Activities

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In the 1920s a section of New York City called Harlem became a center of African American creativity. Writers, artists, musicians, and intellectuals explored and celebrated their own culture, producing an unusual number of original works. Many were entertainers in Harlem nightclubs, which became popular gathering places for New York whites. This period of lively artistic growth is referred to as the Harlem Renaissance. What messages did the artists of the Harlem Renaissance have for all African Americans?

One of the downsides of the shows in the Harlem nightclubs was that they were not performed for African Americans, but for white audiences. Blacks were not encouraged to attend. Imagine that you are staging a 1920s variety show in a Harlem club at which African Americans will be welcomed. Your show will feature writers reading from their works, an art installation, music, theater, and dance.

Learn about the people who were part of the Harlem Renaissance. Then decide who you will choose to star in your show. You will need to create a poster as an advertisement for the show. Describe each performer with quotes, photos, and important biographical information. Remember that as an advertisement, your poster should focus on the talent of the cast.

TEACHER GUIDE

Activity:
Imagine that you have a chance to put on a 1920s variety show in a Harlem club at which Africans-Americans will be welcomed. Your show will feature writers reading from their works, an art gallery, music, theatre, and dance. Learn about the people who were part of the Harlem Renaissance. Then decide whom you will choose to star in your show. You will need to create a poster as an advertisement for the show. Describe each performer with quotes, photos, and important biographical information. Remember that as an advertisement, your poster should focus on the talent of the cast.

Objectives:
Based on research about the Harlem Renaissance, students will choose artists from the period to make up a format for an interesting and well-balanced show to be held in a 1920s-style Harlem club. Students will design an advertising poster using selected quotes, photos, and images of the artists they have chosen for their show.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

• For their initial research, small groups of students might be assigned to particular subject areas, such as writers, visual artists, musicians, dancers, theatre personnel, and intellectuals. When possible, provide them with recordings of music, speeches, poetry, and videos of dance, drama, and films. In addition to The Britannica Guide to Black History, check the Internet for poetry, music, theatre, and other cultural sites that might feature African Americans from the Harlem Renaissance period.
• If few computers are available, research could be done in shifts to save overall time. Allow 1-2 days for research. Students not working on computers could consult print sources or brainstorm ideas for the show or for their poster designs. All students do not have to use the computer for this project.
• Review proper procedure for citing resources of both text and visual images, especially those on the Internet. Web sites focused on research and education will often have guidelines for Internet-citing procedures. Remind students that some printers will not produce acceptable visuals for student use.
• This activity lends itself to the possibility of team teaching with the art, theatre, and other departments.

ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION

A complete and appropriate poster will:

• spotlight Harlem Renaissance artists in several cultural areas
• include information such as quotations, photos, illustrations, and short excerpts from Harlem Renaissance cultural figures in an informative and appealing manner
• capture audience interest and convince people to attend the Harlem Renaissance variety show

TEACHING TIPS

• Due to a number of factors, many African Americans and other people of the 1920s were not familiar with the entertainers and other key figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Lead students in devising some criteria to use to select people for their show so that it will end up presenting a representative sampling of the important artistic and cultural ideas of the Harlem Renaissance movement.
• After researching Harlem Renaissance figures on The Britannica Guide to Black History and in additional resources, assign students to make and present small "poster portraits" of their favorites to use in "auditioning" artists for the show. Members of "a small group of club owners" could then "hire" certain artists to perform in the variety show. Club owners could refer to the list of criteria compiled in the previous Teaching Tip (see above) in making their choices.
• Industrious teachers and students might team together to try to stage this event. Possible stagings could be simple or sophisticated, but would require time and planning. One possibility is that students could introduce their artists with a brief biography and then read excerpts of their writings, show samples of their art, or play recordings of their music. The class could later discuss the presentation, focusing on issues of black identity, artistry, and meaning. A performance event could be attempted by several school departments.

RESOURCES

African Americans: Voices of Triumph., Vol. 3 Creative Fires, Time-Life Books, 1994.
Volume three of a three-volume set on African Americans, it covers a tradition of African art as well as other topics in the arts, including music, literature, visual arts, and filmmaking. This volume does not center on the Harlem Renaissance, but references the period. The bibliography contains a far-reaching list of books about all aspects of African American culture. Good photos, illustrations, and reproductions.

Haskins, Jim, The Harlem Renaissance, The Millbrook Press, 1996.
A very nice introduction to the Harlem Renaissance movement that is accessible to young adults. It contains many photographs and illustrations and includes commentary from the people of the time.

Hughes, Langston and Milton Meltzer, Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the African American in the Performing Arts, Da Capo Press, 1990 (pbk.).
An insightful look at the history of African American entertainers. Great photographs and illustrations.

Lewis, David Levering, When Harlem Was In Vogue, Penguin USA 1997 (pbk.).
In this extremely interesting history of Harlem’s culture, Lewis captures the excitement of the times. With a new preface, the author reconsiders the period in light of criticism surrounding the exploitation of the black community.

Powell, Richard J. (ed.), Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance, University of California Press, 1997 (also in pbk.).
An exhibit catalog that reflects the Harlem Renaissance's impressive range of art forms, including literature and music. The catalog contains 250 color and black-and-white illustrations. For a sampling, visit the Rhapsodies in Black multimedia Web site.