Harlem. As biographer Wayne Cooper notes, the
book reflected McKay’s own anticommunist sensi-
bilities and revealed his own efforts to grapple with
party politics and African-American issues. The
volume also included profiles and discussions of the
prominent cult leader and social activist Father Di-
vine, as well as the political movements and strate-
gies of Marcus Garvey and Sufi Abdul Hamid.
Harlemwas enriched by McKay’s use of con-
temporary photographs. The volume included
montages like “Types of Harlem Women” that pro-
filed the work of the talented Harlem-based pho-
tographers Marvin and Morgan Smith.
Bibliography
Cooper, Wayne. Claude McKay: Rebel Sojourner In the
Harlem Renaissance.New York: Schocken Books,
1987.
———. The Passion of Claude McKay: Selected Poetry and
Prose, 1912–1948. New York: Schocken Books,
1973.
Giles, James R. Claude McKay.Boston: Twayne Publish-
ers, 1976.
Harlem Renaissance
The term designates the extraordinary flowering
in African-American literature, arts, and culture.
The Harlem Renaissance, which spanned the
1920s and 1930s, also was known as the New
Negro Renaissance.
HARLEM, in NEWYORKCITY, was the princi-
pal location of activity associated with the Renais-
sance. However, other urban centers such as
BOSTON,CHICAGO,PHILADELPHIA, and WASH-
INGTON, D.C., also had active intellectual and cre-
ative communities. In addition, the Renaissance
had a distinct set of international contexts. These
were fueled by the significant presence of West In-
dian and African immigrants and connections. In
addition, political conferences and opportunities
for research and writing retreats abroad enabled
Harlem Renaissance–era artists to cultivate impor-
tant links.
The broad American and international net-
works of artists, writers, patrons, and supporters
were impressive. There often were dynamic collab-
orations, memorable performances, and impressive
intellectual forums. The aesthetic sensibility was
fueled by the increasingly heightened political
awareness of the day. Organizations such as the
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE-
MENT OFCOLOREDPEOPLE(NAACP) and the
NATIONALURBANLEAGUEwere committed to ad-
dressing critical national issues such as LYNCHING,
segregation, world war, and economics. In addi-
tion, the NAACP and Urban League supported
unequivocally the continued development of the
arts and African-American culture. Individuals
benefited from the literary contests, opportunities
to publish in the widely circulated journals, such as
THECRISIS,OPPORTUNITY,and THEMESSENGER.
Scholars and influential supporters, such as W. E.
B. DuBois, ALAINLOCKE,JESSIEFAUSET,JULIUS
ROSENWALD, and CARLVANVECHTEN, did much
to raise awareness and support for aspiring and ac-
complished artists such as ZORANEALEHURSTON,
AARON DOUGLAS,LANGSTON HUGHES,ARNA
BONTEMPS, and CLAUDEMCKAY.
The onset of the GREATDEPRESSIONgreatly
affected the movement, which remains one of
America’s most celebrated periods of literary and
artistic production.Bibliography
Huggins, Nathan. Harlem Renaissance.New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1971.
Lewis, David Levering. When Harlem Was in Vogue.New
York: Knopf, 1981.
Roses, Lorraine Elena, and Ruth Elizabeth Randolph.
Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: Literary Biographies
of 100 Black Women Writers, 1900–1945.Boston: G.
K. Hall & Co., 1990.Harlem ShadowsClaude McKay(1922)
A powerful collection of poems by Jamaican-born
CLAUDEMCKAYand the first of his works to be
published in the United States. The book, pub-
lished by HARCOUT&BRACE, included an intro-
duction by MAXEASTMAN, a number of works on
Jamaica, and a set of powerful protest poems. The
best-known of the latter was “If We Must Die,” a
previously published poem inspired by the race
riots of 1919. A number of poems were taken from
SPRING INNEWHAMPSHIRE(1920), the volume of
poems that McKay completed and published while
in England. Harlem Shadowsincluded no dialect218 Harlem Renaissance