1930 and led by Ella Baker, its first national direc-
tor, promoted the value of African-American buy-
ing clubs. Rev. ADAMCLAYTON POWELL, SR.,
organized the Harlem Citizen’s Committee for
More and Better Jobs in an effort to secure jobs for
African Americans within Harlem.
The arts and cultural scene in Harlem contin-
ued to thrive in the face of dire poverty and na-
tional upheaval. In 1929, on the eve of the Great
Depression, a number of artists, such as WALLACE
THURMANand CLAUDEMCKAY, enjoyed major
professional accomplishments. In that year, Thur-
man published his first novel, THEBLACKER THE
BERRY,and saw his play HARLEMreach BROAD-
WAY. A number of writers launched and sustained
their promising careers during the 1930s. The early
1930s saw the publication of JAMES WELDON
JOHNSON’s BLACK MANHATTAN (1930), George
Schuyler’s pointed satire BLACKNOMORE(1931),
JESSIEFAUSET’s THECHINABERRYTREE (1931),
RUDOLPHFISHER’s pioneering mystery novel THE
CONJURE-MANDIES(1932), Claude McKay’s Ba-
nana Bottom(1933), and ZORANEALEHURSTON’s
first novel, JONAH’SGOURDVINE(1934).
Throughout the 1930s, Harlem Renaissance
writers and artists alike forged ahead with signifi-
cant projects. Aaron Douglas was commissioned to
create murals for FISK UNIVERSITY, the Harlem
YMCA, and the NEWYORKPUBLICLIBRARY.In
1931 LANGSTONHUGHESproduced SCOTTSBORO
LIMITED:FOURPOEMS AND APLAY INVERSE,a set
of works based on the controversial trial of young
men falsely accused of and then imprisoned for
rape. Louis Armstrong appeared in the 1932 film A
Rhapsody in Black and Blue,and one year later
PAULROBESONstarred in the film version of THE
EMPERORJONES(1933).
From the mid-1930s through the end of the
Great Depression, Harlem residents supported po-
litical activism and community organizing that
would sustain the community. Networks such as
the Black Cabinet, a group of community and po-
litical leaders determined to ensure equitable New
Deal policies, represented the resilience, political
acuity, and determination to survive the Great De-
pression era.
Organizations committed to the production
and preservation of African-American literature
and arts also maintained their sponsorship during
the Great Depression. The Harmon Foundation,
the organization that awarded the Harmon
Medals, sponsored the successful exhibition of
paintings and sculptures by African-American
artists at the National Gallery.
The end of the 1930s coincided with the close
of the Harlem Renaissance. While the looming re-
ality of a second World War contributed greatly to
the end of the vital arts and cultural movement,
the cumulative arts production during that decade
suggests that the artists and national movement
prevailed in the face of the Great Depression.Bibliography
Dodson, Howard, Christopher Moore, and Roberta
Yancy. The Black New Yorkers: The Schomburg Illus-
trated Chronology.New York: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 2000.
McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression: America,
1929–1941.New York: Times Books, 1984.
Thomas, Gordon, and Max Morgan-Witts. The Day the
Bubble Burst: A Social History of the Wall Street
Crash of 1929.Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1979.
Watkins, T. H. (Tom H.) The Hungry Years: A Narrative
History of the Great Depression in America.New
York: Henry Holt & Company, 1999.Green, Paul(1894–1981)
One of the most visible white writers and play-
wrights of the Harlem Renaissance era and author
of plays hailed for their representations of African-
American life and identity. He was born near
Lillington, North Carolina, in 1894 and taught
school in his rural community before enrolling at
the University at Chapel Hill. Green left college
in 1917 to join World War I. During his enlist-
ment, which he began at the rank of private, he
rose through the ranks. He left having achieved
the rank of sergeant-major. After the war, he re-
turned to school, graduated with a degree in phi-
losophy, and pursued further study in the field at
Cornell University. He joined the faculty at his
undergraduate alma mater, where he eventually
became a professor of dramatic art. He received
prestigious awards for his scholarship and creative
writing, including the GUGGENHEIMFELLOWSHIP.
In 1979 he became the dramatist laureate of
North Carolina.198 Green, Paul