1. Cultural Innovations and African American Culture
Ch 15, Sec 2-3
Cultural Innovations and African American Culture

2. Arts and Literature Artists and writers were: Questioned everything
“radicals” in beliefs
Young
Called Bohemians
Questioned everything
Lived in areas like South side of Chicago and Greenwich Village in New York

3. Modern American Art Influenced by Europe New ideas of how to paint
Painted/photographed city life
Showed the excitement and scared feelings of Americans

4. Writers New topics include: The midwest Greatness of American life
Women’s struggles
The problems with society
Tragedies with a fast
paced society
Explained the horrors of war

5. Writers F. Scott Fitzgerald: Author of The Great Gatsby
Explained the problem with American society
Made the 1920s/Americans seem superficial

6. Free Time Americans now had extra money to spend Craved entertainment
Rise in sports, music, theater, movies, and radio shows.

7. Sports Baseball became America’s past time
Babe Ruth-first real sports celebrity
Negro Leagues
Jack Dempsey-heavy weight boxing champ from

8. Sports Rise in College Football
Red Grange- University of Illinois
Fans went from the 1,000s to the millions
Tennis, golf, and swimming also became big attractions

9. Movies Silent movies Piano players played music behind the screen
Subtitles played at the
bottom of the screen
Charlie Chaplin-famous actor
The Kid
The Gold Rush
1927-first movie with speaking parts came out

10. Radio Gained popularity in the 1920s
Sent out the news nationally for the first time as the events were taking place
Played comedies, music, and dramas
Helped to unite the country

11. Harlem Renaissance
Started with the Great Migration of African Americans from the south to the north
An artistic, political, and racial pride movement of African Americans

12. Harlem Renaissance Writers
Langston Hughes:
Wrote about the black experiences in a segregated U.S.
Zora Neale Hurston:
Wrote about rural culture of the South

13. Jazz Jazz: Started by Louis Armstrong
Blends music from all over the country together
Duke Ellington (piano player) in jazz clubs and speakeasies
Cotton Club-NYC

14. Jazz Example

15. Blues
A soulful style of music that started in African American spirituals
Spoke of love, poverty, and oppression

16. Blues Example

17. African Americans in Politics
WWI influenced African Americans to take pride in their people
Stepped up to take small political jobs
Great Migration allowed African Americans to have a vote for the first time
Tried to reverse racial discrimination with new laws

18. NAACP Fought racism, esp. lynchings
Blocked politicians from getting elected to high seats of power
Had mixed success in different parts of the country

19. Marcus Garvey United African Americans Gave ideas of racial pride
and culture new meaning
Believed in education for all black youth and adults alike
Wanted to be separate from whites (Liberia)
His ideas started the ground work for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.