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The People of the Harlem Renaissance

Webquest Handout

The Harmon Foundation

1.  Who was responsible for the establishment of the Harmon Foundation?

2.  What was the main goal of the Harmon Foundation?

3.  Why did the Harmon Foundation stop its efforts after its tour?

 Countee Cullen

1.  Look at these two images from the American Memory website.  What are two things you might infer from these pictures?

2.  Read "The Whites Invade Harlem"  and answer these questions about Countee Cullen.       

•        What was the name Countee Cullen suggested for the studio    
           commissioned  by Alelia Walker?

•          What sorts of things was this studio used for?

•         What book do critics say is Countee Cullen's best work?

3.  Read "The Dark Tower" and "For a Poet."

4.  Summarize each poem in a few sentences.

5.  What inferences can you make about the time period based on the poems?

Zora Neale Hurston

1.  View these pictures of Hurston from the American Memory Collection.  What inferences can you make from these pictures?

2. Read about Hurston's life and answer the following questions:

[Search "Today in History" for Zora Neale Hurston]

• Where was Hurston born?  How did that affect her writing?

• What was Hurston's job during the depression?

• Why was Hurston's work unrecognized until 1975?

• In addtion to anthropology and writing novels, what other creative endeavor did Hurston pursue?

3.  Zora Neale Hurston researched and wrote for the Federal Writer's Project, an agency developed to aid struggling writers during the depression.  Her focus was folk music, customs, and stories.  Listen to these recordings of Zora Neale Hurston's reports on her work with the Federal Writer's Project. 

Georgia Skin
Shove It Over
Halimuhfack 
Mama Don't Want No Peas No Rice

4.  Choose one of the recordings and answer the following questions:

• What is the subject of the recording?
• What is the tone of the recording?
• What can you infer about the culture from which these recordings were taken?

Langston Hughes

1.  What are two inferences you can make about Langston Hughes based on this photograph from the American Memory collection?

2.  Read about Langston Hughes's life by searching his name in Today in History.  Choose #1 and answer the following questions:

• How did Langston Hughes receive a scholarship to Lincoln University?

• In addition to poems, what else did Hughes write?

3.  Booker T. Washington was a well-respected early black leader whose death was a major influence of the Harlem Renaissance.  Read a draft of Langston Hughes's poem "The Ballad of Booker T."  and answer the following questions:
 

• What is Hughes's tone toward his subject (Booker T)?
   

• How would you describe Booker T. Washington's philosophy based
        on this poem?  Give at least two examples from the poem to support
        your answer.

• What sorts of editing and revision corrections are evident in these drafts?

4.  Hughes's first published poem, "A Negro Speaks of Rivers," has been set to music many times.  View a page of sheet music written by Margaret Bonds to Hughes's poem.

James Weldon Johnson

1.  What inferences could you make about James W. Johnson based on this photograph from the American Memory Collection?

2.  Read about Johnson's life and answer the following questions:
[Today in History, search James W. Johnson]

• What jobs did James W. Johnson perform during his lifetime?

• Follow the link "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" and read the poem.  What is Johnson's
  main message in this poem?

3.  Louisiana Lize, pictured above, is one example of Johnson's song writing capabilities.  View the lyrics for each of these songs and answer the following questions:

• Summarize the content of the songs.

• What inferences can you make about the culture of the time period based on these lyrics (note the copyright dates)?  Support your inferences using lyrics from the songs.

   Maid of Timbuctoo
Gimme de Leavins 
The Maiden With the Dreamy Eyes
 

4.   James W. Johnson was also involved with the politics of the time.  Read the pamphlet "The Negro in Wartime" to get a feel for the activities of the NAACP during the Harlem Renaissance.  Find out what role Johnson played in this organization.

Ralph Ellison

1.  Like Zora Neale Hurston,  Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man , worked during the depression as a  writer for the Federal Writer's Project.  Read three of the reports Ellison prepared for this job. 

Harlem
Eddie's Bar
City Street
My People Made the Truckin Business
Colonial Park

2.  For each report you choose to read, answer the following questions:

• What does this report reveal about the culture of the time period?  List examples from the text to support your statement.

• What does this report reveal about the person being interviewed?

• What sorts of writing techniques does Ellison use to make his reports more interesting and entertaining?

Margaret Walker

1.  Along with Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison, Maragret Walker conducted interviews and wrote life histories for the Federal Writers Project.  Read her article "Yalluh Hammuh,"  an entertaining story and a good example of dialect.
[American Life Histories, search Margaret Walker]

2.  Summarize the story in one paragraph.

3.   Write down five examples of words written in dialect in the story and translate them.

Walter White

In addition to writing novels about the problems of the black middle class, Walter White was also involved politically in the NAACP. 

1.  Read the letter that Eleanor Roosevelt sent to Walter White.  What is her reason for writing to White?

2.  Read the letter Walter White wrote to Jesse Owens but did not send. 

Page One
Page Two

• What was he urging Owens not to do? 

• What reasons does he give to try to persuade Owens? 

• Do you think White would have been successful in his argument had he sent his
  letter?  Why or why not?