AP+P2+Harlem+during+the+Great+Depression

Macee Owen Audience



Harlem was historically one of America’s most culturally influential neighborhoods, and at the center of New York, contained some of America’s most influential and artistic people. Harlem was the largest black community in New York, yet the culture was one of the most diverse and culturally renovated. The neighborhood and the people in it, “long served as the crucible of political action and the home territory for many of last century's African American politicians” (“Harlem History”). Harlem’s audience was not limited to the residents themselves, or even New York City, but included America as a whole. For example, many influential figures rose from Harlem and shaped the Harlem Renaissance and how it affected American people nationwide. Langston Hughes, a very influential poet, played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance and reached large audiences around the country (“Langston Hughes”). In addition to Harlem’s artistic influence on the American people, many influential politicians arose from the neighborhood as well (“Harlem History”). Harlem’s audience reached to not only an African American audience but a culturally diverse one as well, by encouraging African American equality through politics and the arts.

“Harlem History.” //Columbia 250//. Columbia University, 2004. Web. 3 February, 2015.

“Langston Hughes.” // Poets.org. // Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 3 February, 2015.

Christian Mortensen Historical During the Depression Era, the upper Manhattan neighborhood, known as Harlem, was a place viewed by the outside world as a “negro haven”; a place where “African Americans sang and danced and laughed and otherwise rebelled against the materialism and monotony of American life.” (Greenberg 1) While judged harshly by the outside, white upper class world, on the inside Harlem while mostly a black community, was a diverse neighborhood in terms of ethnicity with many Jewish and Italian residents. One thing that was homogenous throughout the neighborhood regardless of race was poverty, as Harlem (at the time as well as today) was considered to be one of the most poor neighborhoods in all of New York City. The residents of the neighborhood, much like the citizens of South Boston, established a neighborhood identity, but instead of toughness like in Southie, the citizens of Harlem did it through the cultivation of new arts and music that was lacking in American society. Focusing on black love and jazz this Harlem movement established a cultural phenomenon known as the Harlem renaissance, which truly changed American culture forever. This “negro haven” became the center of the country culturally.

“Mean Streets: Black Harlem During the Great Depression.” //APUSHistory.org//. n.p., n.d.Web. 3 February, 2015.

“A Brief Guide to the Harlem Renaissance” //poets.org.// Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 3 February, 2015.

Samuel Fennema Aim



The aim of Harlem was to be a community for the foreigners arriving in America, not just for one race, but many, and in the beginning of Harlem’s lifetime the dutch primarily occupied it. The aim of Harlem did not follow in the footsteps of New York, as New York development drifted more northward the purposed of the Harlem community changed frequently. Harlem emptied out, many houses with no tenants, leading to the new purpose of Harlem, getting filled by the black community. The neighborhood’s aim was survival, it was not luxurious living, but just living. Harlem’s aim was strengthened all the more during the Great Depression, survival had gained many new meanings through the suffering of the Great Depression. Harlem’s new purpose was to be bound together with the cause of survival, surviving the abuse of the White people, surviving the financial tragedy, and making their survival known. They wanted to be loud and be heard which lead to the Harlem Riots in 1935, making their presence known in a time where they were expected to die off. Harlem continued their efforts to be heard past the Great Depression, but going through the poverty stricken years is what gave them the purpose to be heard. “History of Harlem.” //Harlemheritage//. Harlem Heritage Tours, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.

“Mean Streets: Black Harlem During the Great Depression.” //APUSHistory.org//. n.p., n.d.Web. 3 February, 2015.

Riley Zerbe Cultural

Harlem was already feeling the sting of poverty long before the Great Depression. When the great depression hit it hit Harlem harder than any other neighborhood in New York, “At the Depression’s height, 25 percent of Americans had no jobs. In Harlem and similar places, that figure was 50 percent” (Greenberg). Before the great depression Harlem had gone through a cultural “renaissance” creating art, essays, and brand new forms of culture while the rest of New York was too busy lining its pockets. This was unfortunately due in part to Harlems poverty, as African Americans fled to this neighborhood often avoiding persecution in the South. When the great depression hit, however, the poverty became too much. When the New Deal began to heal the wounds of the rest of the country little was done for Harlem. Racism, overcrowding, and the results of those two factors kept all private social programs out of Harlem and most public ones as well. Inspite of this the New Deal had promised to contain racial equality as it included many non discrimination sections but the reality was far from the process. This coupled with the previous eras cultural flourishment lead to a culture that wasn’t afraid of the government and by contrast was willing to fight back, even violently. The riots that followed did little to change the treatment of Harlem but it was clear that the community was working together, in the face of it’s problems.

Works Cited: Greenberg, Cheryl Lynn. "//A////nswers About Depression-Era Harlem"//. The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 03 Feb. 2015.

“Mean Streets: Black Harlem During the Great Depression.” //APUSHistory.org//. n.p., n.d.Web. 3 February, 2015.