soldier and toward the shocked white hordes who
have been deluded in their tributes to the un-
known soldier. Johnson renders them both central
and peripheral to the Rapture. He also succeeds in
crafting a provocative narrative about the actual
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that was established
at the center of Arlington National Cemetery in
1921.
Other poems in the volume reiterated the
themes of African-American patriotism, en-
durance, and optimism that pervaded the title
poem of the collection. One of the most powerful
additional works was “Lift Every Voice and Sing,”
the poem that Johnson created with his brother J.
Rosamond Johnson, and that African Americans
enthusiastically adopted as the Negro National
Anthem.
Bibliography
Fleming, Robert. James Weldon Johnson.Boston: Twayne
Publishers, 1987.
Saint Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church
One of the most well-known churches in NEW
YORKCITYand a vital community resource for citi-
zens in the years before and during the Harlem Re-
naissance. Founded in 1818, the church was
established in Brooklyn in 1899 and then relocated
to HARLEMin 1911. It encouraged African Ameri-
cans to purchase real estate and was in large part
responsible for the rapid growth in and popularity
of Harlem among people of color.
The church, whose congregation was one of
the wealthiest in the city, was known for its im-
pressive financial resources. A’LELIA WALKER,
daughter of the successful entrepreneur Madame
C. J. Walker, hosted the extravagant wedding of
her daughter Mae, at St. Philip’s in 1923. In
November 1954 the funeral service of composer
and entertainer J. Rosamond Johnson, brother of
JAMESWELDONJOHNSON, was held at St. Philip’s
Church.
The church also was respected for its long-
standing history of community outreach and sup-
port of the arts. One of its earliest and best-known
programs was the St. Christopher Club, a Bible
study group that evolved into an acclaimed basket-
ball team associated with the African-American
Olympian Athletic League. In 1931 the church
hosted the HARLEM EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE
Group, a troupe based in the HARLEMBRANCHof
the NEWYORKPUBLICLIBRARY. The drama group
made its professional debut in the parish house of
St. Philip’s.Bibliography
Dodson, Howard, Christopher Moore, and Roberta
Yancy. The Black New Yorkers: The Schomburg Illus-
trated Chronology.New York: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 2000.
Watson, Steven. The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-
American Culture, 1920–1930.New York: Pantheon
Books, 1995.Salem Methodist Episcopal Church
Located at 129th Street and Seventh Avenue, this
was the church of the Reverend FREDERICK
CULLEN, father of poet COUNTEECULLEN.
The Salem Methodist Episcopal Church was
located first in a humble storefront. Reverend
Cullen established the congregation in 1902 when
he arrived in NEWYORKCITY. Twenty-two years
later, in 1924, the congregation moved to HARLEM.
The membership was substantial, numbering some
2,500 by the mid-1920s.Bibliography
Ferguson, Blanche. Countee Cullen and the Negro Renais-
sance.New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966.
Shucard, Alan. Countee Cullen.Boston: Twayne, 1984.“Sanctuary”Nella Larsen(1930)
A provocative and controversial short story by
NELLALARSENthat appeared in the January 1930
issue of FORUM.Accompanying the story were four
illustrations by WINOLD REISS, an accomplished
artist known for his ethnic and folk sketches.
The story, which is divided into four sections,
traces a tumultuous set of events that involve
Annie Poole, the protagonist, who lives in the
South near the sea. Poole lives in a deserted area
that is near the “old fields of ruined plantations”
and whose “partly grown-over road... still shows
traces of furrows made by the wheels of wagons
that have long since rotted away or been cut into464 Saint Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church