Extraordinary People of the Harlem Renaissance

Looks at the many artists, photographers, choreographers, musicians, composers, poets, writers, and other creative people who made Harlem such an amazing place in the 1920s and 1930s.

Grade 4-8-This clearly written book is packed with information on 44 notable individuals of the period. Well-known figures such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Bessie Smith are included as are lesser-known people such as Laura Wheeler Waring and May Howard Jackson. Several pages of information are provided for each subject. Essays on "The New Negro," "The Jazz Age," and publications and patrons of the Harlem Renaissance are also included. There are vivid black-and-white photographs of individuals, groups, and productions as well as reproductions of covers of magazines and sheet music, and artwork. While this book is ideal for research papers, it can also be read from cover to cover by students interested in the arts or the era.
Tammy K. Baggett, Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library, GA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 6-9. This hefty volume, useful for research and interesting for browsing, introduces the leaders of the African American creative movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. A few chapters discuss topics such as "the New Negro," the Jazz Age, and patrons of the arts, but most are devoted to key figures in the movement. Forty-four individuals are featured in chapters several pages in length. Typically, there is a portrait photo and sometimes an additional black-and-white picture, perhaps of a band, a painting, or a stage production. Appendixes include an annotated list of 40 other figures in the Harlem Renaissance, a glossary, and lists of books and Web sites. Clearly written and designed, this provides a good starting place for research on the period and the people who created it. Carolyn Phelan
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