Envision Equity February 2019 Special Black History Month Edition

ENVISION 

 

EQUITY 

HARLEM 

RENAISSANCE 

A Great Day in Harlem. 

Photograph by Art Kane, 

August 12, 1958. 

Photo, google images.

Envision Equity February 2019 

THE PILLARS OF THE 

 

HARLEM RENAISSANCE 

ARE WHAT THE THREE 

PILLARS ARE ABOUT! 

By John D. Marshall—Ed.D. Chief Equity Officer, Jefferson County Public Schools 

Dr. John Marshall 

I am thanking in advance the teachers, principals, and others 

who take well-invested time to teach a fuller curriculum that 

includes a more complete picture of the world and America. 

This special edition of Envision Equity pays homage to the 

artists of the Harlem Renaissance. These artists capture(d) the 

beauty, pain, love, mistreatment, and genius of Black 

(American) life. Whether it be through song, sculpture, acting, 

writing, etc., these Black artists created memorable monuments 

and moments that deserve far more credit and attention than 

many of them receive. 

Coined the father of education, Carter G. Woodson said, “If a race 

has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a 

negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in 

danger of being exterminated.” I, for one, wholeheartedly agree 

with that statement. What people become is due in some part to 

what they know and or do not know. When a person does not know 

nor is shown the abundance of attributions, contributions, and 

institutions created, owned, and led by his or her culture, it is no 

surprise that in some cases he or she (un)consciously acquiesces to 

the saturation of a selected 

education that does not 

wholly, if at all, teach or reach 

the heart of the child. 

Mr. Woodson also said, “The mere imparting of information is 

not education.” Again true! Long gone (should be) are the days Dr. Carter G. Woodson 

of lecture, list, listen, repeat. The three Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) initiatives—called the 

three pillars: Backpack of Success Skills, Racial Equity, and Culture and Climate—should and could 

usher in a new way of not just learning but also being. We are poised to position Henry O. Tanner to 

abut a white artist who receives more attention only due to curricula selection. We can share the grit


and grace found in Aaron 

Douglas's art and 

unapologetically use those 

paintings to show future 

leaders the systemic 

failures, successes, and 

hope of a world and 

country. The artful teacher 

can now challenge students 

to dive further into said art 

and discuss, demonstrate, 

debate, doodle, etc., his or 

her own feelings and 

opinion about the work. 

That doodle, essay, or entry 

could morph into a student 

defense that elucidates her 

or his understanding of self 

and the society in which he or she lives. This is also way to pay homage to Harlemites who deserve 

more worldly attention than he or she receives now. There is no Misty Copeland without Josephine 

Baker. There is no Alicia Keys without Florence Mills. There is no Chadwick Boseman without Paul 

Robeson. The opportunity, although long overdue, is now. Now we can/must bring in artful, heartful, 

and fearless teaching that removes the holey curriculum and ushers in a system that marries deeper 

learning and racial equity, which in turn evokes a culture and climate conducive for “Harlem” and the 

minds that need to know about the geniuses who worked, played, and lived there. 

This special edition of Envision Equity is an attempt to respect more than the month and the 

historical greatness of the brilliant, brave, beautiful Black artists gracing these pages, but to also 

celebrate the artistry of teachers and leaders who know and show students that without Harlem 

(Black) history, there is no accurate American history. 

“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which 

comes from the teaching of biography and history.” 

—Carter G. Woodson


Introduction 

 

With the end of the Civil War in 1865, hundreds of 

thousands of African Americans newly freed from the 

yoke of slavery in the South began to dream of fuller 

participation in American society, including political 

empowerment, equal economic opportunity, and 

economic and cultural self-determination. 

With booming economies across the North and Midwest 

offering industrial jobs for workers of every race, many 

African Americans realized their hopes for a better 

standard of living—and a more racially tolerant 

environment—lay outside the South. By the turn of the 

20th century, the Great Migration was underway as 

hundreds of thousands of African Americans relocated 

to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York. The Harlem section of 

Manhattan, which covers just three square miles, drew nearly 175,000 African Americans, giving the 

neighborhood the largest concentration of black people in the world. Harlem became a destination for 

African Americans of all backgrounds. From unskilled laborers to an educated middle-class, they 

shared common experiences of slavery, emancipation, and racial oppression, as well as a determination 

to forge a new identity as free people. 

The Great Migration drew to Harlem some of the greatest minds and brightest talents of the day, an 

astonishing array of African American artists and scholars. Between the end of World War I and the 

mid-1930s, they produced one of the most significant eras of cultural expression in the nation’s history 

—the Harlem Renaissance. Yet this cultural explosion also occurred in Cleveland, Los Angeles and 

many cities shaped by the great migration. Alain Locke, a Harvard-educated writer, critic, and teacher 

who became known as the “dean” of the Harlem Renaissance, described it as a “spiritual coming of age” 

in which African Americans transformed “social disillusionment to race pride.” 

The Harlem Renaissance encompassed poetry and prose, painting and sculpture, jazz and swing, opera 

and dance. What united these diverse art forms was their realistic presentation of what it meant to be 

black in America, what writer Langston Hughes called an “expression of our individual dark-skinned 

selves,” as well as a new militancy in asserting their civil and political rights. 

Among the Renaissance’s most significant contributors were electrifying performers Josephine Baker 

and Paul Robeson; writers and poets Zora Neale Hurston, Effie Lee Newsome, Countee Cullen; visual 

artists Aaron Douglas and Augusta Savage; and an extraordinary list of legendary musicians, including 

Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Eubie Blake, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ivie 

Anderson, Josephine Baker, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, and countless others. 

Please enjoy these profiles of notable members of the Harlem Renaissance era. A lesson plan is 

included on pages 35 & 36 for teachers to use in the classroom.


Aaron Douglas 

 

 

Born in Topeka, Kansas, Aaron Douglas was a leading figure in the artistic and literary movement known as the 

Harlem Renaissance. He is sometimes referred to as "the father of black American art." Douglas developed an 

interest in art early on, finding some of his inspiration from his mother's love for painting watercolors. 

After graduating from Topeka High School in 1917, Douglas attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. There, 

he pursued his passion for creating art, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1922. Around that time, he 

shared his interest with the students of Lincoln High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He taught there for two 

years, before deciding to move to New York City. At the time, New York's Harlem neighborhood had a thriving 

arts scene. 

Arriving in 1925, Douglas quickly became immersed Harlem's cultural life. 

He contributed illustrations to Opportunity, the National Urban League's 

magazine, and to The Crisis, put out by the National Association for the 

Advancement Colored People. Douglas created powerful images of 

African-American life and struggles, and won awards for the work he 

created for these publications, ultimately receiving a commission to 

illustrate an anthology of philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke's work, 

entitled The New Negro. 

Douglas had a unique artistic style that fused his interests in 

modernism and African art. A student of German-born painter 

Winold Reiss, he incorporated parts of Art Deco along with 

elements of Egyptian wall paintings in his work. Many of his 

figures appeared as bold silhouettes. 

In 1926, Douglas married teacher Alta Sawyer, and the couple's 

Harlem home became a social Mecca for the likes of Langston 

Hughes and W. E. B. Du Bois, among other powerful African 

Americans of the early 1900s. Around the same time, Douglas 

worked on a magazine with novelist Wallace Thurman to feature 

African-American art and literature. Entitled Fire!!, the magazine 

only published one issue. 

Aaron Douglas. Aspects of Negro Life: The 

Negro in an African Setting. Oil on canvas, 

1934. The New York Public Library, 

Schomburg Center for Research in Black 

Culture, Art and Artifacts Division.


Why I 

Teaching Art 

 

 

“Maybe you should be an art teacher,” was a statement my group chaperone uttered to me 

during an Art Department field trip to New York City during my senior year of high school. In 

an effort to add confusion to what seemed, at that point, a life-altering decision, the idea 

echoed in my mind. At that time, my love for art resonated in the fact that I was good at it. I 

would graffiti the cover of every folder, doodle on every notebook cover, and scribble random 

thoughts on the edge of every single paper I touched. 

In learning effective and impactful teaching strategies, my theory is that art is a learned 

subject, 

just as reading and math are. The more effort, focus, and hard work 

placed into the subject, the higher the outcome for successfully 

learned skills. Beautiful moments arise when students who 

witness themselves struggling in core subjects find success 

stemming from their natural art skills and capability to 

express themselves through forms not related to their math 

facts or reading levels. The ultimate payoff as an art 

teacher is to see the pride of completing a masterpiece 

from students who often thought positive outcomes 

were void in their lives; the picture they paint is 

priceless. 

Photos, Abdul Sharif


Duke Ellington 

 

 

Born on April 29, 1899, Duke Ellington was raised by two talented, musical parents in a middle-class 

neighborhood of Washington D.C. At the age of seven, he began studying piano and earned the nickname 

"Duke" for his gentlemanly ways. Inspired by his job as a soda jerk, he wrote his first composition, "Soda 

Fountain Rag," at the age of 15. Despite being awarded an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New 

York, Ellington followed his passion for ragtime and began to play professionally at age 17. 

In the 1920s, Ellington performed in Broadway nightclubs as the bandleader of a sextet, a 

which in time grew to a 10-piece ensemble. Ellington sought out musicians with unique 

playing styles, such as Bubber Miley, who used a plunger to make the "wa-wa" sound, 

and Joe Nanton, who gave the world his trombone "growl." At various times, his 

ensemble included the trumpeter Cootie Williams, cornetist Rex Stewart and alto 

saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Ellington made hundreds of recordings with his 

bands, appeared in films and on radio, and toured Europe on two occasions in the 

1930s. 

Ellington's fame rose to the rafters in the 1940s when he composed several 

masterworks, including "Concerto for Cootie," "Cotton Tail" and "Ko-Ko." Some of 

his most popular songs included "It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing," 

"Sophisticated Lady," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Solitude," and "Satin Doll." A number of 

his hits were sung by the impressive Ivie Anderson, a favorite female vocalist of 

Duke's band. 

group

Finish The Statement 

 

If I could spend one day in Harlem, New York during the 

Harlem Renaissance, I would... 

“I would sit in on a set with 

Duke Ellington at the 

Cotton Club while he 

played all of his big band 

hits.” 

John D. Marshall Ed.D 

Chief Equity Officer 

“Mine would have to be the 

chance to hear Louis 

Armstrong live. I can 

remember hearing him on 

TV (it may have been about 

the time of his death) and 

asking my dad who he was 

and what instrument he was 

playing.” 

Jimmy Adams 

Chief of Human Resources 

“I would hang out with 

Zora Neale Hurston. I’d 

ask her to read her 

writings aloud and to 

discuss her research. 

Most importantly, I’d 

encourage her and tell 

her how amazing 

people (including me) 

would think her work 

was in the future.” 

Kim Morales, Principal 

Seneca High School 

“Sit down, relax, and 

enjoy the amazing jazz 

music.” 

Randy Frantz 

JCPS Director of 

Transportation 

“I would spend the day talking to Langston Hughes about his personal and 

cultural experiences, and how those experiences influenced his poetic 

revelations and artistry of black life during the Renaissance.” 

Dr. Toetta Taul 

Marion C. Moore 

Freshman Academy Principal


William Henry Johnson 

 

 

Artist William Henry Johnson was born on March 18, 1901, in the small town of Florence, South Carolina, to 

parents Henry Johnson and Alice Smoot, who were both laborers. Johnson realized his dreams of becoming 

an artist at a young age, copying cartoons from the paper as a child. However, as the oldest of the family's five 

children, who lived in a poor, segregated town in the South, Johnson tucked away his aspirations of becoming 

an artist, deeming them unrealistic. 

But Johnson finally left South Carolina in 1918, at the age of 17, to pursue his dreams in New York City. There, 

he enrolled at the National Academy of Design and met Charles Webster Hawthorne, a well-known artist who 

took Johnson under his wing. While Hawthorne recognized Johnson's talent, he knew that Johnson would 

have a difficult time excelling as an African-American artist in the United States, and thus raised enough 

money to send the young artist to Paris, France, upon his graduation in 1926. 

Though they had moved to avoid any conflict with the Nazis, William and Holcha still faced racism and 

discrimination as an interracial couple living in the United States. The artistic community of Harlem, New 

York, which had become more enlightened and experimental following the Harlem Renaissance, embraced the 

couple, however. 

Around this time, Johnson took a job as an art teacher at the Harlem Community 

also continuing to create art in his spare time. Transitioning from 

expressionism to a primitive style of artwork, or primitivism, 

Johnson's work during this time displayed brighter colors and twodimensional 

objects, and often included portrayals of African- 

American life in Harlem, the South and the military. Some of these 

works, including paintings depicting black soldiers fighting on the 

front lines as well as the segregation that took place there, served 

as commentaries on the treatment of African Americans in the 

U.S. Army during World War II. 

Art Center, 

William H. Johnson, Jitterbugs (II), ca. 1941, 

oil on paperboard.


A Day in Harlem with 

Mr. Ashford 

 

 

If I could spend one day in Harlem, New York, during the Harlem Renaissance, I would shed 

my denim jeans, like the other migrants from the South, for a three-piece suit and fedora. I 

would proudly walk two square miles around this oasis of black consciousness before 

marching with protesters at the Silence Parade. I would then press my way through the 

thousands of participants organized to protest violent crimes against African Americans, 

until I was right behind James Weldon Johnson and W.E.B. DuBois. I would tell W.E.B. 

DuBois how The Souls of Black Folks changed my perspective and ask him to be my tour 

guide in hopes he would take me to Negrotti Manor on 136th Street, by way 

of his favorite soul food restaurant. I would ask DuBois his opinion of 

Alain Locke, “The New Negro,” and the art of Erin Douglas inspired 

by Marcus Garvey’s vision of the motherland. I would ask DuBois 

how he felt the first time he heard a Langston Hughes poem. I 

would buy us both tickets to the theater to see movies starring 

actors, who looked like us, acting out scripts that unapologetically 

explored the racial challenges and issues of black community from 

the black perspective. As evening neared, I would tip-toe in the back 

door of the Cotton Club to observe the mixed crowd and witness jazz 

in its purest form conducted by no other than Duke Ellington himself. 

But those who truly know me know, I’m not a “Bourgeois Negro,” so, I 

would have to top off my night with a trip to the nearest 

speakeasy. Where I could hopefully hear some blues, sip on 

some hooch or giggle water, and sweat out my zoot suit 

dancing with a tall chocolate drink of water. 

Photos, Abdul Sharif


Augusta Savage 

 

 

Augusta Savage was born Augusta Christine Fells on February 29, 1892, in Green Cove Springs, Florida. Part of a 

large family, she began making art as a child, using the natural clay found in her area. Skipping school at times, 

she enjoyed sculpting animals and other small figures. But her father, a Methodist minister, didn't approve of 

this activity and did whatever he could to stop her. Savage once said that her father "almost whipped all the art 

out of me." 

Despite her father's objections, Savage continued to make sculptures. When the family moved to West Palm 

Beach, Florida, in 1915, she encountered a new challenge: a lack of clay. Savage eventually got some materials 

from a local potter and created a group of figures that she entered in a local county fair. Her work was well 

received, winning a prize and along the way the support of the fair's superintendent, George Graham Currie. He 

encouraged her to study art despite the racism of the day. 

Savage 

time 

of 

soon started to make a name for herself as a portrait sculptor. Her works from this 

include busts of such prominent African Americans as W. E. B. Du 

Bois and Marcus Garvey. Savage was considered to be one of the leading artists 

the Harlem Renaissance, a preeminent African-American literary and artistic 

movement of the 1920s and '30s. 

Eventually, following a series of family crises, Savage got her opportunity to 

study abroad. She was awarded a Julius Rosenwald fellowship in 1929, based 

in part on a bust of her nephew entitled Gamin. Savage spent time in Paris, 

where she exhibited her work at the Grand Palais. She earned a 

second Rosenwald fellowship to continue her studies for another year, and a 

separate Carnegie Foundation grant 

allowed her 

to travel to other European countries.


Billie Holiday 

 

 

Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Some sources say her 

birthplace was Baltimore, Maryland, and her birth certificate reportedly reads "Elinore Harris.") 

Holiday spent much of her childhood in Baltimore. Her mother, Sadie, was only a teenager when she had her. 

Her father is widely believed to be Clarence Holiday, who eventually became a successful jazz musician, 

playing with the likes of Fletcher Henderson. 

In her difficult early life, Holiday found solace in music, singing along to the records 

of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. She followed her mother, who had moved to 

New York City in the late 1920s, and worked in a house of prostitution in 

Harlem for a time. 

Around 1930, Holiday began singing in local clubs and renamed 

herself "Billie" after the film star Billie Dove. 

Holiday toured with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1937. The following 

year, she worked withArtie Shaw and his orchestra. Holiday broke new 

ground with Shaw, becoming one of the first female African American 

vocalists to work with a white orchestra. 

Promoters, however, objected to Holiday—for her race and for her unique 

vocal style—and she ended up leaving the orchestra out of frustration. 

While her hard living was taking a toll on her voice, Holiday continued to 

tour and record in the 1950s. She began recording for Norman 

Granz, the owner of several small jazz labels, in 1952. Two 

years later, Holiday had a hugely successful tour of Europe. 

Holiday also caught the public's attention by sharing her life 

story with the world in 1956. Her autobiography, Lady Sings 

the Blues (1956), was written in collaboration by William Dufty.


Romare Bearden 

 

 

An only child, Romare Bearden was born on September 2, 1914, in Charlotte, North Carolina. When he was still a 

child, the family moved to Harlem, New York City, where his mother was a well-known journalist and political 

activist. He received a bachelor of science degree from New York University because, he said, "I thought I wanted 

to be a medical doctor." E. Simms Campbell, the renowned African American cartoonist, encouraged him to 

study painting with George Grosz, the German-born painter and satirical draftsman, at the Art Students' League 

in New York. "It was Grosz, " Bearden remembered with gratitude, "who first introduced me to classical 

draftsmen like Hogarth and Ingres." Essential as formal institutions were to his development as a person and an 

artist, his association with African American artists and intellectuals of the Depression period cannot be 

minimized. Among these were the painters Norman Lewis and Jacob Lawrence and the writer Ralph Ellison, 

who maintained an atmosphere of social and political concern which heavily influenced Bearden's early work. 

Even though his concern for these problems in no way diminished later and all his works abound in ethnic 

subject matter, the mild-mannered, almost shy artist insisted that he was not a social propagandist. "My subject 

is people, " he said. "They just happen to turn out to be Negro.” 

Early in his career he emulated the styles of Rufino Tamayo and José Clemente Orozco, painting simple forms 

and echoing the crude power he had come to admire in medieval art. His paintings of everyday black life were 

forceful in color; the figures followed simple patterns and their statements were literal, as in graphic art rather 

than painting. By 1945 he had begun to adopt a less literal, more personal style, which 

proved 

to be the most congenial for his unique artistic expressions. In the 1950s, while working as 

a New 

York City Welfare Department investigator, he expressed his feelings in lyrical 

abstractions. 

The early 1960s brought a period of transition for Bearden. In 1963 a group of African 

American artists began meeting in his Harlem studio. Calling themselves the Spiral 

Group, they sought to define their roles as black artists within the context of the 

growing civil rights movement. 

His "Projections" series, exhibited in 1964, caused a wave of controversy 

and excitement. The tormented faces of African American women 

hanging upside down on the cracked stoops of Harlem tenements, New 

York bridges soaring out of Carolina cotton fields, and African 

pyramids colliding with American folk singers strumming guitars 

prompted one critic to write that the show comprised "a collection of 

headhunters." These startling images, constructed from newspaper 

and magazine photographs, had been enlarged from their original 

color into huge black-and-white photographs that provided the 

artist's desired effect of urgency. 

Mr. Jeremiah's Sunset Guitar, 1981.


Bill “Bojangles” Robinson 

 

 

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was born Luther Robinson in Richmond, Virginia, on May 25, 1878. His father, 

Maxwell, worked in a machine shop, while his mother, Maria, was a choir singer. After both of his parents died 

in 1885, Robinson was raised by his grandmother, Bedilia, who had been a slave earlier in her life. According to 

Robinson, he used physical force to compel his brother, Bill, to switch names with him, since he did not care for 

his given name of Luther. Additionally, as a young man, he earned the nickname "Bojangles" for his contentious 

tendencies. 

At the age of 5, Robinson began dancing for a living, performing in local beer gardens. In 1886, at the age of 9, 

he joined Mayme Remington's touring troupe. In 1891, he joined a traveling company, later performing as a 

vaudeville act. He achieved great success as a nightclub and musical-comedy performer. At this stage of 

his career, he performed almost exclusively in black theaters before 

black audiences. 

Robinson's fame withstood the decline of African-American revues. He starred in 14 

Hollywood motion pictures, many of them musicals, and played 

multiple roles 

opposite the child star Shirley Temple. His film credits 

include Rebecca of 

Sunnybrook Farm, The Little Colonel and Stormy 

Weather, costarring 

Lena Horne and Cab Calloway. Despite 

his fame, 

Robinson was not able to transcend the 

narrow range of 

stereotypical roles written for black 

actors at the time. By 

accepting these roles, Robinson 

was able to maintain steady 

employment and remain in 

the public eye. In 1939, at the 

age of 61, he performed 

in The Hot Mikado, a jazz-inspired 

interpretation of 

Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta. 

Robinson 

celebrated his 61st birthday publicly 

by dancing down 61 

blocks of Broadway.


 



“Start the day with a plate of chicken and waffles (the dish 

originated in Harlem), spend the day walking around soaking up 

the art, culture and camaraderie, then end the day at the Cotton 

Club enjoying the best of the best of Jazz.” 

Ben Johnson, CPRP 

Assistant Director, Recreation 

Louisville Parks and Recreation 

“If I could spend one day in Harlem New York during the 

Harlem Renaissance, I would speak with community leaders & 

owners of black businesses to learn how community campaigns 

during that time promoted the concept of the 'Double Duty 

Dollar' and encouraged residents to shop in black 

establishments. Then I would visit the Cotton Club! Hopefully, 

Duke Ellington would be performing!” 

Sam Johnson 

Director of Youth Development and Education 

Louisville Urban League, Inc. 


Harlem Renaissance, I would meet up with Zora Neal 

Hurston and talk about her writings.” 

Kellie Watson 

Chief Equity Officer 

at Louisville Metro Government


Alain Locke 

 

 

Alain LeRoy Locke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 13, 1886, to father Pliny Ishmael and 

mother Mary Hawkins Locke. A gifted student, Locke graduated from Philadelphia's Central High School second 

in his class in 1902. He attended the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy before matriculating at Harvard 

University, from which he graduated in 1907 with degrees in both literature and philosophy. 

Despite his intellect and clear talent, Locke faced significant barriers as an African American. Though he was 

selected as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke was denied admission to several colleges at the 

University of Oxford because of his race. He finally gained entry into Hertford College, where he studied from 

1907 to 1910. Locke also studied philosophy at the University of Berlin during his years abroad. 

Locke promoted African-American artists and writers, encouraging them to look to Africa for artistic inspiration. 

Author Zora Neale Hurston received significant support from Locke. He also reviewed the work of African- 

American scholars in the pages of the periodicals Opportunity and Phylon, and published work on African- 

American art, theater, poetry and music. 

Much of Locke's writing focused on African and African-American identity. His collection of writing and 

illustrations, The New Negro, was published in 1925 and quickly became a classic. He also published pieces on 

the Harlem Renaissance, communicating the energy and potential of Harlem culture to a wide audience of both 

black and white readers. For his part in developing the movement, Locke has been dubbed the "Father of the 

Harlem Renaissance." His views on African-American intellectual and cultural life differed sharply from those of 

other Harlem Renaissance leaders, however, including W.E.B. Du Bois (who was also a friend of Locke's). While 

Du Bois believed that African-American artists should aim to uplift their race, Locke argued that the artist's 

responsibility was primarily to himself or herself.


Cab Calloway 

 

 

Singer and bandleader Cab Calloway was born in Rochester, New York, in 1907. He learned the art of scat 

singing before landing a regular gig at Harlem's famous Cotton Club. Following the enormous success of his 

song "Minnie the Moocher" (1931), Calloway became one of the most popular entertainers of the 1930s and '40s. 

He appeared on stage and in films before his death in 1994, at age 86, in Hockessin, Delaware. 

In 1930, Calloway got a gig at Harlem's famed Cotton Club. Soon, as the bandleader of Cab Calloway and his 

Orchestra, he became a regular performer at the popular nightspot. Calloway hit the big time with "Minnie the 

Moocher" (1931), a No. 1 song that sold more than one million copies. The tune's famous call-and-response "hide-hi-de-ho" 

chorus—improvised when he couldn't recall a lyric—became Calloway's signature phrase for the 

rest of his career. 

Calloway and his orchestra had successful tours in Canada, Europe and across the United States, traveling in 

private train cars when they visited the South in order to escape some of the hardships of segregation. With his 

enticing voice, energetic onstage moves and dapper white tuxedos, Calloway was the star attraction. However, 

the group's musical talent was just as impressive, partly because the salaries Calloway offered were 

second only to Duke Ellington's. The standout musicians Calloway performed with 

include 

saxophonist Chu Berry, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and drummer Cozy Cole. 

In 1993, President Bill Clinton presented Calloway with a National Medal of 

Arts. Calloway's later years were spent in White Plains, New York, until he 

had a stroke in June 1994. He then moved to a nursing home in Hockessin, 

Delaware, where he died on November 18, 1994, at the age of 86. 

the


Ella Fitzgerald 

 

 

Born in 1917, Ella Fitzgerald turned to singing after a troubled childhood and debuted at the Apollo Theater in 

1934. Discovered in an amateur contest, she went on to become the top female jazz singer for decades. 

In 1958, Fitzgerald made history as the first African-American woman to win a Grammy Award. Due in no small 

part to her vocal quality, with lucid intonation and a broad range, the singer would go on to win 13 Grammys in 

total and sell more than 40 million albums. 

Her multi-volume "songbooks" on Verve Records are among America's recording treasures. Fitzgerald died in 

California in 1996. 

In the mid-1940s, Granz had started Jazz at the Philharmonic, a series of concerts and live records featuring 

most of the genre's great performers. Fitzgerald also hired Granz to become her manager. 

Around this time, Fitzgerald went on tour with Dizzy Gillespie and his band. She started changing her singing 

style, incorporating scat singing during her performances. 

Fitzgerald also fell in love with Gillespie's bass player Ray Brown. The pair wed in 1947, and they adopted a child 

born to Fitzgerald's half-sister whom they named Raymond "Ray" Brown Jr. The marriage ended in 1952. 

In 1956, Fitzgerald began recording for the newly created Verve. She made 

most popular albums for the label, starting out with 1956's Ella 

Sings the Cole PorterSong Book. 

At the very first Grammy Awards in 1958, Fitzgerald picked up her 

Grammys—and made history as the first African-American woman to 

award—for best individual jazz performance and best female vocal 

performance for the two songbook projects Ella Fitzgerald Sings 

Ellington Song Book and Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song 

Book, respectively. (She worked directly with Ellington on the former 

some of her 

Fitzgerald 

first two 

win the 

the Duke 

album.)


Jacob Lawrence 

 

 

Raised in Harlem, New York, Jacob Lawrence became the most renowned African- 

American artist of his time. Known for producing narrative collections like 

the Migration Series and War Series, he illustrated the African-American experience 

using vivid colors set against black and brown figures. He also served as a professor of 

art at the University of Washington for 15 years. 

At the outbreak of World War II, Lawrence was drafted into the United States Coast 

Guard. After being briefly stationed in Florida and Massachusetts, he was assigned to be 

the Coast Guard artist aboard a troopship, documenting the war experience as he traveled 

around the world. During this time, he produced close to 50 

paintings but all ended up being lost. 

When his tour of duty ended, Lawrence received a Guggenheim 

Fellowship and painted his War Series. He was also invited by Josef 

Albers to teach the summer session at Black Mountain College in North 

Carolina. Albers reportedly hired a private train car to transport Lawrence 

and his wife to the college so they wouldn’t be forced to transfer to the “colored” 

car when the train crossed the Mason-Dixon Line. 

When he returned to New York, Lawrence continued honing his craft but began 

struggling with depression. In 1949 he admitted himself into Hillside Hospital in 

Queens, staying for close to a year. As a patient at the facility, he produced artwork that 

reflected his emotional state, incorporating subdued colors and melancholy figures in his 

paintings, which was a sharp contrast to his other works. 

In 1951, Lawrence painted works based on memories of performances at the Apollo 

Theater in Harlem. He also began teaching again, first at Pratt Institute and later the 

New School for Social Research and the Art Students League. 

Jacob Lawrence In the North the Negro had better educational facilities 1940-41


James Van Der Zee 

 

 

The Harlem Renaissance was in full swing during the 1920s and '30s, and for decades, Van Der Zee would 

photograph Harlemites of all backgrounds and occupations, though his work is particularly noted for its 

pioneering depiction of middle-class African-American life. He took thousands 

of pictures, mostly 

indoor portraits, and labeled each of his photos with a signature and date, 

which would 

prove to be important for future documentation. 

Although Van Der Zee photographed many African-American 

including Florence Mills, Hazel Scott and Adam Clayton Powell Jr.— 

his work was of the straightforward commercial studio variety: 

weddings and funerals (including pictures of the dead for grieving 

families), family groups, teams, lodges, clubs, and people simply 

to have a record of themselves in fine clothes. He often 

supplied props or costumes and took time to carefully pose 

subjects, giving the picture an accessible narrative. 

Van Der Zee's photos sometimes contained special 

from the result of darkroom manipulation. In one 

image, a 1920 photograph titled "Future Expectations 

(Wedding Day)," a young couple is presented in bride 

and groom finery, with a ghostly, transparent image of 

a child at their feet. 

With the advent of personal cameras in the middle of 

the century, the desire for Van Der Zee's services 

dwindled; he procured less and less commissions, 

though he maintained an alternative business in 

image restoration and mail order sales. He and 

Greenlee were of very limited means when, in 1969, the 

Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted an exhibition 

featuring Van Der Zee, Harlem on My Mind, bringing the 

photographer and his work renewed attention. 

effects 

his 

celebrities— 

most of 

wanting


James Weldon Johnson 

 

 

James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17, 1871, the son of a freeborn Virginian 

father and a Bahamian mother, and was raised without a sense of limitations amid a society focused on 

segregating African Americans. After graduating from Atlanta University, Johnson was hired as a principal in a 

grammar school. While serving in this position, in 1895, he founded The Daily American newspaper. In 1897, 

Johnson became the first African American to pass the bar exam in Florida. 

Not long after, in 1900, James and his brother, John, wrote the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which would 

later become the official anthem of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. (The 

Johnson brothers would go on to write more than 200 songs for the Broadway musical stage.) Johnson then 

moved to New York and studied literature at Columbia University, where he met other African-American 

artists. 

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed James Weldon Johnson to diplomatic positions in Venezuela 

and Nicaragua. Upon his return in 1914, Johnson became involved with the NAACP, and by 1920, was serving 

as chief executive of the organization. Also during this period, he became known 

as one of 

the leading figures in the creation and development of the African- 

American artistic community known as the Harlem Renaissance. 

Johnson published hundreds of stories and poems during his lifetime. 

He also produced works such as God's Trombones (1927), a collection 

that celebrates the African-American experience in the rural South 

and elsewhere, and the novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored 

Man (1912)—making him the first black-American author to treat 

Harlem and Atlanta as subjects in fiction. Based, in part, on Johnson's 

own life, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man was published 

anonymously in 1912, but did not attract attention until Johnson reissued 

it under his own name in 1927. 

After retiring from the NAACP in 1930, Johnson devoted the rest of his 

life to writing. In 1934, he became the first African-American professor at 

New York University. 

Johnson died in a car accident in Wiscasset, Maine, on June 26, 1938, at the 

age of 67. More than 2,000 people attended his funeral in Harlem.


Langston Hughes 

 

 

Hughes graduated from high school in 1920 and spent the following year in Mexico with his father. Around this 

time, Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" was published in The Crisis magazine and was highly praised. 

In 1921 Hughes returned to the United States and enrolled at Columbia University where he studied briefly, and 

during which time he quickly became a part of Harlem's burgeoning cultural movement, what is commonly 

known as the Harlem Renaissance. 

But Hughes dropped out of Columbia in 1922 and worked various odd jobs around New York for the following 

year, before signing on as a steward on a freighter that took him to Africa and Spain. He left the ship in 1924 and 

lived for a brief time in Paris, where he continued to develop and publish his poetry. 

In 1951 Hughes published one of his most celebrated poems, "Harlem (What happens to a dream deferred?')," 

discussing how the American Dream falls short for African Americans: 

What happens to a dream deferred? 

 

Does it dry up 

like a raisin in the sun? 

Or fester like a sore— 

And then run? 

Does it stink like rotten meat? 

Or crust and sugar over— 

Like a syrupy sweet? 

Maybe it just sags 

Like a heavy load. 

Or does it explode?


Lena Horne 

 

 

Actress and singer Lena Horne was born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. She left school at age 16 to help 

support her family and became a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem. After having established herself as a 

sought after live singer, a role she would maintain throughout her life, she later signed with MGM studios and 

became known as one of the top African-American performers of her time, seen in such films as Cabin in the 

Skyand Stormy Weather. She was also known for her work with civil rights groups and refused to play roles that 

stereotyped African-American women, a stance that many found controversial. After some 

time 

out of the limelight during the '70s, she made a revered, award-winning comeback 

with her 1981 show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. Continuing to record into 

her later years, Horne died on May 9, 2010. 

At age 16, Horne dropped out of school and began performing at the Cotton Club 

in Harlem. After making her Broadway debut in the autumn 1934 

production Dance With Your Gods, she joined Noble Sissle & His Orchestra as a 

singer, using the name Helena Horne. Then, after appearing in the Broadway 

musical revue Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1939, she joined a well-known white 

swing band, the Charlie Barnet Orchestra. Barnet was one of the first bandleaders 

to integrate his band, but because of racial prejudice, Horne was unable to stay or 

socialize at many of the venues in which the orchestra performed, and she soon 

left the tour. In 1941 she returned to New York to work at the Café Society 

nightclub, popular with both black and white artists and intellectuals. 

Horne was married to Louis Jones from 1937 to 1944, and they had two children. She 

married Lennie Hayton, a white bandleader, in December 1947 in Paris, France, but 

they kept their marriage a secret for three years. A union that was 

significantly impacted by racial prejudice, they separated in the 1960s 

but never divorced. 

Stormy Weather, a well-received biography of Lena Horne's life, 

was published in 2009 and written by James 

Gavin. Horne also published her own 

memoir, Lena, in 1965.


Lois Mailou Jones 

 

 

Lois Mailou Jones was a painter whose works reflect a command of widely varied styles, from traditional 

landscape to African-themed abstraction. 

In the 1930s, Lois Mailou Jones' art reflected the influences of African traditions, and she designed African-style 

masks and in 1938 painted Les Fétiches, which depicts masks in five distinct, ethnic styles. During a year in 

Paris, she produced landscapes and figure studies, and African influences reemerged in her art in the late 1960s 

and early '70s, particularly after two tours of Africa. 

In 1928 Jones formed and chaired the art department at the Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina, and 

two years later was recruited to teach at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Jones taught design and 

watercolor painting at Howard for the next forty-seven years. She mentored hundreds of students in the 

practicalities of an art career and took them on art tours to Europe and Africa. In 1937 Jones received a yearlong 

fellowship that took her to Paris to live and work. This was a defining moment for the young black artist 

who experienced—for the first time in her life—the complete freedom to live as she wished without the 

indignities of segregation that she felt in the United States. She loved Paris and Parisians. Here, she painted 

street scenes, still lifes, and portraits in an impressionist and post-impressionist style. Jones returned to 

Paris many times during her life. 

Jones incorporated African heritage and the American black 

experience 

into her art, responding to the challenge of African American 

artists 

associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She included African 

motifs in 

her work; later, after she married Haitian artist Louis Pierre- 

Noël in 

1953, she began spending time on this Caribbean island and added 

Haitian subjects to her repertoire. 

Jones died at age ninety-two. Her artistic legacy is recorded 

hundreds of her canvases—and in the passion and 

she communicated to some 2,500 students. 

in 

discipline 

Loïs Mailou Jones "Ubi Girl from Tai Region," 

1972, acrylic on canvas.


Louis Armstrong 

 

 

Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a section so poor that it was 

nicknamed "The Battlefield." 

Armstrong had a difficult childhood. His father was a factory worker and abandoned the family soon after 

Louis's birth; his mother, who often turned to prostitution, frequently left him with his maternal grandmother. 

Armstrong was obligated to leave school in the fifth grade to begin working. 

A local Jewish family, the Karnofskys, gave young Armstrong a job collecting junk and delivering coal. They also 

encouraged him to sing and often invited him into their home for meals. 

On New Year's Eve in 1912, Armstrong fired his stepfather's gun in the air during a New Year's Eve celebration 

and was arrested on the spot. He was then sent to the Colored Waif's Home for Boys. 

There, he received musical instruction on the cornet and fell in love with music. In 1914, the home released him, 

and he immediately began dreaming of a life making music. 

Armstrong set a number of African-American "firsts." In 1936, he became the first African-American jazz 

musician to write an autobiography: Swing That Music. 

That same year, he became the first African-American to get featured billing in a major Hollywood movie with 

his turn in Pennies from Heaven, starring Bing Crosby. Additionally, he became the first African-American 

entertainer to host a nationally sponsored radio show in 1937, when he took over Rudy 

Vallee's Fleischmann's Yeast Show for 12 weeks. 

Armstrong continued to appear in major films with the likes of Mae West, Martha 

Raye and Dick Powell. He was also a frequent presence on radio, and often broke 

box-office records at the height of what is now known as the "Swing Era." 

Armstrong's fully healed lip made its presence felt on some of the finest recordings 

of career, including "Swing That Music," "Jubilee" and "Struttin' with Some 

Barbecue."


 



“I would dress up like the Cabaret 

dancers and dance as the jazz is 

being played.” 

Michelle L. Dillard 

Assistant Superintendent 

of Middle Schools 

Jefferson County Public Schools 

“I would have a long conversation 

with Dr. W.E.B. DuBois to talk 

about his next article in The Crisis 

Magazine about our unique 

perspective and intellectual 

contribution.” 

Dr. Marco Muñoz, Director 

Accelerated Improvement Schools 

Jefferson County Public Schools 

“I would sit in a front row 

seat at Harlem Theatre to 

enjoy Georgia Douglas 

Johnson’s play Blue-Eyed 

Black Boy! 

Georgia Douglas Johnson 

was a poet and one of earlier 

African-American playwrights. She was a music 

teacher, school principal and activist.” 

Geneva A. Stark, Ph.D. , CDP 

Diversity, Equity and Poverty Department 

“I would interview 

photographer 

James Van Der Zee 

and admire his 

camera collection.” 

Abdul Sharif 

Generalist of Diversity 

Jefferson County Public 

Schools 

“If I could 

spend one day 

in Harlem New 

York during the 

Harlem 

Renaissance I 

would…love to 

have separate 

sit downs with a 

restaurant 

owner, a barber, an educator and a 

musician. This would give me an 

opportunity to see and hear many 

points of views as they live in Harlem 

and the infusion of black culture into 

Americana. This would be amazing! 

Beam me down Scotty! 

Darryl W. Farmer, Principal 

duPont Manual High School


Marian Anderson 

 

 

An acclaimed singer whose performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 helped set the stage for the civil rights 

era, Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

The oldest of three girls, Anderson was just 6 years old when she became a choir member at the Union Baptist 

Church, where she earned the nickname "Baby Contralto." Her father, a coal and ice dealer, 

supported his daughter's musical interests and, when Anderson was eight, bought her a 

piano. 

With the family unable to afford lessons, the prodigious Anderson taught herself. 

At the age of 12, Anderson's father died, leaving her mother to raise her three stillyoung 

girls. His death, however, did not slow down Anderson's musical ambitions. 

She remained deeply committed to her church and its choir and rehearsed all the 

parts (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) in front of her family until she had perfected 

them. 

Anderson's commitment to her music and her range as a singer so impressed the rest 

of her choir that the church banded together and raised enough money, about $500, to 

pay for Anderson to train under Giuseppe Boghetti, a respected voice teacher. 

By the late 1930s, Anderson's voice had made her famous on both sides of 

the Atlantic. In the United States she was invited by President 

Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor to perform at the White House, 

the first African American ever to receive this honor. 

Much of Anderson's life would ultimately see her breaking 

down barriers for African-American performers. In 

1955, for example, the gifted contralto singer became 

the first African American to perform as a member 

of the New York Metropolitan Opera. 

Over the next several decades of her life, 

Anderson's stature only grew. In 1961 she 

performed the national anthem at President John F. 

Kennedy's inauguration. Two years later, Kennedy 

honored the singer with the Presidential Medal of 

Freedom. 

After retiring from performing in 1965, Anderson set up 

her life on her farm in Connecticut. In 1991, the music 

world honored her with a Grammy Award for 

Lifetime Achievement. 

Her final years were spent in Portland, Oregon, 

where she'd moved in with her nephew. She died 

there of natural causes on April 8, 1993.


Palmer Hayden 

 

 

Born Peyton Cole Hedgeman in Wide Water, Virginia, he was a prolific artist of his era. He depicted African 

American life, painting in both oils and watercolors. 

As a young man, Hayden studied at the Cooper Union in New York City and also practiced 

independent studies at Boothbay Art Colony in Maine. He created one of his first famous 

pieces in 1926, a still life called "Fetiche et Fleurs," which won the esteemed Harmon 

Foundation’s Gold Award, prompting his patrons to support him so he could live and 

study in France.Over the next five years in Paris, Hayden was very productive, trying to 

capture elements of Parisian society. 

On his return to America, Hayden began working for the United States government. He 

worked for the U.S. Treasury Art Project as well as the Depression-era governmentfunded 

Works Progress Administration (WPA). 

Hayden took his inspiration from the environment around him, focusing on 

the African American experience. He tried to capture both rural life in the 

South, as well as urban backgrounds in New York City. Many of these urban 

paintings were centered in Harlem. The inspiration for "The Janitor Who 

Paints" came from Cloyde Boykin, a friend of Palmer's. Boykin was also a 

painter who supported himself through janitorial work. Hayden once 

said, “I painted it because no one called Cloyde a painter; they called 

him a janitor.” Many people consider this painting to be an expression 

of the tough times Palmer was having. 

Palmer Hayden created a painting series on African-American folk hero 

John Henry. This series consisted of 12 works and took 10 years to 

complete. John Henry was said to be a strong, heroic man who used a hammer to 

create railroads and tunnel through mountains. 

His works had other exhibitions, including at the New Jersey State Museum and the 

Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. 

Palmer Hayden was a great artist who made many visual contributions to this 

country. He died on February 18, 1973. 

Untitled c1930 by Palmer Hayden


Richmond Barthe 

 

 

Trailblazing artist Richmond Barthé's sculpted works were seminal in that they focused on the lives of his 

fellow African Americans. He depicted African Americans at work in the fields of the South (Woman with 

Scythe, 1944), African Americans of distinction, and, in Mother and Son (1939), African Americans as 

victims of racial violence. He also sculpted images of African warriors and ceremonial participants. 

Barthé was born on January 28, 1901, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Richmond Barthé, Sr., and Marie 

Clementine Robateau. His father died before Barthé was a year old, and his mother's sewing supported the 

family. She later remarried, to William Franklin, an old friend and Barthé's godfather. Franklin worked in 

various odd jobs, including as an ice man, delivering ice throughout the rural community. According to 

Barthé, he was artistically inclined from a very young age. In A History of African American Artists, he is 

quoted as saying, "When I was crawling on the floor, my mother gave me paper and pencil to play with. It 

kept me quiet and she did her errands. At six years old I started painting. A lady my mother sewed for gave 

me a set of watercolors. By that time I could draw pretty well." 

After the Second World War, the world of art began to change drastically, 

on abstraction or distorted representations of reality. Barthé was not 

interested in these trends and was increasingly forgotten by the artistic 

establishment. As a result, Barthé began devoting much of his time 

to making portrait busts for wealthy New York clients, especially 

people involved in the theater. During and after the war, Barthé 

made busts of John Gielgud and Maurice Evans. Later works were 

of Lawrence Olivier, Katharine Cornell, and Judith Anderson. In 

1946, he was inducted into the National Institute of Arts and 

Letters. By the end of the 1940s, Barthé had grown tired of the art 

scene in New York (and depressed over his exclusion from it) and 

he bought a house in Jamaica on the advice of his doctor who told 

him that living in the city was hurting his health. 

focusing


 



“I would sit and listen to 

Langston Hughes recite Let 

American Be America 

Again.” 

Cathy Gibbs - Principal, 

Knight Middle School 

“If I could spend one day 

in Harlem New York 

during the Harlem 

Renaissance, I would be 

on Broadway sitting in 

awe of Josephine Baker 

singing and dancing.” 

De’Nay Speaks, Ed.D. 

Assistant Principal 

Wellington Elementary 

School 

“Love to sit and listen to 

Langston Hughes recite his 

poems, especially those 

that were dedicated to 

young minds. Poems, that 

even today, are 

meaningful and relevant 

to our students of JCPS.” 

Audwin Helton, 

Owner of Spatial Data 

Integrations, Inc. 

“I would spend the 

evening in a jazz club 

taking in the beautiful 

voice of Billie Holliday.” 

Senior Policy & 

Development Advisor, 

Office of Mayor Greg 

Fischer 

“I would start my day by going to the Harlem YMCA which was 

known to host workshops which included powerhouse lecturers 

like Langston Hughes. Next, I would look to have lunch with 

W.E.B. DuBois to discuss his thoughts on the "Talented Tenth" 

and "Double Consciousness". To end the evening, I'd stop by 

the Savoy Ballroom. I couldn't imagine being in Harlem during 

this time and not "cutting a rug" on the maple and mahogany 

floor in what many of the era called the "Home of Happy Feet.” 

Robert E. Gunn Jr. 

Principal, W.E.B. DuBois Academy


Paul Robeson 

 

 

Paul Robeson made his career at a time when second-class citizenship was the norm for all African-Americans, 

who were either severely limited in, or totally excluded from, participation in the economic, political, and social 

institutions of America. 

Robeson was born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey. His father was a runaway slave who fought for the 

North in the Civil War, put himself through Lincoln University, received a degree in divinity, and was pastor at a 

Presbyterian church in Princeton. Paul's mother was a member of the distinguished Bustill family of 

Philadelphia, which included patriots in the Revolutionary War, helped found the Free African Society, and 

maintained agents in the Underground Railroad. 

At 17 Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers University, where he was considered an athlete "without equal." He 

won an incomparable 12 major letters in 4 years. His academic record was also brilliant. He won first prize (for 4 

consecutive years) in every speaking competition at college for which he was eligible, and he was elected to Phi 

Beta Kappa. He engaged in social work in the local black community. After he delivered the 

commencement class oration, Rutgers honored him as the "perfect 

type of college 

man." 

Robeson graduated from the Columbia University Law School in 1923 

and took a job with a New York law firm. In 1921 he 

married 

Eslanda Goode Cardozo; they had one child. 

Robeson's career as a lawyer ended abruptly 

when racial hostility in the firm mounted 

against him. He turned to acting as a career, 

playing the lead in All God's Chillun Got 

Wings (1924) and The Emperor 

Jones(1925). He augmented his acting by 

singing spirituals. He was the first to give 

an entire program of exclusively African- 

American songs in concert, and he was one 

of the most popular concert singers of his 

time.


Chick Webb 

 

 

William Henry Webb (Chick Webb) was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1909. Afflicted at birth with spinal 

tuberculosis which left him in poor health for his entire life, Chick was a small, hunchback of a man who 

possessed an “unconquerable spirit” and an astounding musical talent. For many jazz fans, Chick remains 

arguably the greatest jazz drummer to have ever played the instrument. Yet it was only by a quirk of fate 

that Chick even came to play the drums. 

The idea of playing the instrument was suggested to him by his doctor as a way to “loosen 

stiffened limbs. By saving money earned through delivering 

papers, Chick soon secured a drum set. And by the age of 

seventeen, Chick was playing in New York nights clubs such 

as the Black Bottom and the Paddock Club. These early jobs 

were secured for him through the efforts of Duke Ellington who 

instantly recognized Chick’s talent. It was Ellington who 

encouraged Chick to form a quintet aptly called the 

“Harlem Stoppers.” The name was probably derived 

from Chick’s own hard driving style on the drums as the 

quintet’s leader. Later, this quintet would evolve into one of the 

most feared “swing” bands in New York—The Chick Webb 

Orchestra. 

Chick Webb’s already mythical reputation was given even greater 

stature when he replaced his longtime vocalist Charles Linton with 

a then relatively unknown singer by the name of Ella Fitzgerald. 

Jazz legend has it that Ella “snuck” into Chick Webb’s dressing 

room in order to convince him to take her into his bed. But 

legends notwithstanding, Ella did become Chick’s lead vocalist. 

And Ella, called adoringly by fans and musicians, “The First Lady 

of Swing,” always acknowledged Chick Webb as her “first and foremost” 

influence. 

up” his 

Together, Chick and Ella, would electrify the Swing era of jazz with hits such 

as "A-Tisket a Tasket," which was composed by Ella to cheer Chick up while 

he was ill. And while this and other great tunes recorded by these artists are wellknown, 

Chick’s early work—some say his most impressive solos—was regrettably 

poorly 

captured by recording technology ill suited for Chick’s immense talent. But one of Chick’s hit tunes “Stompin’ at 

the Savoy” gives contemporary jazz fans some hint of the power of Chick Webb and his Orchestra. 

In 1938, Chick Webb’s health began to fail him. This was mostly due to Chick’s chronic spinal condition and his 

insistence that he and his orchestra would only perform at the height of their talents for their fans. Often it was 

said that Chick played with such power that he was physically exhausted when he left the bandstand. 

In 1939, Chick returned to Baltimore for a major operation. Shortly afterwards, the little giant died on June 16, 

1939 with his mother at his side. Chick’s funeral procession was said to have been composed of some eighty cars 

and the church where he was eulogized was said to be unable to hold all the mourners.


 



“If I could spend one day in Harlem New Your during the Harlem 

Renaissance, I would love to catch one of Billie Holiday’s 

performances with Louis Armstrong at the Cotton Club, while hanging 

out with W.E.B DuBois, discussing the issues of the day.” 

Manuel Garr, MSLS, MCP 

Software Developer II (Business Intelligence) 

JCPS Information Technology 


Harlem Renaissance, I would sit down with Langston Hughes 

and share my poetry and ask him to write a few jazz rhythms 

with me.” 

Tracy Barber 

Principal, Dunn Elementary 

“I would ask Langston Hughes to describe what he thinks is missing 

from America based on this stanza in his poem, Let America be 

America Again. Together I can see us having a great discussion on 

the parallels of 2019 America and the Renaissance era and how even 

today the fight continues. 

Jasmine Hollins Drinkard 

Professional School Counselor


Claude McCay 

 

 

Claude McKay, born Festus Claudius McKay, was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a prominent literary 

movement of the 1920s. His work ranged from vernacular verse celebrating peasant life in Jamaica to poems 

challenging white authority in America, and from generally straightforward tales of black life in both Jamaica 

and America to more philosophically ambitious fiction addressing instinctual/intellectual duality, which McKay 

found central to the black individual’s efforts to cope in a racist society. Consistent in his various writings is his 

disdain for racism and the sense that bigotry’s implicit stupidity renders its adherents pitiable as well as 

loathsome. As Arthur D. Drayton wrote in his essay “Claude McKay’s Human Pity”: “McKay does not seek to 

hide his bitterness. But having preserved his vision as poet and his status as a human being, he can transcend 

bitterness. In seeing ... the significance of the Negro for mankind as a whole, he is at 

once 

protesting as a Negro and uttering a cry for the race of mankind as a member 

of 

that race. His human pity was the foundation that made all this possible.” 

A London publishing house produced McKay's first books of verse, Songs 

of Jamaica and Constab Ballads, in 1912. McKay used award money that 

he received from the Jamaican Institute of Arts and Sciences to move to 

the United States. He studied at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee 

University) and Kansas State College for a total of two years. In 1914, he 

moved to New York City, settling in Harlem. 

No more for you the city's thorny ways, 

The ugly corners of the Negro belt; 

The miseries and pains of these harsh days 

By you will never, never again be felt. 

No more, if still you wander, will you meet 

With nights of unabating bitterness; 

They cannot reach you in your safe retreat, 

The city's hate, the city's prejudice! 

'Twas sudden--but your menial task is done, 

The dawn now breaks on you, the dark is over, 

The sea is crossed, the longed-for port is won; 

Farewell, oh, fare you well! my friend and lover. 

Rest In Peace - Poem by Claude McKay


Florence Mills 

 

 

Florence Mills was born Florence Winfrey on January 25, 1896 (some accounts say 1895), in the Washington, 

D.C., area. She became an entertainer as a young child, billed as "Baby Florence" and captivating audiences with 

song and dance. She worked in vaudeville and joined a touring company at eight years old before authorities 

found out she was underage. Her family eventually moved to Harlem, New York, and in 1910 Mills would form 

another vaudeville act—the Mills Sisters—with her siblings Olivia and Maude. Mills would later meet and wed 

Ulysses S. Thompson, from the troupe the Tennessee Ten, in 1923. 

In 1921, Mills was hired to replace Gertrude Saunders in the Eubie 

Blake and Noble Sissleproduction Shuffle Along, which was a 

trailblazing musical with an all African-American creative team. 

The Off-Broadway show was a hit, and Mills became renowned for 

her performances, highlighted by the tune "I’m Craving for That 

Kind of Love." 

Mills earned a reputation for her wondrous high-pitched voice, 

unique dance movements and comedic timing that allowed her 

to become an unparalleled force during the Harlem 

Renaissance. With Mills quite aware of the racial dynamics of 

the day and wishing to make a difference, she also served as an 

icon for African-American performers and audiences of all 

backgrounds. 

Though Shuffle Along was a big hit, Mills made her actual 

Broadway debut in 1922 in the show Plantation Revue with the role 

of Gypsy Blues. The musical was eventually renamed From Dixie to 

Broadway and played in England before being launched again on the 

New York stage in October 1924. Then, in 1926, Mills starred in the 

musical Blackbirds, which showcased the song she was most associated 

with—"I’m a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird." The show toured 

internationally as well, and Mills became a massive, sought-after star in 

Britain.


Fats Waller 

 

 

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was born on May 21, 1904, in New York City. He learned to play piano at the age 

of 6, and within a few years was also learning the reed organ, string bass and violin. After dropping out of school 

at around age 15, he became an organist at the Lincoln Theatre in Harlem. 

Waller's father, Edward, a baptist minister, was hopeful that his son would follow a religious calling instead of a 

career in jazz. However, the path to music became inevitable following the death of Waller's mother, Adeline, in 

1920. Waller moved in with the family of pianist Russell B.T. Brooks, who introduced the youngster to James P. 

Johnson, founder of the stride school of jazz piano. 

Waller made his recording debut in 1922 for Okeh Records with the solo efforts "Muscle Shoals Blues" and 

"Binningham Blues." Shortly afterward, he released "Squeeze Me," an important early work that established his 

bona fides as a songwriter. 

Waller continued to play organ at the Lincoln Theatre while also taking engagements at theaters in Philadelphia 

and Chicago. In addition, he often starred at Harlem's famous "rent parties," where he and his fellow musicians 

would essentially stage concerts in friends' homes. Larger than life with his sheer size and magnetic 

personality, Waller was known to enjoy alcohol 

and female attention in abundance. 

Waller became more involved with writing 

and performing for revues in the late 

1920s, starting with Keep Shufflin' in 1927. He forged a strong collaborative 

partnership with Andy Razaf, with whom 

he wrote two of his most famous stage 

songs, "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Ain't 

Misbehavin'." During this time, Waller 

also recorded such standards as "Handful 

of Keys" and "Valentine Stomp" as a 

soloist, and "The Minor Drag" and 

"Harlem Fuss" as leader of Fats Waller 

and His Buddies.

Envision Equity February 

Gladys Bentley 

 

 

Gladys Bentley (stage name, Bobbie Minton) was a Harlem Renaissance blues singer and cross dresser. She was 

one of the most well-known and financially successful black women in the United States in the 1920s 

and 1930s. She was a pioneer in pushing the envelope of gender, sexuality, class, and race 

with parody and exaggeration, personally and professionally. 

The eldest of four children, Bentley was born on August 12, 1907 in Philadelphia, 

Pennsylvania to George L. Bentley from the U.S. and Mary (Mote) Bentley from Trinidad. 

Bentley reported wearing her three younger brothers’ suits to school when growing up. Her 

parents tried to “cure” Bentley by taking her to numerous doctors. The family struggled 

financially. 

A talented pianist and blues singer, she ran away to New York City at the age of 

sixteen. From early on, Bentley overtly included sexuality in her act with her 

song content, stage moves, and attire. She often dressed as a man in her 

signature black-and-white tuxedo. In fact, she became the most prominent 

mannish lesbian of the Harlem Renaissance. A large, 250-pound woman, her 

deep voice appealed to straight, gay, black, and white audiences. 

Bentley began singing at rent parties and buffet flats. She moved to speakeasies 

and night clubs in Jungle Alley, the center of Harlem’s sporting life. Okeh Race 

Records released eight singles of her music between 1928 and 1929. She had her 

own weekly radio program the following year. By 1933, Bentley headlined in 

nightclubs and theatres such as The Cotton Club and The Apollo. She created her 

own musical revue with a chorus of eight male dancers in drag, the primary 

attraction at the well-known Ubangi Club, 1934-1937. 

In Bentley’s heyday of the 1930s, she owned a Park Avenue apartment with 

servants and other accoutrements of wealth. Bentley claimed that she and her 

white female lover went through a civil union in New Jersey. With the repeal of 

Prohibition, her popularity and public tolerance of openly gay persons waned. Bentley 

moved to Los Angeles to live with her mother. Her success picked up again during World 

War II with the expansion of gay bars on the West Coast. She recorded in 1945 for the 

Excelsior label.


William Grant Stills 

 

 

William Grant Still was born on May 11, 1895, in Woodville, Mississippi. After his father passed away when he was 

a baby, his mother moved the family to live with Still's grandmother in Little Rock, Arkansas. His childhood home 

was filled with the sounds of his grandmother singing spirituals. 

In 1911, Still enrolled in Wilberforce University in Ohio, where he began to study medicine. He left the college 

before graduating and turned his attention to music, studying composition at Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory of 

Music. He also spent time learning from George Whitefield Chadwick at the New England Conservatory of Music 

in Boston; later, he was instructed by Edgar Varèse. 

Still gained practical experience arranging band music for Paul Whiteman, W.C. Handy and Artie Shaw. His 

notable early orchestral compositions include 1924's Darker America and 1926's From the Black Belt. He was 

honored with Guggenheim fellowships in both 1934 and 1935. 

In 1931, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gave the debut 

performance of Still's Afro-American Symphony; it was the first 

time that a symphony composed by an African American had 

been played by a major orchestra. In 1936, Still became the 

first African American to conduct a noted American 

orchestra when he led the Los Angeles Philharmonic at 

the Hollywood Bowl. 

Many of Still's musical creations melded jazz with more 

traditional orchestral melodies. They also incorporated 

his passionate interest in African music, as well as his 

societal concerns about African Americans in the 

United States. He created 1930's Sahdji, a ballet with 

an African backdrop; his acclaimed 1937 ballet, Lenox 

Avenue, takes place in Harlem. 

After relocating to Los Angeles in 1939, Still's success 

continued. In 1949, Troubled Island, an opera about the 

1791 Haitian slave uprising, became the first full-length 

work written by an African American to be produced by a 

well-known opera company. In 1981, another of his 

operas, A Bayou Legend, was performed on national 

television, a first for an African American. 

Musical Success and Legacy 

Still had a long and fruitful career as a composer, arranger and 

conductor. The multiple symphonies, ballets and operas that he 

produced over the years earned him the nickname "Dean of Afro- 

American Composers." His compositions were performed across 

the world, including by the New York Philharmonic, the London 

Symphony and the Tokyo Philharmonic.

Harlem 

 

Renaissance 

Lesson Plan 

Teach your students about the Harlem Renaissance with this lesson. Before 

beginning the lesson, have students watch this informative video that gives 

historical background and outlines key figures of the Harlem Renaissance. 

Follow up with these engaging activities that deepen concepts. 

Subject(s) 

English, Social Studies, Art 

Estimated Time 

Two 45 or 60 minute class periods with several nights of homework (or four to five class periods if no 

homework is assigned) 

Grade Level 

7 – 12 

Objective 

Students will learn about the social, cultural and political circumstances which gave rise to the 

Harlem Renaissance. They will also learn about the influences that inspired the work of the Harlem 

Renaissance’s artists and musicians. Finally, students will be given several opportunities to create 

their own Harlem Renaissance inspired work. 

Background 

The Harlem Renaissance was a significant social and cultural movement which took place in the 

1920s and 1930s following the Great Migration during which thousands of Africa-Americans left the 

south and moved north and west. 

The result was the flourishing of art, music and literature that reflected the history and experience of 

the African-American. The artistic, literary and musical contributions of Harlem Renaissance artists 

continue to serve as an inspiration for today’s artists.

Procedure 

Opening Activity 

Discuss the social, political and economic climate of America in the 1920s and 1930s. 

• Ask students to compare and contrast the circumstances of African-Americans and 

whites at this time. 

• Focus on what accounted for the differences in people’s experiences based on their 

race. 

• Ask students to consider what factors influenced the Great Migration of African 

Americans from the South to the North and Midwest. 

• Ask students why they think the arts are an effective means through which 

individuals and groups can express their history, their frustrations and their hopes 

for the future. Ask them to give contemporary examples. 

Activity 1 

To set the stage, read “Harlem” by Walter Dean Myers to students and ask them to 

visualize the story as you are reading. As you read, you may show students a sideshow 

of Christopher Myers’ illustrations of the poem. 

Give students a copy of the poem and ask them to underline all of the places and 

locations mentioned in it. Have students read the poem a third and final time and highlight 

or circle all of the people mentioned. Ask students why they think Harlem became a social 

and cultural center for African-Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. Conduct a primary 

document analysis which will allow students to get a sense of Choose selections from 

Alain Locke’s “The New Negro”, poems by Langston Hughes (“Cultural Exchange”, 

“Democracy”, “Freedom’s Plow”) James Weldon Johnson (“Lift Every Voice and Sing”) and 

Countee Cullen (“Yet Do I Marvel” and “Heritage”) or excerpts from the writings of Zora 

Neale Hurston. Have student work either individually or in small groups to answer the 

following questions about the documents: Who is the intended audience? What is the 

subject matter? How does this reflect the themes of the Harlem Renaissance? 

Once the analysis is complete, have students return to a large group and share their 

findings. Focus on the common themes throughout the different documents. 

Have students write a found poem in which they alternate phrases or lines from Harlem 

Renaissance poems with original lines of their own. Host a poetry slam during which 

students will read their found poems aloud.

Activity 2 

Introduce students to the art of Harlem Renaissance painters. Begin by viewing Harlem at 

the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. 

Be sure to highlight the work of Jacob Lawrence (especially his Migration series), Aaron 

Douglas and Romare Bearden. Ask students to analyze the artists’ respective styles and 

subject matter. Compare and contrast their work in terms of themes. 

Have students create an original collage or work of art that mimics the style of one of these 

Harlem Renaissance artists. The subject matter should be based on a specific individual who 

was prominent during the era. 

Students will curate their own exhibit of Harlem Renaissance inspired art and poetry in 

the style of the exhibit “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”. Display student work 

either in the classroom or the hallway. Be sure to have the student artists and writers include a 

brief artist’s statement with their work. 

Activity 3 

Students will write an essay entitled “The Lasting Legacy of the Harlem Renaissance” in which they 

focus on one aspect of the era – poetry, jazz, visual art, or music – and how it influences 

contemporary artists. In the interest of time, this may also be assigned as homework. 

Extension Activities 

• Ask students to research one type of performance that took place at the Apollo Theater. 

Options include comedy, dance, and many types of music including jazz, hip-hop, swing, and 

rock. Have students create a timeline of performances of that genre and then highlight a 

performer of their choosing in a short biographical essay. 

• Performing arts educators may consider having students recreate a famous Apollo Theater 

performance or having students create an original performance piece inspired by one of the 

Apollo’s legendary performances. Visual arts educators may have students create a work of 

art in the style of one of the great Harlem Renaissance artists such as Jacob Lawrence, 

Romare Bearden or Aaron Douglas. 

• Host a tribute to the Apollo during which students can recite their original poems or poems 

they have studied as part of this lesson, display their artwork, sing songs popularized at the 

Apollo or perform live music made famous by Harlem Renaissance musicians.

Harlem 

 

Renaissance 

Lesson Plan 

Intermediate/ Upper Primary (Grades 3,4,5) Resources for The Harlem 

Renaissance 

Lesson Plan created by Kadia Turner—JCPS Diversity, Equity, and Poverty Programs 

Resource Teacher 

Optional ELA Connection: RF.5.4, RF.4.4, RF.3.4, L5.5,L.4.5,L.3.5 

RECITATION: Weekly Choral Reading (fluency): MY PEOPLE, by Langston Hughes Focus on 

prosody 

Day 1 :Play video “My People” by Langston Hughes. Introduce poet Langston Hughes , Use turn 

and talk to discuss metaphors, theme. Provide copies for students, and create a class anchor chart. 

Choral read poem, discuss prosody, Choral read to improve prosody 

Day 2: Review prosody, echo read 

Day 3: Review prosody, antiphonal reading 

Day 4: Review prosody partner read (partners choose echo, antiphonal, or choral) 

Day 5: Review prosody, give students a chance to perform (exhibit prosody), final choral read 

ELA Lesson: Harlem Renaissance 

RL.5.1, RL4.1, RL3.1, RL.5.2, RL.4.2, RL.3.2, RL.5.9, RL.4.9, RL.3.9, L5.5,L.4.5,L.3.5, SL.5.1, SL. 

4.1, SL.3.1 

Ignite (Get their Attention) 

T: Who has heard the songs Boo’d Up by Ella Mai, or In My Feelings (KeKe Are You Riding) by 

Drake? Give students a chance to turn and talk . As a class agree on possible themes for these 

works (relationships, love, romantic confusion etc.) Today we will go back in history and look at the 

lyrics of two songs from artists of the Harlem Renaissance. I want you to consider how these songs 

are similar to Boo’d Up or In My Feelings.

Provide partners with the lyrics to 2 notable songs from the Harlem Renaissance with a love theme 

( background music is appropriate) 

Ain’t Misbehavin’ Fats Waller, 

 

“Gulf Coast Blues”- Bessie Smith 

T: How are these lyrics similar to songs of today like Boo’d Up by Ella Mai or In My Feelings by 

Drake? 

Provide students with a comparison graphic organizer such as a “Box and T” or have them draw 

one in their notebooks. Allow students to explore the similarities and differences form the songs 

they are familiar with and songs of the Harlem Renaissance. (Note if students are not familiar w/ 

Boo’d Up or In My 

Feelings choose 

current songs of 

modern vernacular 

that are relevant to 

your class). Bring 

students to a circle to 

share their findings. 

S: Same: about 

feelings, relationships, 

love,*style of language 

is natural to the way 

they talk 

S: Different:Gulf 

Coast/ sad, Boo’d Up/ 

In My feelings are 

upbeat 

T: What if I told you 

Drake and Ella have Fats Waller, Bessie Smith and other artists of the Harlem Renaissance to 

thank for music today? Point out the choice of expression in their natural way of speaking Boo= 

partner/ boyfriend or girlfriend or “want ya”, “need ya” down for you”. The Harlem Renaissance 

made a lasting impression on the way black people express themselves in art, writing, music, and 

politically. We will learn more about the Harlem Renaissance in Social St.

Exit Slip: Make a comparison statement about the theme between a historical song and a 

modern song. Please give evidence from the text. You may use your graphic organizer and 

the examples we discussed today or songs of your own choice.Sentence stems may be 

provided as a scaffold. rubric? 

Closing:Choose an exemplar work to share and review key points with the class. Recite “My 

People” by Langston Hughes 

Social Studies lesson adapted from The Social and Cultural Context of A Period: The New 

Negro and the Harlem Renaissance 

Standards:SS-05-5.1.1, SS-05-5.2.4, W.5.7, W.4.7, W.3.7, SL.5.1, SL.4.1, SL.3. 

Multimedia Resources 

Finding Their Voice 

The New Negro 

The Negro Speaks of Rivers 

https://www.thirteen.org/harlem/map.html

Harlem 

 

Renaissance 

Lesson Plan 

Lesson Plan created by Donna Lawson—JCPS Diversity, Equity, and 

Poverty Programs Resource Teacher 

Subject: 

Social Studies 

Grade Level: 

9-12 

Estimated time: 

50-minute class periods: 5 

days 

90-minute block schedule: 3 

days 

Objective: 

Students will investigate and 

evaluate the social, cultural, 

economic, artistic, literary, and 

political aspects and 

contributions of the Harlem 

Renaissance period. 

Materials: 

Computer/Internet access 

Collection (writings, art, fashion, music, economic information, etc) from the Harlem Renaissance 

period 

Map of New York city during the period 

Presentation capabilities (Smartboard, projector, screen) 

Presentation supplies (paper, poster board, markers, pens, pencils)

Vocabulary: 

Migration, Harlem, Renaissance, integration, Jim Crow laws, cultural significance, implications 

Standards: 

SS-HS-1.1.2 Students will explain and give examples of how democratic governments preserve and 

protect the rights and liberties of their constituents through different sources (e.g.,U.N. Charter, 

Declaration of the Rights of Man, U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, U.S. Constitution). DOK 2 

SS-HS-1.3.2 Students will explain how the rights of an individual (e.g., Freedom of Information Act, 

privacy) may, at times, be in conflict with the responsibility of the government to protect the 

"common good" (e.g., homeland security issues, environmental regulations, censorship, search and 

seizure). DOK 2 

SS-HS-2.1.1 Students will explain how belief systems, knowledge, technology and behavior 

patterns define cultures and help to explain historical perspectives and events in the modern world 

(1500 A.D. to present) and United States (Reconstruction to present). DOK 2 

SS-HS-2.2.1 Students will explain how various human needs are met through interaction in and 

among social institutions (e.g., family, religion, education, government, economy) in the modern 

world (1500 A.D. to present) and the United States (Reconstruction to present) 

SS-HS-2.3.1 Students will explain the reasons why conflict and competition (e.g., violence, a 

difference of opinion, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, genocide) may develop as cultures 

emerge in the modern world (1500 A.D. to present) and the United States (Reconstruction to 

present). DOK 2 

SS-HS-2.3.2 Students will explain and give examples of how compromise and cooperation are 

characteristics that influence interaction (e.g., peace studies, treaties, conflict resolution) in the 

modern world (1500 A.D. to present) and the United States (Reconstruction to present). DOK 2 

SS-HS-4.1.3 Students will use geographic tools (e.g., maps, globes, photographs, models, satellite 

images) to interpret the reasoning patterns (e.g., available transportation, the location of resources 

and markets, individual preference, centralization versus dispersion) on which the location and 

distribution of Earth's human features are based. 

SS-HS-4.2.1 Students will interpret how places and regions serve as meaningful symbols for 

individuals and societies (e.g., Jerusalem, Vietnam Memorial, Ellis Island, the Appalachian region). 

SS-HS-4.2.3 Students will explain how people can develop stereotypes about places and regions 

(e.g., all cities are dangerous and dirty; rural areas are poor) 

SS-HS-5.1.1 Students will use a variety of tools (e.g., primary and secondary sources, data, 

artifacts) to analyze perceptions and perspectives (e.g., gender, race, region, ethnic group,

nationality, age, economic status, religion, politics, geographic factors) of people and historical 

events in the modern world (1500 A.D. to present) and United States History (Reconstruction to 

present). DOK 3 

SS-HS-5.1.2 Students will analyze how history is a series of connected events shaped by multiple 

cause-and-effect relationships, tying past to present. DOK 3 

SS-HS-5.2.4 Students will explain and evaluate the impact of significant social, political and 

economic changes during the Progressive Movement (e.g., industrial capitalism, urbanization, 

political corruption, initiation of reforms), World War I (e.g., imperialism to isolationism, 

nationalism) and the Twenties (e.g., economic prosperity, consumerism, women’s suffrage). DOK3 

Learning Targets: 

• I can identify key people and events that contributed to the Harlem Renaissance. (HS-2.1.1, 

HS-2.2.1, HS-2.3.2, HS-5.1.1, HS-5.2.4) 

• I can evaluate the impact of African Americans in Harlem on the environment and culture of the 

area. (HS-2.1.1, HS-2.2.1, HS-2.3.1, HS-2.3.2, HS-4.1.3, HS-4.2.1, HS-4.2.3, HS-5.1.1, HS-5.1.2, 

HS-5.2.4) 

• I can analyze how people challenged laws and social norms in the 1920s. (HS-1.2.2, HS-1.3.2, 

HS-2.1.1, HS-2.2.1, HS-2.3.1, HS-2.3.2, HS-5.1.1, HS-5.1.2, HS-5.2.4) 

Opening Activity: 

Identify and describe your favorite song, art, fashion, story, or play. Explain why it is significant to 

you. What meaning or impact does it have on you? 

Introduction: 

As a class, watch the video below about the Harlem Renaissance 

https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/the-harlem-renaissance-video 

Discuss as a group the connection between opening activity responses and the video. 

Students will: 

Choose a topic from the Harlem Renaissance: fashion, music, economy, literature, art, politics 

(Teacher may have students choose their top two topic preferences and assign topics to ensure 

each is represented during presentations.) 

Work individually or in groups 

Choose the method of presentation: PowerPoint, play, presentation board, diorama, storytelling, 

combination 

• Address the following regarding the chosen Harlem Renaissance topic: 

• Describe the cultural significance and long term implications of your topic.

• How were laws or societal norms changed or challenged with regards to your topic? 

• How was your topic similar or different in past eras? In future eras? 

Extension 

Choose another culture. How was your topic in that culture similar or different during that time? 

Describe an empowerment or awakening that occurred in this culture. How was it similar? How 

was it different? 

Conclusion: 

Student presentations and note-taking using attached template. 

Resources: 

Editors, History.com. “Harlem Renaissance.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 May 

2012, www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/the-harlem-renaissance-video. 

Additional Harlem Renaissance Resources for Educators 

Middle School: 

http://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1978/2/78.02.08.x.html 

Middle/High: 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons-plans/the-harlem-renissance/ 

Socio-cultural: 

https://www.pbs.org/kqed/fillmore/classroom/harlem.html 

Elementary/Art: 

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Musical_Harlem 

Socio-economic/Affrilachian Poets: 

http://coalblackvoices.com/curriculum/index.html 

Art (All levels): 

https://www.mmoca.org/mmocacollects/resources/lesson-plans/romare-bearden 

Elementary/Music: 

https://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Musical_Harlem#Instruction

A Great Day in Harlem. 

Photograph by Art Kane, 

August 12, 1958. 

Editor—Catherine Collesano 

Editor, Photo Contributor—Abdul Sharif 

Credits 

Envision Equity is a publication of the JCPS Department of Diversity, Equity, and Poverty Programs. All submissions should 

be sent to Catherine Collesano at catherine.collesano@jefferson.kyschools.us or Abdul Sharif at 

abdul.sharif2@jefferson.kyschools.us. If you are interested in becoming a subscriber or a contributor to Envision Equity, 

please contact one of the editors at the above email address. 

www.jefferson.kyschools.us 

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Envision Equity February 2019 Special Black History Month Edition

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