Harlem, New York -- Everywhere you go in Harlem during this African American History Month 2002, the talk is of writer Langston Hughes, the leading light of the Harlem Renaissance, the explosion of creative activity among black American artists of all kinds during the 1920s and early 1930s.
A photograph of a dapper Hughes taken in 1946 is featured on the Black Heritage Commemoration Stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in 2002 in honor of the centennial of the writer's birth. The tradition began in 1978, with the issuance of the first stamp, honoring Harriet Tubman, the leader of the "Underground Railroad," the route from South to North across the U.S. landscape (it was neither underground nor a railroad) that many African Americans traversed to freedom during the Southern slavery era. The stamp honoring Hughes was issued in early February at a ceremony at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture located here in Harlem.
The Schomburg Center also is showcasing Hughes' work with a special exhibit depicting key accomplishments in his life. Included are original scripts of some of his work in his own handwriting. Hughes' output, which includes 16 books of poetry, two novels, seven collections of short stories, two autobiographies and nine children's books, has been translated into French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and many other languages.
In his will, Hughes donated all the foreign-language translations of his work to the Schomburg Center, where they are available to see. Not so well known is the fact that Hughes also translated the works of foreign writers. His translations of Jacques Roumain, Nicolas Guillen, and Frederico Garcia Lorca, for example, introduced the Haitian, Cuban and Spanish writers to English-speaking audiences.
Hughes is best known for two poems -- his signature piece, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," and "Montage of a Dream Deferred (originally named 'Harlem')" -- that capture the pain experienced by African Americans during the earlier decades of the last century when racism was far more virulent than it is today. The poems use the rhythms of African American music, particularly blues and jazz, to evoke the black experience. They still jolt audiences when read today.
Although Hughes was born in the midwestern state of Missouri, he spent most of his adult life in Harlem, which he first discovered in 1921. He quickly became friends with other accomplished African American writers such as James Weldon Johnson, Claude McCay and Countee Cullen. But it was Hughes who defined the spirit of the time and who is most often cited as the leading artist of the Harlem Renaissance, although he continued writing books and poems until he died in 1967.
Harlem, or Nieuw Haarlem, as it was originally named, was established by the Dutch in 1658 after they took control from Native Americans. They named it after Haarlem, a city in the Netherlands. But beginning in 1664 until American independence in 1776, the British were dominant. Black people began coming to Harlem in large numbers in the early years of the 20th century, many to escape segregation in the South.
Those years marked the “Great Migration.” Between 1915 and 1920, about a million African Americans moved to Northern U.S. cities, many to New York, and particularly to Harlem. By the early 1920s, the area became known -- unofficially -- as the capital of black America, although many people of color from the Caribbean and Latin America settled there as well to escape hardships at home. Hispanics tended to settle in East Harlem, a sector that became a Mecca for Latino culture.
During the 1920s and beyond, in addition to writers such as Langston Hughes, entertainers and musicians who earned worldwide fame through radio and record sales performed at Harlem's legendary nightspots such as the Apollo Theater, the Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club. Harlem was home for a while to such musical talents as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. During this time, just about anyone, anywhere in the world who loved American music, particularly jazz and later swing, wanted to know about Harlem.
In the years after World War II, Harlem declined -- a victim of urban blight and high crime. But in recent years, the area has unveiled a second act. New restaurants, shops, offices, clubs and theaters have mushroomed along the neighborhood's avenues and boulevards. And, soon, it will be “Showtime at the Apollo” again. The famed theater, where in the 1940s jazz greats like Sarah Vaughn got their start during "amateur hour," is set to reopen this May.
Some of the elegant old "brownstone" homes that once were difficult to sell at any price are now commanding prices of $1 million and more. A new middle class is making Harlem its home again. With reminders of its golden era everywhere, Harlem denizens will tell you that their neighborhood is going to make its mark on the world again - thanks to a 21st-century Harlem Renaissance.