A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community [Hardcover]

Lionel C. Bascom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 1999

Established to create jobs during the Depression, the Work Projects Administration sent writers into the neighborhoods and alleyways of Harlem to capture its distinctive voices during its most flamboyant, socially active and aesthetically vibrant era. It was a time when Harlem was Mecca, as vital as any world capital, surging with a tide of Negro migrants in search of the American Dream. The 1930s heralded the greatest period of self-discovery in African-American history after the Civil War and before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

In this illuminating document, we are introduced to a West Indian conjure man known for his infallible charms and herbal remedies; a dancer at the Apollo Theater who mourns the untimely death of the entertainer who inspired her; a domestic worker determined to fight for fair wages and better treatment. And we meet Matt Henson at his retirement from his government job, still denied official recognition for his status as the first American to plant the United States flag on the North Pole.

Enter the bars, the nightclubs, the beauty shops, the street markets, the employment offices and homes. Visit with fish vendors, war veterans, Pullman porters, prostitutes, and countless others. Come listen to the memorable sounds of swing music, the singing and shouting of church choirs, and the lonely plea of a mournful spiritual.

A Renaissance In Harlem is an essential addition to the historical record of the African-American experience, a startling re-creation of a lost era in the life of New York City, and a valuable look at the early writings of two masters of American literature. Filled with humor, compassion, outrage and hope, it is an uplifting celebration of a place and people integral to the American story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Between 1934 and 1939, the Work Progress Administration sent thousands of writers around the country to document local communities, and Harlem, the unofficial capital of black America, was one of them. The Harlem writers produced hundreds of slice-of-life vignettes that provide an intriguing view of ordinary African-Americans as they struggled to cope with the Great Depression and the pervasive racism of the times. Journalist Bascom has rescued 45 of these forgotten essays from WPA Archives. They include works by young luminaries-to-be, such as Ralph Ellison and Dorothy West, as well as talented unknowns like Vivian Morris. Ellison's "The Street" is a hilarious profile of a young musician unafraid of white hecklers. Often using fictional techniques, these nonfiction stories capture aspects of Harlem life during and after Prohibition: the backbreaking, poorly paid labor and union organizing; and such irresistible characters as Pullman portersAthe train-riding cosmopolitans of the black working classAand an urban colony of ingenious black pushcart vendors. Although Bascom claims that the book corrects an overly middle-class, privileged view of Harlem life left to us by the Harlem Renaissance elite, these accounts are not quite a revelation. Renaissance writers like Langston Hughes and Rudolph Fisher also left many gritty, colorful sketches of working-class Harlem life. Nevertheless, Bascom has produced a delightfully engaging and diverse portrait of an almost legendary black urban community. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Digging beneath the glitter of the African American artistic outpouring early in this century dubbed the Harlem Renaissance, journalist Bascom unearths another Harlem from forgotten WPA Writer's Project manuscripts in the Library of Congress. Selecting 50 pieces by 11 WPA writers who worked in Harlem in the 1930s, Bascom challenges standard versions of the Renaissance's dimensionsAeverything from when it began and ended to its content and style. His selections take us beyond the close-knit circle of black intellectuals usually credited with producing the fruits of the most celebrated post-Civil War, pre-Civil Rights season of African American self-discovery. The pieces resound not with the voices of the glitterati but with a vernacular chorus about everyday life during the Great Negro Migration. (That migration, which brought blacks from the rural South to the urban North in massive numbers, changed not merely the complexion of upper Manhattan but transformed it into the world's black capital.) This important book promises to shift discussions about Harlem, the Renaissance, New York, and Depression-era America in popular culture, literature, history, and folklore. Highly recommended.AThomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (November 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380976641
• ISBN-13: 978-0380976645
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,516,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LostTreasure of Harlem and the Thirties, May 18, 2000

By 

Dr. Charleston R. Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community (Hardcover)

This is perhaps the outstanding book this year on black life and culture in the U.S. during the depression years. I am drawn to it because i was born in the time frame and my parents, although in Chciago, lived a life similar to those depicted in these stories.I heard stories about how they had to make a living in those days. These stories also help me reach back to a time when my favorite aunt was living in New York during that time frame. She and her husband were black people who were not out of work (she a nurse, he a prison guard) so that I suppose they fit into some sort of "upper crust" Their honeymoon in 1939 took place in Bermuda!) With the help of these stories I can imagine in my mind's eye, my aunt and uncle in the Harlem clubs and on the scene in those days. I loved the tales of Vivian Morris and wonder who she was and what became of her. This book is why I think the one by L.O. Graham is so shallow as this reflects on where people came from, prior to being placed in some sham "elite": Bravo to the author and more! more!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Voices of Real People, December 1, 1999

By 

Lionel Bascom (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community (Hardcover)

LIONEL C. BASCOM PRESENTS LOST WRITINGS OF THE "TRUE" HARLEM RENAISSANCE IN A RENAISSANCE IN HARLEM, JUST PUBLISHED BY BARD

"Bascom challenges standard versions of the Renaissance's dimensions -- everything from when it began and ended to its content and style...the pieces resound not with the voices of the glitterati but with a vernacular chorus about everyday life during the Great Negro Migration...this important book promises to shift discussions about Harlem, the Renaissance, New York and Depression-era America in popular culture, literature, history, and folklore." Library Journal

"A unique chronicle ... the range of material is impressive ... the real life characters here stand out as vividly as any in fiction writings by Renaissance writers." Emerge

"The Harlem writers produced hundreds of slice-of-life vignettes that provide an intriguing view of ordinary African-Americas as they struggles to cope with the Great Depression and the pervasive racism of the times... they include works by young luminaries-to-be-published, such as Ralph Ellison, Dorothy West, as well as talented unknowns like Vivian Morris ... Bascom has produced a delightfully engaging and diverse portrait of an almost legendary black urban community. Publisher's Weekly

"A unique and valuable addition to the literature of the Harlem Renaissance..." Kirkus Reviews

"The real significance of this collection is it delivers what was really in the hearts and minds of the people of Harlem," says Lionel C. Bascom, editor of A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community, just published by Bard. Bascom, an internationally published journalist and professor of English, brings together works that wre part of the Works Progress Administration's Writer's Project -- writing lost for generations in the vaults of the Library of Congress and published for the first time in A Renaissance in Harlem. The essays, including early writings by two masters of American literature, Ralph Ellison and Dorothy West, create a vibrant record of Harlem's daily life, nightlife and intellectual scene. In assembling this collection, says Bascom, he shares authentic black storytelling, reawakening the voices of ordinary people, voices which were drowned out by the celebrity and the "unofficial litetary program of the Harlem Renaissance." As noted by Booklist, "the collection represents a grittier image of Harlem than that of the celebrated Renaissance writers, who adopted a mission of uplifting the image of black people by avoiding dialect and any porttayals they thought might be viewed negatively."

Mr. Bascom is currently collecting materials for a book about Dorothy West. He is available for interviews, appearances and speaking engagements.

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Harmen @ Its Best!!!!!, December 31, 2010

By 

Kimberly Colver "panther1818" (Sherman oaks-Ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community (Hardcover)

Black Harlem @ its Best!!!!!!!!!! Beautifully written!!!!! Lovely book!!!!!!!!!!It makes U feel like U R really back N that era!!!!!!!!!!