#450 Harlem in the Jazz Age: A Renaissance in New York

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Alain Locke's classic essay "The New Negro" and the literary anthology featuring the work of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen and other significant black writers of the day.

The rising artistic scene would soon be known as the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most important cultural movements in American history. And it would be centered within America's largest black neighborhood -- Harlem, the "great black city," as described by Wallace Thurman, with a rising population and growing political and cultural influence.

During the 1920s, Harlem became even more. Along "Swing Street" and Lenox Avenue, nightclubs and speakeasies gave birth to American music and fostered great musical talents like Count Basie, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington. Ballrooms like the Savoy and the Alhambra helped turn Harlem into a destination for adventure and romance.

What were these two worlds like -- the literary salons and the nightclubs? How removed were these spheres from the everyday lives of regular Harlem residents? How did the neighborhood develop both an energetic and raucous music scene and a diverse number of churches -- many (like the Abyssinian Baptist Church) still around today?

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This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon