to go on a race record, which were records marketed specifically to the black community. Cemetery Blues marked the begining of Bessie Smith's career into a blues legend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPl-Wo6QLwI&ab_channel=Nostalgicjukebox(https://www.timetoast.com) -
"The Charleston"
Composed by James P. Johnson. This was composed to go along with the 'Charleston' dance craze that was popular during this time period. The Charleston was the hit dance of the 1920s and came to define that decade's music and tastes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kJWdUFzL0Y&ab_channel=oldtimecharlie(https://www.timetoast.com) -
The New Negro: An Interpretation
Edited by Alain Locke, this was an anthology of fiction, poems, and essays on African and African-American art and literature collected from the Harlem Renaissance's most influential figures including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Toomer among others. Considered the definitive text of the New Negro Movement. -
"The Weary Blues"
Written by Langston Hughes. The poem follows a piano player playing the blues. As he plays, the speaker observes his body movement and the tone of his voice. The reader is guided through the mixed emotions the blues player is feeling as he plays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdmp5lnj2WQ&ab_channel=MichaelLauria(https://www.timetoast.com) -
Echo/Echoes of Spring
Composed by Willie 'The Lion' Smith. A beautiful piece that is one of the few of Smith's compositions to have been covered by multiple artists. Grouped with Waller and James P. Johnson as one of the three greatest masters of the stride style of music that was popular during this time period.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnsfIIKSt0E&ab_channel=TheMemoryOfAllThat(https://www.timetoast.com) -
Plum Bun
Written by Jessie Redmon Fauset. Plum Bun is a Bildungsroman focusing on a light-skinned black woman named Angela Murray. Being light-skinned she flees her past and moves to a new place and where she passes for white and tries to lead a fufilling life. Along the way she realizes that passing for white just isn't enough. Fauset was arguably the first to discuss the 'passing' phenomenon and how it effects black people. -
Gamin
Sculpted by Augusta Savage. Gamin is french for street urchin and with this bust Savage earned a scholarship to study in Paris. Said to be an informal bust of her nephew, Gamin depicts a young black kid in a wrinkled shirt looking wise beyond his years. Gamin emphasized the hardship young black kids still faced even during this black Renaissance. -
Ain't Misbehavin'
Lyrics by Andy Razaf, score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks. This song was written for a musical comedy and has since been covered by a multitude of artists including Louis Armstrong and appeared in numerous films. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSNPpssruFY&ab_channel=bessjazz(https://www.timetoast.com) -
The Blacker the Berry
Written by Wallace Thurman. This novel tells the story about an African-American woman with dark skin who moves to Harlem, New York City for work. This book was ground-breaking in that it was the first to address the issue of colorism and discrimination within the black community. -
Jim
painted by William Johnson. This is a portrait of his then sixteen-year-old brother, Jim. His painting and artistry heralded him as an example of "the New Negro" that the Harlem Renaissance aspired to create. -
Minnie the Moocher
Sung by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra. A jazz song famous for the ad-libbed scat that Calloway would have the audience participate in. "Minnie the Moocher" featured in a Betty Boop short and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mq4UT4VnbE&ab_channel=moontreal(https://www.timetoast.com) -
The Ascent of Ethiopia
Painted by Lois Mailou Jones. Jones was an artist and a teacher who got her inspiration from the Harlem Renaissance movement. Her artwork utilizes African inspired design elements and this painting, in particular, tells the story of the African-American rise from slaves to heading a Renaissance of their own. -
The Conjure-Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem
Written by Rudolph Fisher. This is the first novel featuring a black detective written by a black man with a cast of all black characters.. -
From Slavery to Reconstruction
Painted by Aaron Douglas as part of a mural series. Aaron Douglas was a leading artistic member of the Harlem Renaissance. His most famous series depicted the migration of African-Americans from Africa to the U.S, focusing on their history in the south. His work inspired Lois Jones and illustrated The New Negro anthology by Alain Locke. His paintings were inspired by African designs, utilized silhouettes, and referenced civil rights. -
Mules and Men
An autoethnographical collection of African folklore and collected and wriiten by Zora Neale Hurston. This book has had lasting impact on African-American literature and anthropology. Hurston and her work in this book are credited for starting the fields of critical race theory and ethnography. -
The Mask
created by Sargent Johnson. Johnson strove to capture the "pure American Negro" and in doing so,focused on the lips, nose and mouth. Johns sought to celebrate the characteristics that white people had long derided as unnattractive. -
What a Little Moonlight Can Do
Sung by Billie Holiday. Collaborating with Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday's version of What a Little Moonlight Can Do became a jazz standard and paved the way for multiple jazz singers to follow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldwDvw99HHs&ab_channel=HenriErwig
