Arts & Culture

of the Roaring 20’s:• Jazz Age

• Harlem Renaissance

The Century: America’s TimeBoom to Bust (1 of 3)

Start @ 4:05

End @ 12:00

How did life in America change during the 1920’s?

19th Amendment – August 18, 1920

18th Amendment – January 17, 1920

21st Amendment – December 5, 1933

Stock Market Crash – October 1929

Prohibition Speakeasies

GangstersWomen’s Vote

Commercialism

Consumer Goods

Advertising

Automobiles Communication

WWI Officially Ended – June 28, 1919

Great Migration – began in 1910

1920 – 1930:

The Jazz Age

The Roaring 20’s

Harlem Renaissance

Who were the leaders in art, literature, and music during the 1920’s and 1930’s?

K. Cultural Climate of the Roaring 20’s

Art: 1. Georgia O’Keeffe

A painter known for painting

urban scenes and later,

paintings of the Southwest.

K.

Georgia O’Keeffe:

Early Urban Scenes

Literature:

2. F. Scott

Fitzgerald

A novelist who wrote about the Jazz Age of the 1920’s.

K.

The Great GatsbyBy F. Scott Fitzgerald

Preview:

The Great Gatsby (1974)

Literature:

3. John Steinbeck

A novelist who

portrayed the

strength of poor

migrant workers

during the 1930’s.

K.

John SteinbeckLife of Migrant Workers

“Grapes of Wrath” Movie

“The Harvest Gypsies”

Music:4. Aaron Copeland

Composer known for

his distinct style of

American

composition.

Copland’s

“The Promise of Living”

Copeland’s

“Lincoln Portrait”

K.

Music:

5. George Gershwin Known as one of the

most significant

American composers of

the 20th Century.

K.

George Gershwin:American Composer of the 1920’s

Wrote the music for the

American folk opera,

Porgy and Bess about

African American life In

Charleston, SC during the

1920’s.

His composition, “Rhapsody in

Blue” was the first to

combine classical music with

the new element of Jazz.

Other than composing

“American” music, what did

Copland and Gershwin have

in common?

• Both were the sons of

Russian Jewish

Immigrants.

• Both were born in

Brooklyn, New York:

Gershwin – 1898

Copland - 1900

L. Harlem Renaissance

1920 - mid 1930’s

Before 1920, how was African

American culture portrayed in the

arts?

Directions:

1. In your pods, examine the primary resources that

depict how African American culture was portrayed

in art, music, and theater.

2. Answer the questions in your notes.

*Remember, these images and documents represent viewpoints from a different time in our

history. We see them as offensive and unacceptable, but we study them to understand what

life was like for African Americans during that time period.

Music? Theater? Art?

Group Activity:

Questions:

1. Before 1920, how were African Americans portrayed in art, music, and theater?

2. What were some of the common themes found in these forms of art or entertainment?

OLD FOLKS AT HOME

Way down upon de Swanee ribber,

Far, far away,

Dere’s wha my heart is turning ebber,

Dere’s wha de old folks stay.

All up and down de whole creation,

Sadly I roam,

Still longing for de old plantation,

And for the old folks at home.

Chorus:

All de world am sad and dreary,

Ebry where I roam,

Oh! “Brothers” how my heart grows weary,

Far from de old folks at home.

All round de little farm I wandered when I was young,

Den many happy days I squandered,

Many de songs I sung.

When I was playing wid my brudder happy was I.

Oh! Take me to my kind old mudder, Dere let me live and

die.

Chorus

“A Great Day in Harlem”

How did the Harlem Renaissance

influence American life?

Harlem

RenaissanceThe leaders of the

Harlem

Renaissance drew

upon the heritage of

African American

culture to establish

themselves as

powerful forces for

cultural change.

Art:Jacob Lawrence

1. A painter who

chronicled the

experiences of the

Great Migration through

art.

L.

Art:Jacob Lawrence

Click Here

The Phillips Collection

Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series, Panel 3

Literature:Langston Hughes

Biography Channel:

Langston Hughes

2. A poet who combined the

experiences of African and

American cultural roots.

The Ballad of the Landlord

Mother to Son

L.

Music:

The Jazz Age

3. Louis Armstrong

“When the Saints Go Marching In”

“Dinah”

• Singer, trumpet player, and one of

the most influential Jazz musicians of

all time.

• Born and raised in New Orleans,

Louisiana, the city known as the

birthplace of Jazz.

• Nickname – “Satchmo”

L.

Music:

The Jazz Age

4. Duke Ellington

Concert Video - 1933

Old Man Blues –

“Check and Double Check”

• Famous music composer, pianist, and

Jazz bandleader.

• Along with his orchestra, he was a

regular at the Cotton Club, a famous

nightclub in Harlem, NY.

L.

Music:

The Blues5. Bessie Smith

Biography Channel

• Known as the best blues

singer in America.

Bessie Smith, “St. Louis Blues”

with Louis Armstrong

L.