The New Negro
and the Harlem
Renaissance

In 1925 the editors of the magazine Survey Graphic invited Howard University sociologist Alain Locke to compile a special issue dedicated to Harlem. Locke did not suffer from a lack of source material, as the years following World War I had witnessed an unprecedented flowering of political activism and art in this majority-black section of New York City. The issue was an instant success, and Locke expanded it into a book, The New Negro, published that same year. The New Negro confirmed that, in the aftermath of World War I, African Americans would not be silent.

The Harlem Renaissance found expression in many different forms. African Americans called for new forms of radical politics, including socialism. Followers of Marcus Garvey endorsed black pride but also separatism. Black writers broke ground in technique and subject matter. No topic was off-limits. Writers questioned the meaning of the American dream, as well as the significance of their shared African heritage. Poets examined African American history in all of its violence and challenged American blacks to confront the seemingly continuous rise of white supremacy in their home country. Black women challenged the gender conventions of both races. The names Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, and many others entered the canon of American literature.

The following documents offer only a glimpse of the ideas, writing, and music African Americans produced during the post–World War I years. As you read, pay particular attention to the context in which these writers and performers worked. How did the past and present shape their work?