The harlem Renaissance:
main events
1920
Springarn Medal Awarded
The Springarn Medal is awarded by the NAACP to author, historian and educator
W.E.B. Du Bois for "the founding and the calling of the Pan African Congress."
Review of "The Emperor Jones"
In November 1920, the New York Times and Tribune described actor Charles Gilpin's portrayal
of Brutus Jones in Eugene O'Neill's play 'The Emperor Jones' as "a
performance of heroic stature." This was the first dramatic production
in an all-white theater to star an African-American actor. Gilpin had
premiered in the play earlier that month with the Provincetown Players
in Greenwich Village. Gilpin was named one of the ten most important
contributors to the American theater of 1920 and in 1921 received the
NAACP's Springarn medal for his work.
NAACP News
Author James Weldon Johnson becomes the first African-American executive secretary of the NAACP in November, 1920.
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1921
Black Swan Phonograph Corporation founded
The Black Swan Phonograph corporation was probably named for a 19th century African-American concert singer, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, who toured American and Europe billed as the "Black Swan." The company was initially very successful, and, in 1922, was able to buy out the Olympic Disc Record Company, which catalogued works by both white and black artists.
At one point Black Swan was issuing up to 10 recordings a month, at prices of seventy-five cents for popular tunes and one dollar for their Classic Red Label series. The Red Label series included recordings by Antoinette Gaines, billed as "The First Grand Opera Record Ever Made by a Colored Singer." However, there was a great deal of competition among record companies, and in 1924 Black Swan merged with the Paramount Company, although they continued to issue the Black Swan catalog. The photo is of Fletcher Henderson, a Black Swan bandleader and recording artist.
Musical Opens in New York
"Shuffle Along," the first of a popular series of musicals featuring all African-American casts, opens in May 1921 at the 63rd Street Music Hall in New York City. The musical is written by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake and features Florence Mills and a young Josephine Baker in the chorus. William Grant Still and Hall Johnson play in the orchestra.
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1922
Duke Ellington Moves to New York City
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1923
Harlem Renaissance Basketball Club founded
Discrimination barred African-American athletes from white teams, and professional leagues for African-Americans were virtually nonexistent in the early part of the 20th century. It was therefore necessary for African-Americans to organize their own sports clubs. Baseball and basketball were two popular "All-American" sports that barred African-American athletes.
The New York Renaissance Basketball Team was founded by Robert Douglas in 1923. Douglas was an entrepreneur who had moved to Harlem in 1900. He actually decided to start the team in 1921, and named the team after the Renaissance Ballroom, where they played their games. Their first professional game, on November 30, 1923, was a victory over the Collegiate Big Five, 28-22. The Rens flourished in the 1920's and particularly the 1930's, when they became known as the world's best team. From 1932-1936 their record was 473-49, with an 88 game winning streak. They played many white teams and developed rivalries through unofficial exhibition games. John Wooden, the legendary coach at UCLA, played the Rens in 1936. He said they were "the best team I ever saw." The Rens ended their team history with a record of 2,318 wins and 381 losses.
The first issue of Opportunity published
Opportunity was the literary organ of the National Urban League. Countee Cullen won second prize in the Opportunity literary contest in 1925, and became the assistant editor for the magazine in 1926, under Charles S. Johnson. Other Opportunity prize winners included Zora Neale Hurston, who also won second place awards in 1925 for her story "Spunk" and a play, "Color Struck."
African-American Playwright
Debuts on Broadway
A play by Willis Richardson,The Chip Woman's Fortune, opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway. Staged by the Ethiopian Art Theatre of Chicago, this is the first dramatic work by an African-American playwright to be presented on Broadway.
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1924
Dixie to Broadway Revue Opens!
Starring Florence Mills, "Dixie to Broadway", a musical revue featuring an African-American cast, premieres at the Broadhurst Theater in New York City. The music is written by Will Vodery, an African-American, who arranged music for the Ziegfeld Follies for 23 years.
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1925
Broadway Play Opens I James Weldon
Johnson
Play Opens in New York City
In October, 1925, Garland Anderson's work "Appearances" opens at the Frolic Theatre on Broadway. This is considered to be the first full-length Broadway play by an African-American.
Annual Springarn Medal Awarded
The NAACP's Spingarn Medal is awarded to James Weldon Johnson, former U.S. consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua and NAACP executive secretary, for his work as an author, diplomat and leader.
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1926
Schomburg Collection Purchased I Crisis Awards
Carnegie Corporation purchases Arthur Schomburg's collection for the New York Public Library
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was born in Puerto Rico on January 24, 1874. He began his education in a primary school in San Juan, where he studied reading, penmanship, sacred history, church history, arithmetic, Spanish grammar, history, agriculture and commerce. Arturo's fifth-grade teacher is said to have told him that "Black people have no history, no heroes, no great moments." Because of this and his participation in a history club, Schomburg developed a thirst for knowledge about people of African descent and began his lifelong quest studying the history and collecting the books and artifacts that made up the core of his unique and extensive library.
Arturo Schomburg would look everywhere for books by and about African people. He also collected letters, manuscripts, prints, playbills and paintings. He was especially proud of his collection of Benjamin Banneker's Almanacs . In fact, his library contained many rare and unusual items from all over the world.
Schomburg's collection became the cornerstone of The New York Public Library's Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints. He frequently loaned objects from his personal library to the 135th Street Branch of The New York Public Library, which was a center of intellectual and cultural activity in Harlem. In 1926 his collection of 10,000 items was purchased by the Library with the assistance of the Carnegie Corporation. He was later invited to be the curator of the new division which included his collections. Schomburg fully shared his knowledge of the history of peoples of African descent with the young scholars and writers of the New Negro movement. One of his primary motivations was to combat racial prejudice by providing proof of the extraordinary contributions of peoples of African descent to world history. Schomburg wrote, "I depart now on a mission of love to recapture my lost heritage."
Crisis Magazine
The Crisis magazine led by editor W.E.B. DuBois, awards its first prizes in literature and art. Among the winners are be Arna Bontemps' poem "Nocturne at Bethesda," Countee Cullen's poem "Thoughts in a Zoo," Aaron Douglas' painting "African Chief" and a portrait by Hale Woodruff..
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1927
Singer Harry Belafonte born in New York City
Florence Mills Dies at Age 32
Florence Mills passed away in November, 1927, after being hospitalized in New York City for an appendectomy. She was one of the most popular entertainers of her day, appearing in "Shuffle Along" and "From Broadway to Dixie" as well as having successful tours in the United States and Europe. To read more about her career,"Porgy" premiere in New York City
The play "Porgy" premieres September 10th at the Guild Theatre in New York City. Written by DuBose Heyward in collaboration with his wife, Dorothy (and based on the novella "Porgy"), it ran for 367 performances, with the movie director Rouben Mamoulian as director. It then toured, opening at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 23, 1928.The world premier of the opera "Porgy and Bess", inspired by this play, took place at Boston's Colonial Theatre on September 30, 1935; again directed by Rouben Mamoulian. The Gershwins and Heywards were in attendance.
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1928
Springarn Medal Awarded
In November, 1928, the NAACP's Spingarn Medal is presented to Charles W. Chestnutt, the first African-American to receive widespread critical recognition as a novelist. He was cited for his "pioneer work as a literary artist depicting the life and struggle of Americans of Negro descent."
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1930
The Northeasterners Founded
The Northeasterners Inc., started as a social club in 1930. It was founded by Agatha Scott, wife of Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., in New York. The idea came to Mrs. Davis, who was impressed with the young African-American debutantes she met while visiting several cities. The idea caught on and several young women representing various states in the Northeast came together with the aim of keeping in touch with each other socially, keeping abreast of cultural trends and rendering service to the community.
Club records show various projects were organized to aid community and educational causes. Some of these include an annual scholarship to Howard University, contributions to the Infantile Paralysis Library Project at Tuskegee Institute, contributions to the NAACP, the Urban League, the United Negro College Fund and the American Cancer Society, among others.
The present organization is national in scope with a national constitution. The various chapters meet at an annual National Conclave held in different locations each year. The organization encourages young women to join and strive towards a standard of excellence and a commitment to community services. The organization voted to change its name in 1979 to The Northeasterners.
Sonny Rollins Born
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins, jazz saxophonist, is born in New York City. Rollins grew up in a neighborhood where Thelonius Monk, Coleman Hawkins (his early idol), and Bud Powell were playing. After recording with the latter in 1949, Rollins began recording with Miles Davis in 1951. During the next three years he composed three of his best-known tunes, "Oleo," "Doxy," and "Airegin," and continued to work with Davis, Charlie Parker, and others. Rollins emerged with the Clifford Brown-Max Roach quintet in 1955 and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972.
Artist Faith Ringold Born in New York City
Faith Ringgold is born in October, 1930. She is a multimedia artist whose paintings, face masks, fabric and soft sculptures, and quilts earned her praise for her reaffirmation of African-American women's values and unique perspectives.
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