FACES OF HARLEMFACES OF HARLEMFACES OF HARLEMFACES OF HARLEM

The Harlem RenaissanceThe Harlem RenaissanceDr. JarmonDr. Jarmon

NOVELISTS and NOVELISTS and WRITERSWRITERSNOVELISTS and NOVELISTS and WRITERSWRITERS

JEAN TOOMER

GEORGE SCHULYER

JESSIE R. FAUSET

CLAUDE McKAY

NELLA LARSEN

ZORA HURSTON

RUDOLF FISHER LANGSTON HUGHES

WALLACE THURMAN

ERIC WALROND WALTER WHITE

C ARL VAN VECHTEN

ACTORS/ACTORS/PRODUCERSPRODUCERSACTORS/ACTORS/PRODUCERSPRODUCERS

Richard B. Nugent

Paul Robeson

Angelina W. Grimke

Charles Gilpin

ARTISTSARTISTSARTISTSARTISTS

Jacob Lawrence

Charles AlstonAugusta Savage

Palmer Hayden

Lois M. JonesRomare Bearden

Sargent Johnson

ARTWORK OF THE ARTWORK OF THE RENAISSANCERENAISSANCEARTWORK OF THE ARTWORK OF THE RENAISSANCERENAISSANCE

POETSPOETSPOETSPOETS

James Weldon Johnson

Helene Johnson

Gwendolyn Bennett

Georgia Douglas Johnson

Arna Bontemps

May Miller

Lewis Alexander

A SPIRITUAL ANTHEM A SPIRITUAL ANTHEM FOR FOR ALL PEOPLEALL PEOPLE

A SPIRITUAL ANTHEM A SPIRITUAL ANTHEM FOR FOR ALL PEOPLEALL PEOPLE

Johnson first wrote “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as a poem in 1900. Hundreds of African-American students performed it at a celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday at Jacksonville, Florida’s Stanton School, where Johnson was principal. Johnson’s brother, John Rosamond Johnson, later set the poem to music. By 1920, the NAACP had proclaimed the song the “Negro National Anthem.”

Askew, an associate professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college, found letters of appreciation to Johnson from individuals of all different ethnic backgrounds. At that moment, Askew had a revelation: The song he’d known as the “black national anthem” was for everybody.

MUSICIANSMUSICIANSMUSICIANSMUSICIANS

Ella Fitzgerald Louis Armstrong Lean Horne

Count BasieBillie HolidayDuke Ellington

A Spectacular VenueA Spectacular Venue The most famous club for African-American

performers and popular music in the U.S. was the Apollo Theater, a continuing legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. From the beginning, the Apollo offered amateur nights each evening, where many famous artists, such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, and James Brown, started their show business careers. Although its popularity declined in the 1960s and 70s, the Apollo experienced a revival when it obtained landmark status in 1983. Today the theater is run by a non-profit organization and draws an estimated 1.3 million visitors each year. It continues to promote new artists through its nationally syndicated variety show, Showtime at the Apollo.

In 1933 Fiorello La Guardia, who would later become New York City’s Mayor, began a campaign against burlesque. 

Hurtig & Seamon’s Apollo was one of many theaters that would close down. Cohen reopened the building as the 125th Street Apollo Theatre in 1934 with his partner, Morris Sussman serving as manager. Cohen and Sussman changed the format of the shows from burlesque to variety revues and redirected their

In 1983, the Apollo received state and city landmark status and in 1991, Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc., was established as a private, not-for-profit organization to manage, fund and oversee programming for the Apollo Theater. Today, the Apollo, which functions under the guidance of a Board of Directors, presents concerts, performing arts, education and community outreach programs.

Ethel Waters

Bill Robinson

Marian Anderson

Nora D. Ray

Cab Calloway Eva Jessye