A Whole New Kind Of Renaissance.

• The Harlem Renaissance is also known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, or the Negro Renaissance.

• This era started in about 1918, and lasted until the mid-1930's.

• The significance of this era was that it was the time period in which African American media producers started being taken more seriously in the world of critics.

• The movement of the Harlem Renaissance was mainly litterary, but also included parts of music, theater, art, and politics created or supported by African Americans.

• By the turn of the century, things had changed so much for african americans that a black middle class had been formed.

• In 1909, An organization called the National Association for the Advancedment of Colored People (NAACP) had been formed to protect the rights of black American citizens.

• Harlem Shadows (1992), written by African American author Claude McKay, was one of the first literary works written by a black writer to get published by a relevant, mainstream publisher.

• White novelist Carl Van Vechten's book, Nigger Heaven, did a great job of drawing out what harlem looked like, and it ended up drawing many New-Yorkers of all races to Harlem to experience the culture found there.

• The Crisis and Opportunity were two newspapers who started employing black editors early on in the Harlem Renaissance.

• The Great Depression was one of the leading causes of the end of the Harlem Renaissance, because people had less time and money to truly appreciate the arts that the black community was producing and being recognized for.

Langston Hughes

• Langston Hughes was an African American writer in the Harlem Renaissance.
• Hughes explored many different areas of literature, including plays, poetry, and short stories.
• One of the constant themes in his works was depicting the life of a citizen of Harlem, NY.
• Hughes was mostly relevant in the 1920's.
• His main genre of literature was short stories that used simple tales to tell what life was really like in Harlem.

Bessie Smith

• Bessie Smith was an African American singer in the Harlem Renaissance. 
• Bessie's nickname was the Empress of Blues.
• She recorded with hit artists such as Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong during her career.
• Smith was famous mostly in the 1920's.
• She had an emotional voice that made her very popular during the era of Blues.
• Bessie's song, St. Louis Blues, can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNWs0LsimFs

Duke Ellington

• Duke Ellington was a famous African American musician during the Harlem Renaissance. 
• Ellington was most famous for being a pianist, composer, and a band leader.
• Ellington was one of the first composers to help develop the style we now know as "big band music," which became very popular during the Harlem Renaissance.
• His orchestra was used as a sort of "workshop," as they tested out his new compositions and sounds.
• Eventually Duke's style was named "The Ellington Effect," and became very popular during that time frame.
• One of Ellington's famous compositions, Take The A Train, can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHRbEhLj54

Sources:

• All information is found on Encarta
• All pictures found on wikimedia commons