Stomping Grounds

“In the 1920s, Harlem was hot!” writes Laban Carrick Hill in Harlem Stomp! “The nightclubs were hoppin’. The theaters were packed to the rafters. And the poems and stories crackled with racial pride. Without a doubt, Harlem was the center of the universe.” The jazz music, blues singers, vibrant artwork, provocative literature, and intellectual discourse of the period celebrated the experience of being African American despite the tension of life under Jim Crow laws. Wealthy and elite whites of New York were drawn to the excitement of Harlem, dining and dancing to the music of Duke Ellington at the whites-only Cotton Club. Rent parties and salons brought the explosion to interracial social events where serious cultural exchange occurred amid raucous fun.

The Harlem Renaissance showcased the work of incredibly creative people. The prominent poet Langston Hughes tells his story in The Big Sea, and his verse appears in several anthologies, including Caroling Dusk, a collection chosen and edited by fellow Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen. Author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston’s life is put directly into readers’ hands in the stunning multimedia volume Speak, So You Can Speak Again. Her short stories, included in Classic Fiction of the Harlem Renaissance, and her best-known novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, continue to influence literature into the current century, and readers of all ages will delight in the playful folklore of Lies and Other Tall Tales.

Strong in history, music, dance, literature, politics, theater, race relations, women’s studies, and visual art, the Harlem Renaissance has tremendous interdisciplinary appeal.

ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE GRADES

Fiction and Poetry

CAMPBELL, Bebe Moore. Stompin’ at the Savoy. illus. by Richard Yarde. Philomel. 2006. Tr $16.99. ISBN 0-399-24197-3.

Gr 2-4 –Mindy, apprehensive about her jazz dance recital, is whisked back in time to the Savoy Ballroom where she is swept up with dancers doing the Lindy Hop to the bouncing music of Chick Webb, Benny Goodman, and Ella Fitzgerald. Rhythmic watercolors depicting swinging dancers and jiving musicians perfectly complement the lyrical energy and magical realism of this picture book’s prose.

HURSTON, Zora Neale, collector. Lies and Other Tall Tales. adapt. & illus. by Christopher Myers. HarperCollins. 2005. Tr $15.99. ISBN 0-06-000655-2; PLB $16.89. ISBN 0-06-000656-0.

Gr 3 Up –“Once I seen a man so ugly, they threw him in Dog River and they could skim ugly for six months.” Traveling the Deep South, anthropologist Hurston collected African-American folklore rich in exaggeration. Myers presents wildly outrageous “lies” against colorful fabric and cloth collage illustrations featuring minimalist, yet exaggerated, human figures. Provocative visual and verbal “pow!” with wide-ranging appeal.

LEVINE, Gail Carson. Dave at Night. HarperCollins. 1999. Tr $16.99. ISBN 0-06-028153-7; PLB $16.89. ISBN 0-06-028154-5; pap. $6.99. ISBN 0-06-440747-0.

Gr 5-9 –A mischievous 11-year-old Jewish boy abandoned to an orphanage, Dave outsmarts the abusive headmaster and outwits the school’s resident bullies. At night, he sneaks out to attend rent parties with an old Jewish fortune-teller, hobnobbing with Harlem’s literati and musical elite. Levine was inspired by her father’s childhood, with a wry nod to Dickens’s Oliver Twist. Audio version available from Recorded Books.

MYERS, Walter Dean. Harlem. illus. by Christopher Myers. Scholastic. 1997. RTE $16.95. ISBN 0-590-54340-7.

Gr 5 Up –“A weary blues that Langston knew/And Countee sung/...Darkness lightened at the Cotton Club.” Father and son celebrate Harlem in a poem full of jazzy rhythm, illustrated with bold gouache, ink, and collage images of its people and streets. This oversize picture book provides an intriguing introduction to the figures and places of the Harlem Renaissance.

MUSE, Daphne, sel. The Entrance Place of Wonders: Poems of the Harlem Renaissance. illus. by Charlotte Riley-Webb. Abrams. 2006. Tr $16.95. ISBN 0-8109-5997-6.

Gr 2-7 –Twenty poems perfectly paired with exuberant oil paintings collectively affirm the joy of life. The swirling contemporary realism of the vibrant illustrations depicts children exploring their world. An introduction to the period is followed by brief biographical entries on the poets, who include Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Effie Lee Newsome, and others.

RAMPERSAD, Arnold & David Roessel, eds. Langston Hughes. illus. by Benny Andrews. Sterling. 2006. PLB $14.95. ISBN 1-4027-1845-4.

Gr 4 Up –A preliminary overview of Hughes’s life sets the context for 26 of his poems. Each selection includes a brief introduction, many recounting Hughes’s own thoughts about the poem, and footnotes that explain dialect and historical terms such as “Jim Crow.” The vibrant, stylized paintings feature folk-art and African influences and have some minor surrealistic touches, with bright colors and exaggerated human figures.

SHANGE, Ntozake. Ellington Was Not a Street. illus. by Kadir Nelson. S & S. 2004. Tr $16.95. ISBN 0-689-82884-5.

Gr 3-8 –Shange’s poem “Mood Indigo” and Nelson’s richly colored oil paintings evoke a childhood where “du bois walked up my father’s stairs/hummed some tune over me/sleeping in the company of men/who changed the world.” Biographical notes on the group of visionaries depicted gathering in the author’s home conclude this oversized picture book, sure to arouse students’ curiosity.

Nonfiction

FRANKL, Ron. Duke Ellington: Bandleader and Composer. Chelsea House. 1989. pap. $9.95. ISBN 0-7910-0208-X.

Gr 7-9 –As the house band at the Cotton Club from 1928 to 1931, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra made live radio broadcasts, treating the nation to “Mood Indigo,” and going on to become the first African-American musicians featured at Carnegie Hall. Frankl details Ellington’s career and personal life with black-and-white photos and publicity stills complementing the straightforward text.

GAINES, Ann Graham. The Harlem Renaissance in American History. Enslow. 2002. PLB $26.60. ISBN 0-7660-1458-4.

Gr 7-9 –Gaines’s solid, succinct study places the era within its historical context and traces its legacy. “Source Document” sidebars present excerpts from publications of the period, and black-and-white photos of notables and events enliven the text, which touches on political, cultural, intellectual, and social changes and trends as well as prominent figures.

HARDY, P. Stephen & Sheila Jackson Hardy. Extraordinary People of the Harlem Renaissance. Children’s Press. 2001. pap. $16.95. ISBN 0-516-27170-9.

Gr 5-9 –Featuring 44 writers, artists, entertainers, educators, and political activists, this collective biography highlights both their achievements and the hardships they overcame. Black-and-white photos depict notables such as Ethel Waters, Carl Van Vechten, Nella Larsen, James Weldon Johnson, and Marcus Garvey. An accessible choice for research or browsing, with an annotated list of 40 additional figures.

JORDAN, Denise. Harlem Renaissance Artists. Heinemann Library. 2003. PLB $28.50. ISBN 1-58810-649-7.

Gr 6-8 –Biographical overviews of 11 noted artists examine the events of the subject’s life as well as other artists’ influence. Black-and-white photo portraits and color reproductions of their art, varying in size from full page to much smaller, complement the simply and clearly written text. Biographees include Richmond Barthe, Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, Sargent Claude Johnson, and others.

MILLER, Norma. Stompin’ at the Savoy: The Story of Norma Miller. ed. by Alan Govenar. illus. by Martin French. Candlewick. 2006. Tr $16.99. ISBN 0-7636-2244-3.

Gr 4-8 –This autobiography of a Lindy Hopper swings with vitality. Miller danced in contests, shows, and movies, traveling the U.S. and South America and appearing with Ethel Waters and the Marx Brothers. Her independent spirit shapes her narration with humor and candor. Stylized black-and-white Art Deco motif illustrations, produced digitally and in mixed media, wheel right off the pages.

PINKNEY, Andrea Davis. Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra. 1998. Tr $15.95. ISBN 0-7868-0178-6; PLB $16.49. ISBN 0-7868-2150-7.
––––.Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa. 2002. Tr $16.99. ISBN 0-7868-0568-4; PLB $17.49. ISBN 0-7868-2493-X. ea. vol: illus. by Brian Pinkney. Hyperion.

Gr 2-5 –A syncopated bebop beat runs through the smooth musical language of these nontraditional biographies of jazz greats. The scratchboard paintings swirl and jive, incorporating magical elements into a visual interpretation of swing and scat music. Ella’s “Singing so supreme/Music’s velvet-ribbon dream” and Duke’s “compositions smoother than a hairdo sleeked with pomade”–read these aloud! Video/DVD and audio versions of Ella Fitzgerald are available from Weston Woods.

PORTER, A. P. Jump at de Sun: The Story of Zora Neale Hurston. Carolrhoda. 1992. pap. $8.95. ISBN 0-87614-546-2.

Gr 4-6 –Writing with simple charm, Porter traces Hurston’s life without flinching at the juxtaposition of poverty, achievements, oppression, and activism that marked her existence. Black-and-white photos of Hurston and her colleagues, family, and environment enrich the text, which opens with a foreword by her niece, Lucy Ann Hurston.

WRIGHT, David K. Paul Robeson: Actor, Singer, Political Activist. Enslow. 1998. PLB $26.60. ISBN 0-89490-944-4.

Gr 6-9 –A major figure in the Harlem cultural scene from 1919 to 1929, Robeson broke barriers on stage and off with triumphs as a singer and actor. Wright portrays the hardships and opposition Robeson met with despite his early success at Rutgers, as well as the government surveillance triggered by his Communist sympathies. Black-and-white photo portraits and publicity stills accompany a clearly written, well-detailed text.

HIGH SCHOOL

Fiction and Poetry

ANDREWS, William L. Classic Fiction of the Harlem Renaissance. Oxford. 1994. pap. $32.95. ISBN 0-19-508196-X.

Adult/High School –Influential in the Harlem Renaissance’s reassessment of race relations, the short stories here include Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” and “The Gilded Six-Bits,” Rudolph Fisher’s “Miss Cynthie,” and Langston Hughes’s “The Blues I’m Playing.” The entire novels Home to Harlem by Claude McKay and Quicksand by Nella Larsen are featured, along with selections from Jean Toomer’s Cane.

CULLEN, Countee, ed. Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Black Poets of the Twenties. Citadel. 1993. pap. $10.95. ISBN 0-8065-1349-7.

Adult/High School –First published in 1927, this collection of poetry, with a foreword by Cullen, begins with Paul Laurence Dunbar and includes Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, James Weldon Johnson, Jessie Redmon Fauset, and Cullen himself among its 38 contributors. Biographical notes are included for each, nearly all written by the poets themselves.

GIOVANNI, Nikki. Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking at the Harlem Renaissance through Poems. Holt. 1996. Tr $17.95. ISBN 0-8050-3494-3.

Gr 9 Up –Powerful verse by Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps as well as more contemporary authors such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Ntozake Shange is woven together with Giovanni’s impassioned yet conversational commentary, reflecting on the sharp pain and joyful exuberance of being African American, then and now.

HURSTON, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Perennial. 1998. pap. $13.95. ISBN 0-06-093141-8.

Adult/High School –Thanks to its rediscovery by Alice Walker and promotion by Oprah Winfrey, Hurston’s story of an independent young woman living in a black town in Florida in the 1930s has regained prominence as a literary gem. Its strong feminist perspective and treatment of class and race have generated prolific academic response over the past 25 years.

Nonfiction

BECKMAN, Wendy Hart. Artists and Writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Enslow. 2002. PLB $26.60. ISBN 0-7660-1834-2.

Gr 7-10 –Ten prominent figures represent a cross-section of the era. The overlapping lives and work of James Weldon Johnson, Alain LeRoy Locke, Zora Neale Hurston, Bessie Smith, Aaron Douglas, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen, and Josephine Baker illustrate its vibrant diversity. Beckman includes a chapter for each one, with black-and-white photo portraits.

CANDAELE, Kerry. Bound for Glory: From the Great Migration to the Harlem Renaissance, 1910-1930. Chelsea House. 1996. PLB $9.95. ISBN 0-7910-2261-7.

Gr 7 Up –This strong overview of the political and sociological context of the Harlem Renaissance examines the Great Migration, the racial impact of World War I, and the influence of Marcus Garvey and Pan-Africanism. The cultural explosion itself is covered, including its influence on the Civil Rights Movement. Black-and-white photos bring the characters and events to life.

HILL, Laban Carrick. Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance. Little, Brown. 2004. Tr $18.99. ISBN 0-316-81411-3.

Gr 7 Up –Splendid for browsing, this eye-catching overview is bursting with photographs, magazine covers and artwork, literary excerpts, newspaper articles, and plentiful sidebars set off with colored screens and interesting graphic design, creating visual excitement reminiscent of the period. Balanced coverage is given to the celebrities and events of the time as well as daily life and culture.

HUGHES, Langston. The Big Sea: An Autobiography. Farrar. 1993. pap. $15. ISBN 0-8090-1549-8.

Adult/High School –Hughes spent the 1920s first in Paris, where he worked as a cook and waiter in the nightclubs and knew the musicians and dancers, and then in Harlem, where he was an increasingly important poet in the Harlem Renaissance. Here he writes simply and succinctly of those years, so important in his life as well as to American culture.

HURSTON, Lucy. Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston. Doubleday. 2004. Tr $29.95. ISBN 0-385-49375-4.

Adult/High School –Exquisitely reproduced removable memorabilia fills this oversized volume–a poem jotted on a scrap of wrapping paper, a bound sketchbook, personal letters, playbills, Christmas cards, partial chapters on “charred” paper, and more. Large sepia-toned photographs on every page complement the concise text recounting Hurston’s life, with a CD of Hurston speaking and singing completing the multimedia package.

KNOPF, Marcy, ed. The Sleeper Wakes: Harlem Renaissance Stories by Women. Rutgers Univ. 1993. pap. $21.95. ISBN 0-8135-1945-4.

Adult/High School –Twenty-eight stories, most originally published during the Harlem Renaissance, consider themes of racial tension, poverty, passing, interracial relationships, and prejudice. Authors include Gwendolyn Bennett, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Jessie Redmon Fauset, and others, with Zora Neale Hurston contributing the previously unpublished “The Bone of Contention.” A strong resource for literature, black studies, or women’s studies classes.

STWERTKA, Eve. Duke Ellington: A Life of Music. Watts. 1994. PLB $24. ISBN 0-531-13035-5.

Gr 7 Up –With thorough detail and perceptive narrative, Stwertka recounts Ellington’s life in all its adversity and success, placing his work within the greater context of the music world and then showing his lasting influence on music’s development. A center section of black-and-white photos and publicity shots depicts Ellington with other musicians and colleagues and includes one of his funeral.

WINTZ, Cary D. Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance. Sourcebooks. 2006. Tr $29.95. ISBN 1-4022-0436-1.

Gr 9 Up –Jam-packed with good detail and understandable analysis, this compendium includes 21 in-depth biographical articles written by scholars. Two full-length audio CDs of music, literary readings, interviews, and radio broadcasts present primary-source material with individual tracks cued in the text. Black-and-white photos from the New York Public Library collection are well captioned and informative.

WINTZ, Cary D. & Paul Finkelman, eds. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. 2 vols. Routledge. 2004. Tr $350. ISBN 1-57958-389-X.

Adult/High School –Coverage is comprehensive yet concise, strong in specific details and overall cultural context, in this superb reference work. Almost half of the 639 signed entries focus on specific figures, with music, art, literature, socioeconomics, politics, and general history receiving in-depth analysis. Black-and-white photos enhance the articles, which conclude with further-reading suggestions.