‘Ain't Misbehavin'’ — THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

The 1920s, the era when Fats Waller became famous in Harlem, was known as the Roaring Twenties. The economy was booming. Girls cut their hair short and adopted loose, boyish dresses with hemlines at the knee showing a shocking amount of leg. Serving hard liquor was against the law during that decade (Prohibition), leaving the only suppliers of liquor for the public in the hands of racketeers, bootleggers, and gangsters.

Automobiles had improved tremendously. Fast cars had become symbolic of this decade, along with the fast dance of the Charleston and the fast music of jazz.

During this time, Harlem was home to an impressive group of distinguished black writers, musicians, artists, and intellects, and their era of creativity is known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Here is a short list of some of the artists who made up the Harlem Renaissance.

WRITERS:

Langston Hughes (1902-1967): One of the most successful writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright wrote "Not Without Laughter," "The Weary Blues," "Mulatto," "The Best of Simple," and the lyrics to the Kurt Weill musical "Street Scene" (SMT-summer 2000).

Zora Neale Hurston (1891 - 1960): Poet, playwright, anthropologist (from Eatonville, Florida) wrote "Mule Bone," "Spunk," "Moses, Man of the Mountain," and "Seraph on the Suwanee."

Other writers: James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Jessie Fauset, and Claude McKay.

PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS:

Aaron Douglas (1899 - 1979): Painter, illustrator, muralist who captured elements of jazz and African themes in a flatly painted style that featured geometrical patterns. He also did illustrations for Opportunity and Fire! Magazines, and painted four murals at the Countee Cullen Branch of the New York Public Library.

Palmer Hayden (1890 - 1973): Painter and muralist who worked in the "caricature" style. Won prizes for his paintings "Fetiche et Fleurs," and "The Janitor Who Paints."

Augusta Savage (1892 - 1962): Sculptor who made busts of W.E.B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey. Her sculpture, "Lift Every Voice," was exhibited at the New York World's Fair in 1937. She is known for creating the Harlem Community Arts Center, and had her own gallery, The Salon of Contemporary Negro Art.

Other artists: Laura Waring, Betsy Reyneau, William H. Johnson, and photographer James Van Der Zee.

ENTERTAINERS:

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (c.1880 - 1949): Stage and Film dancer and actor, known as "The Honorary Mayor of Harlem," who became the first black superstar entertainer. Bojangles worked in vaudeville and got his first big break in the Broadway show, Blackbirds of 1928, which he followed up with Brown Buddies. Robinson went to Hollywood and became famous and popular for the four films in which he co-starred with Shirley Temple including The Little Colonel (1935) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). He also starred with Fats Waller in Hooray for Love and Stormy Weather. He was the subject of the hit Sammy Davis Jr. song "Mr. Bojangles." In 1989, Congress declared his birthday to be National Tap-Dancing Day.

Ethel Waters (1896 - 1977): Stage and film actor and singer who was widely admired as one of the great performers of her day. She started in vaudeville at 17 and immediately landed roles on Broadway in Africana, Rhapsody in Black, and her star making performance in Irving Berlin's As Thousands Cheer, which was the first time an African-American woman was given star-billing. Waters then turned to drama and starred on Broadway and in Hollywood in such hits as Mamba's Daughters (1939), Cabin in the Sky (1943), Pinky ( 1949), and The Member of the Wedding (1952). She also starred in her own 1950's television show, Beulah.

Duke Ellington (1899 - 1974): composer, musician and bandleader who defined the Harlem sound with his hit songs and jazz scores. Ellington and his orchestra was the house band at Harlem's most famous nightspot, The Cotton Club. Ellington wrote such famous songs as "Take The A Train," "Mood Indigo," "Black and Tan," "Sophisticated Lady," "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good," and "Satin Doll," to name a few. Ellington also wrote the film scores to Anatomy of A Murder, Cabin in The Sky, and Black and Tan.

Other entertainers: musicians Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway, singers Bessie Smith and Adelaide Hall.