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 idea of history being celebrated and preserved courses through “Once Upon a Time in Harlem,” a conversational documentary belatedly assembled from a 1972 gathering of Harlem Renaissance giants at Duke Ellington’s apartment.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 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

“Yes, they are. Many are from the Harlem Renaissance, and some”—she turns the page—“are from right here in Chicago.”

From "Finding Langston" by Lesa Cline-Ransome