Online Educational Resources

The Harlem Renaissance

Following our spring 2014 workshop on the Harlem Renaissance, Humanities Texas assembled a list of online educational resources related to the Harlem Renaissance and its history, literature, and culture. These websites include primary source documents, lesson plans, photographs, and other interactive elements that enhance classroom instruction and student comprehension. These materials are relevant to both ELA and social studies teachers.

Poets.org

Poets.org offers information on notable Harlem Renaissance poets, including Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Arna Bontemps, and Countee Cullen. Poets’ pages include biographical information, lists of their published works, and external links to other helpful websites.

Modern American Poetry

Sponsored by the University of Illinois, the Modern American Poetry site (MAPS) provides biographies, critical essays, and excerpts relating to numerous poets. MAPS includes pages on Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen.

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress’ online Guide to Harlem Renaissance Materials includes many fantastic resources for classroom use. Not only does the site include links to fascinating photographs and interviews from the period, but it also includes specific links to teacher resources as well as other educational links about the Harlem Renaissance as a cultural, artistic, and literary phenomenon. The materials also include information about Zora Neale Hurston’s unpublished plays, which are part of the Library of Congress collections.

Annenberg Learner

Courtesy of the Annenberg Learner’s Spotlight on Voices & Visions program, this website offers helpful educational links about Langston Hughes and his work. The page includes links to audio recordings of Hughes’s work, as well as effective teaching resources for English courses.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has created a website about Harlem, 1900–1940. The site includes a timeline of important events in Harlem’s history, as well as some resources for teachers.

Voices from the Gaps

Voices from the Gaps, run by the University of Minnesota, highlights the achievements of women artists of color. Their page on Zora Neale Hurston includes useful biographical information, as well as links to outside resources.

Questions about Online Resources

Call 512.440.1991 (press 2) or email education@humanitiestexas.org.

Cover of the October 1928 issue of The Negro American with photograph of Miss Erma Sweatt, sister of civil-rights activist Heman Sweatt. The Negro American was a Harlem Renaissance era magazine published in San Antonio, Texas, that declared itself to be "the only magazine in the South devoted to Negro life and culture." This particular issue includes a review of Rudolph Fisher's novel The Walls of Jericho (page 13). Courtesy of Michael L. Gillette.

Download the Full Issue of The Negro American

You can explore the full issue of The Negro American (October 1928) described above by downloading a PDF version here.