1. Cultural Innovations THE 1920’s HARLEM Renaissance
Culture in the 1920’s
Cultural Innovations
THE 1920’s HARLEM Renaissance

2. Art & Literature in the 1920’s
In the 1920’s was an era of great artistic innovation because artists tried new techniques. Popular culture also changed as Americans tuned in to radio for the newest music & entertainment and motion pictures became a leisure time activity.
American Art in the 1920’s
American artists/writers challenged traditional values.
Explored what it meant to be “modern” & challenges of the “modern world”.
Artists drawn to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village & Chicago’s Southside due to the Bohemian (unconventional) lifestyles there.
Diverse ranges of artistic styles.
Edward Hopper- revived “realism” in haunting scenes like “Automat”.
John Marin – used nature & urban dynamics of NY for inspiration.

3. Edward Hopper’s “Automat” expresses loneliness & isolation many people felt in the 1920’s

4. John Marin’s “Pertaining to Fifth Avenue”

5. POETS & WRITERS
1920’S Poets & writers varied in style & subject matter.
Carl Sandburg- Chicago writer who used common speech to glorify the Mid-West.
Willa Cather – wrote about life on the Great Plains
T.S. Eliot  - wrote about negative aspects of modernism.
The ”Lost Generation”
Writers who were disillusioned (“Lost”) with life in America after WWI and moved to Paris.
Wrote about heroic “antiheroes”
Ernest Hemingway – described the experiences of war.
F. Scott Fitzgerald- wrote the “Great Gatsby”; a novel critical of 1920’s society superficiality.

6. Leisure Time and Popular Culture in the 1920’s
The economic prosperity of the 1920’s gave many Americans more leisure time and more money to make their lives more enjoyable.
Movies
Americans enjoyed Silent Motion Pictures until 1927
Local theaters hired piano players to provide music for silent movies.
Subtitles explained the plot.
Silent movie stars: Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks
st movie with Sound (“Talkie”)- The Jazz Singer
Radio
Radio broadcasts had a huge following in the 1920’s-1930’s.
Played popular songs, classical music, comedy shows, and“ Soap Operas”
Mass Media- radio, movies, newspapers, magazines had a huge effect on the US population= gave a sense of shared experience & helped unify the nation.

7. African-American Culture & Politics
The Harlem renaissance
Addressing civil rights

8. The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a creative era for African-American artists & writers, many of whom, who moved to the North during WWI and experienced new political power to continue the Civil Rights struggle.
During WWI & the 1920’s hundreds of thousands of African-Americans moved to northern industrial cities (Detroit, NY, Chicago)= The Great Migration.
Why did African-Americans move North & Mid-West from the South?
jobs in war factories
Escape Southern segregation
Build better lives
Job discrimination & economic inequality did exist in the North though.
The North still had more economic opportunity for African-Americans.

9. The ”Heart of the Harlem Renaissance”
The cities of the Northeast were full of nightclubs and music where African-American artistic development, racial pride, and political organization thrived.
Harlem, NY ---a place where where African-American culture thrived; “The Heart & Soul of the Harlem Renaissance”.
The Cotton Club – ALL WHITE club in Harlem where many black artists got their start; the club only served WHITE customers though.
The Apollo Theater- another famous club in Harlem
Harlem Renaissance - the development & appreciation of African-American arts, music, culture, racial pride, and political power in the 1920’s.
Chicago’s Southside– another area important to the artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
Key Writers of the Harlem Renaissance:
Claude McKay- 1st important writer of the Harlem Renaissance; his poetry focused on shocking racism and his contempt for racism.
Langston Hughes – became a leading voice of the African-American experience.
Zora Neal Hurston – wrote the first novel featuring black women as lead characters.

10. Jazz , Blues & the Theater
Louis Armstrong
In 1922, Louis Armstrong moved from New Orleans to Chicago and created a unique new form of music (JAZZ)– A Mix of Dixieland blues & ragtime music.
1925- Armstrong & his group (The Hot Five) released recordings which featured Armstrong breaking from the NEW ORLEANS tradition of ensemble playing to his highly innovative SOLO trumpet playing (‘Cornet Chop Suey”).
Edward ‘Duke” Ellington
Influenced by “Ragtime” music
1923 formed a small band & moved to New York
Created his own sound– improvisation & orchestration
Composed 6,000 music pieces (1/3 were Jazz)
Played in “Speakeasies” & the Cotton Club
The Theater Arts
Also thrived in the 1920’s Harlem Renaissance
Shuffle Along- 1st musical written, produced, & performed by African-Americans; Paul Robeson (black theater actor & singer got his start.
Paul Robeson- athlete at Rutgers (Law School) & class valedictorian; 1st major black male theater actor.

11. African-Americans & Politics in the 1920’s
In 1919 (As WWI ended), 1,300 African-Americans veterans marched through Manhattan & Harlem== symbolized new aspirations of African-Americans.
“We return. We return from fighting. We return from fighting. Make way for democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the US, or know the reason why.” W.E.B. Dubois
African-Americans who moved to northern cities became a powerful voting bloc (group) that could sway elections there.
Most African-Americans voted for Republican candidates (party of Abraham Lincoln-freed the slaves).
1928- helped elect Oscar Depriest in Chicago; first black Congressman from a northern state who introduced laws against racial discrimination & making lynching a federal crime.

12. The NAACP Battles Injustice
The NAACP battled against discrimination, segregation, and lynching often unsuccessfully.
The NAACP was able to get the House of Representatives to pass antilynching legislation but the bill was defeated in the US Senate.
NAACP continued to publicize & protest lynching
1930- NAACP successfully opposed the nomination of a N.C. judge to the US Supreme Court
These events showed the growing political power of African-Americans.
Black Nationalism
Black Nationalism- pride in “blackness, self-reliance, and independence”.
Marcus Garvey- black leader who advocated black nationalism in the 1920’s; founder of the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association).
Supported black economic independence & political power through education.
Also supported separation from whites.
Proposed leading blacks back to Africa (”Back to Africa”)
The Black middle class distanced themselves from Garvey
The FBI targeted Garvey; he was arrested for mail fraud & sent to prison
1927 Garvey was pardoned by Coolidge & deported to Jamaica