Harlem Renaissance

American  

noun

1. a renewal and flourishing of Black literary and musical culture during the years after World War I in the Harlem section of New York City.

---

Harlem Renaissance Cultural  

1. An African-American cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s, centered in Harlem, that celebrated black traditions, the black voice, and black ways of life. Arna Bontemps, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Jean Toomer, and Dorothy West were some of the writers associated with the movement.

---

Example Sentences

Enchanted by the stories he heard from his co-workers, he set out for New York around 1921, arriving in the early years of the Harlem Renaissance.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

Bassett wore a pink gown designed by Prabal Gurung that was inspired by a Harlem Renaissance painting, "Girl in a Pink Dress" by Laura Wheeler Waring.

From BBC • May 4, 2026

“Harlem” is an acoustical enrapturement of the legendary Harlem Renaissance and one of the great symphonic portraits of a place in the repertory.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025

I am reminded of the Harlem Renaissance era and the poetry that embodied our humanity and our strength.

From Salon • Jan. 21, 2025

That’s why I asked Mr. Ward if the three of us could do a group project on Women of the Harlem Renaissance for extra credit.

From "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes