Harlem Renaissance This page intentionally left blank Harlem Renaissance UPDATED EDITION NATHAN IRVIN HUGGINS With a new foreword by Arnold Rampersad OXJORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXTORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford Ne w York Auckland Cap e Town Da r es Salaam Hon g Kong Karach i Kuala Lumpur Madri d Melbourn e Mexic o City Nairob i New Delhi Shangha i Taipe i Toront o With offices in Argentina Austri a Brazi l Chil e Czec h Republic Franc e Greec e Guatemala Hungar y Ital y Japa n Polan d Portuga l Singapor e South Korea Switzerlan d Thailan d Turke y Ukrain e Vietna m Copyright © 1971, 2007 by Oxford University Press, Inc. First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 1971 First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1973 Updated edition published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2007 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. N o part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Huggins, Nathan Irvin, 1927- Harlem Renaissance / Nathan Irvin Huggins ; with a new foreword by Arnold Rampersad. — Updated ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-506336-3 (pbk.) 1. Harlem Renaissance. 2. African Americans—Intellectual life— 20th century. 3. African American arts—20th century. 4. African Americans— New York (State)—New York—Intellectual life—20th century. 5. African American arts—New York (State)—New York—20th century. 6. Harlem (New York, N.Y.)—Intellectual life—20th century. 7. New York (N.Y.)—Intellectual life—20th century. 8. American literature—African American authors—History and criticism. I . Title. E185.6.H858 2007 305.5'520899607307471—dc22 2007004019 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 Printed in the United States of America This page constitutes an extension of the copyright page. POEMS BY CLAUDE McKAY "Africa," "After the Winter," "America," Baptism," "If We Must Die," and "To the White Fiends," from Selected Poems of Claude McKay (copyright © 1953 by Bookman Associates, Inc.) are reprinted by permission of Twayne Publishers, Inc. POEMS BY LANGSTON HUGHES "Advice," printed in Montage of a Dream Deferred, Henry Holt, Co. (copyright © 1951 by Langston Hughes); and "Advertisement for the Opening of the Waldorf Astoria," first printed in New Masses, January 1935 (copyright © 1935 by Langston Hughes) are reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates. "Dream Varia- tions," "Mother to Son," and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (copyright © 1926 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and renewed 1954 by Langston Hughes); "Song for a Dark Girl" (copyright © 1927 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and renewed 1955 by Langston Hughes); "Black Maria" and "Hope" (copyright 1942 and renewed 1970 by Arna Bontemps and George Houston Bass); and "Afro-American Fragment" (copyright © 1959 by Langston Hughes) are reprinted from Selected Poems of Langston Hughes by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. POEMS BY COUNTEE CULLEN "For John Keats, Apostle of Beauty," "Harsh World that Lashest Me," "Heritage," "If You Should Go," "Shroud of Color," "Simon the Cyrenian Speaks," and "Yet Do I Marvel" (copyright © 1925 by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., and renewed 1953 by Ida M. Cullen) are reprinted from Color by Countee Cullen by permis- sion of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. POEMS BY STERLING BROWN Lines from "Memphis Blues" published in Southern Road (copyright © 1932 by Harcourt Brace & World) are reprinted by permission of the author. POEMS BY JEAN TOOMER "Song of the Son" and "Reapers" from Cane by Jean Toomer (copyright (R) re- newed 1951 by Jean Toomer) are reprinted by permission of Liveright Publishers Corp., New York. Photographs of Billy Kersands' poster; Bob Cole, James Weldon and J. Rosamund Johnson; and Fletcher Henderson which appeared in Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer, Black Magic, A Pictorial History of the Negro in American Entertain- ment, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1967, are reproduced here by per- mission of Milton Meltzer. This page intentionally left blank For Sue Bailey Thurman This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I was helped in this book, in one way or another, by many people. I cannot thank them all on these pages, but I shall list a few with the briefest explanation of their assistance to me. Henry F. May taught me a lot about the 1920s and Ameri- can intellectual history. Kenneth M. Stampp first inspired me to do work in what is now called Afro-American history. Oscar Handlin opened my mind to social and cultural history. Howard Mumford Jones has been a friend to me in many ways, and he encouraged me to write this book when it was only a germ of an idea. A summer's research was made possible by a faculty grant from Lak e Forest College in Illinois. Ernest Kaise r of the Schomburg Collection of the New York Public Library, Wendell Wray of the Countee Cullen Branch of the New York Public Library, Helen Willard of the Harvard Theatrical Collection of the Harvard College Library, and Donald Gallup of the Yale University Library were very generous with their time and most helpful to me. I have no individual name, but the staff at the Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library at the ix