The Harlem Renaissance

Tieyae Houston
Allan Andrade
Marvin Lafontant

Junior Division
Exploration | Encounter | Exchange

The way that we chose our project was to better our peers. We personally feel that
schools only teach how African Americans were unsuccessful through their lives, from slavery to
Jim Crow laws. We are also taught how there were certain figures, that fought for the success of
the Black man during this time but we were never taught how we were able to gain freedom and
where our culture originated. Our goal is to feed our peers something pleasing about African
American history by discussing the Harlem Renaissance, and how there was a time where we
had a rebirth of art, music, sports, literature, due to freedom.
Our first assignment was to search for 5 10 primary and secondary sources for an
annotated bibliography. We then split up the research evenly. Our requirement was to find 2
primary sources and 1 secondary, to have 9 sources total. We searched for pictures, videos,
newspaper articles, and poems from this time. Our next assignment was to find 15 20 primary
and secondary sources for the final annotated bibliography. Together, we agreed the Harlem
Renaissance would be the perfect topic for National History Day because we all wanted to gain
more knowledge about this important event and learn how it contributed to how African
Americans lives in current day. The Harlem Renaissance is a good topic to study so the people
who dont understand these events will receive more useful information that is easier to
understand using our primary and secondary sources on our project website.
This years theme for National History Day is Exploration, Encounter, Exchange. The
Harlem Renaissance can relate to that in many ways. First is exploration. Around the late 1910s,
the African-American community moved from the south to northern cities, such as Chicago,
New York, and Detroit. Because of World War I, jobs opened up and the African-Americans were
needed to fulfill that role. The Harlem Renaissance is also known for the cultural exploration.
Second is encounter. African-Americans encountered an important obstacle, identity. AAs were

targeted by the KKK, were denied the right the vote, the states refused to protect them equally
with the whites. Now, after migrating to the north, the black race was uplifted; AfricanAmericans were able to obtain jobs, there was a rise in literature and art in the black community.
Music also began to rise as well. As a result of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, Aaron
Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, etc. all made a name for themselves. And last, exchange. Society gave
the African-American a chance so they were able to get much out of it. Artwork such as Jeunesse
and others were a result of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance also produced
Billie Holiday, Chick Webb, and Louis Armstrong. Those are how the Harlem Renaissance could
relate to this years theme, Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange.