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.

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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.

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Example Sentences

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

The Harlem Renaissance produced stars like Aaron Douglas, shown here not in his famous murals addressing freedom, but in small, angular block prints illustrating Eugene O’Neill’s play “The Emperor Jones,” about a black murderer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 17, 2026

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

From Salon • Jan. 21, 2025

In New York, queer artists and intellectuals were leading figures in the Harlem Renaissance.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2024

In return, they created a cultural, social, and artistic explosion that spread a new black cultural identity that became known as the Harlem Renaissance.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler