3. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s
“Take The A Train”
Billy Strayhorn for the Duke Ellington Orchestra
You must take the A train To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem
If you miss the A train You'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem
Hurry, get on, now it's coming Listen to those rails a-humming
All aboard, get on the A train Soon you will be on Sugar Hill in Harlem
What is the tone or mood of this recording?
Why do you think the original recording was made and for what audience?
List two things in this sound recording that tell you about life in the United States at the time.

4. What is it?
The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of African American social thought which was expressed through
Paintings
Music
Dance
Theater
Literature

5. The island of Manhattan
Where is Harlem?
The island of Manhattan
Neighborhoods
New York City is on Manhattan island

6. Where was the Harlem Renaissance centered?
Centered in the Harlem district of New York City, the New Negro Movement (as it was called at the time) had a major influence across the Unites States and even the world.

7. How does the Harlem Renaissance connect to the Great Migration?
The economic opportunities of the era triggered a widespread migration of black Americans from the rural south to the industrial centers of the north - and especially to New York City.
In New York and other cities, black Americans explored new opportunities for intellectual and social freedom.
Black American artists, writers, and musicians began to use their talents to work for civil rights and obtain equality.

8. Who?
Many of these people were part of the Great Migration out of the South and other racially stratified communities.

9. Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population in the North rose by about 20 percent overall. Cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Cleveland had some of the biggest increases.

13. Notable Writers
Langston Hughes
Countee Cullen
Zora Neale Hurston

14. Langston Hughes

16. Notable Artists
Self Portrait with Bandana, William Johnson

17. Willian H. Johnson “Harlem scene with full moon” “Jitterbugs II”
“Swing Low Sweet Chariot”
“Street Life Harlem”
“Chain Gang”
“Moon Over Harlem”

18. How did it impact history?
The Harlem Renaissance helped to redefine how Americans and the world understood African American culture. It integrated black and white cultures, and marked the beginning of a black urban society.
The Harlem Renaissance set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s.

19. Walter Dean Myers
1937-present

20. As a child
Born in 1937 in West Virginia in the midst of the Great Depression.
His mother died when he was a toddler. He was adopted soon afterward by a family friend.
Foster father worked as a janitor and foster mother taught him to read.

21. Filling a Void
Myers didn’t like how African Americans were portrayed as uneducated and “nonserious” in the media.
The characters in his books are thoughtful and real.
Settings are often urban, mixing danger with excitement.
Endings aren’t perfect or overly romanticized.