Harlem Renaissance Quiz

Aaron Douglas

A Harlem Renaissance painter whose work celebrates African American versatility and adaptability, depicting people in a variety of settings.

Claude McKay

A poet who was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement and wrote the poem "If We Must Die" after the Chicago riot of 1919.

Jazz

A style of dance music popular that was invented by African American in the 1920s

Bessie Smith

African American blues singer who played and important role in the Harlem Renaissance.

Marcus Garvey

African American leader durin the 1920s who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and encouraged mass migration of African Americans to back to "go back to Africa" in order to connect with their heritage and understand themselves better.

Langston Hughes

African American poet who described the rich culture of African American life. He wrote "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "My People"

Zora Neale Hurston

African American writer and folklore scholar who played a key role in the Harlem Renaissance. Author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God".

Dance, Music, Painting, Theater, and Poetry

African Americans expressed social thought through all 5 of the following:

Josephine Baker

African-American actress, singer, opera performer, first black women to star in major motion picture

Duke Ellington

Born in Chicago middle class. moved to Harlem in 1923 and began playing at the cotton club. Composer, pianist and band leader. Most influential figures in jazz.

Harlem Renaissance (1920s)

Group of African American artists, intellectuals, and social leaders who lived in Harlem in the 1920s. They were termed the New Negroes by black professor Alain Locke because they had risen from the ashes of slavery to proclaim African American creative genius and work toward defeating racial prejudice.

Ella Fitzgerald

Known as the "Queen of Jazz", this singer had a vocal range that spanned three octaves

Louis Armstrong

Leading African American jazz musician during the Harlem Renaissance; he was a talented trumpeter whose style influenced many later musicians.

Jazz Age

Name for the 1920s, because of the popularity of jazz-a new type of American music that combined African rhythms, blues, and ragtime

Apollo Theater

One of the oldest and most famous venues that was known for featuring African American entertainers

Billie Holiday

Popular musician popularize blues and jazz music.

African American woman writer who was criticized for not focusing enough on the racism and oppression of Southern Blacks.

Zora Neale Hurston

Harlem, New York

a cultural and influential capital for young writers artists, and musicians and setting of Harlem Renaissance

Cab Calloway

a talented drummer, saxophonist, and singer, formed another important jazz orchestra, which played at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club, alternating with Duke Ellington.

Radio

invention helped to spread new music and information in the 1920s