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The historical aspects of this project are based on research carried out at New York Public Library-Schomburg Center for Research in Harlem. After receiving an Smithsonian Award, the research expanded to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. 

The fictional elements of the story are comprised of works created specifically for the project, using different formats: written text, photographs, paintings, manuscripts, printed materials books, and illustrations. Those works will be based in disciplines such as music, theater and dance. 

The project aims to combine the techniques of a historical novel with museum curatorial practice.


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On-going research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Harlem. "The Crisis" magazine. Microfilm. Foto: August: 2014
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HISTORICAL FACTS: BIBLIOGRAPHY
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HISTORICAL FACTS: ART

HISTORICAL FACTS: MUSIC
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Ethel Waters - Georgia On My Mind (1939). Click to play. 
HISTORICAL FACTS: DANCE
HISTORICAL FACTS: THEATER
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon".[1] In 1848, blackface minstrel shows were an American national art of the time, translating formal art such as opera into popular terms for a general audience.[2] Early in the 20th century, blackface branched off from the minstrel show and became a form in its own right, until it ended in the United States with the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.[3]

Stereotypes embodied in the stock characters of blackface minstrels not only played a significant role in cementing and proliferating racist images, attitudes, and perceptions worldwide, but also in popularizing black culture.[6] In some quarters, the caricatures that were the legacy of blackface persist to the present day and are a cause of ongoing controversy. Another view is that "blackface is a form of cross-dressing in which one puts on the insignias of a sex, class, or race that stands in binary opposition to one's own."[7]

By the mid-20th century, changing attitudes about race and racism effectively ended the prominence of blackface makeup used in performance in the U.S. and elsewhere. It remains in relatively limited use as a theatrical device and is more commonly used today as social commentary or satire. Perhaps the most enduring effect of blackface is the precedent it established in the introduction of African-American culture to an international audience, albeit through a distorted lens.[8][9] Blackface's groundbreaking appropriation,[8][9][10] exploitation, and assimilation[8] of African-American culture—as well as the inter-ethnic artistic collaborations that stemmed from it—were but a prologue to the lucrative packaging, marketing, and dissemination of African-American cultural expression and its myriad derivative forms in today's world popular culture.[9][11][12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

FILMS

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Zouzou (1934) - Josephine Baker Film (in French)


As children, Zouzou (Josephine Baker) and Jean are paired in a traveling circus as twins: she's dark, he's light. After they've grown, he treats her as if she were his sister, but she's in love with him. In Paris, he's a music hall electrician, she's a laundress who delivers clean underwear to the hall. She introduces him to Claire, her friend at work, and the couple fall in love. Jean conspires to get the show's star out of town and for the theater manager to see the high-spirited Zouzou perform. When Jean's accused of murder and Zouzou needs money to mount his defense, she pleads to go on stage. Her talents may save the show, but can anything save her dream of life with Jean? (Summary from Wikipedia)

Cast (IMDB): Josephine Baker as Zouzou (as Joséphine Baker); Jean Gabin as Jean; Pierre Larquey as Papa Melé; Yvette Lebon as Claire; Illa Meery as Miss Barbara; Palau as Saint-Lévy; Madeleine Guitty as Josette; Claire Gérard as Mme. Vallée; Marcel Vallée as M. Trompe; Roger Blin as (uncredited); Geo Forster as (uncredited); Serge Grave as Young Jean (uncredited); Teddy Michaud as Julot (uncredited); Philippe Richard (uncredited); Viviane Romance (uncredited); Robert Seller (uncredited); Adrienne Trenkel (uncredited); Lucien Walter (uncredited); Andrée Wendler (uncredited).

1927- The Jazz Singer
The notorious blackface conclusion to the first "talkie," the Jazz Singer. In the effort to accept blame for producing the film but avoid negative backlash of its overt racism, the studio who owns the intellectual property has allowed the visual but disabled the audio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYOY8dkhTpU

Excerpt from Miguel Covarrubias' "La Isla de Bali" 
(filmed in the 1930s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9DScGxfabU

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ACQUISITIONS
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HISTORICAL FACTS: CHARACTERS
http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/harlem-renaissance-pictures.htm

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Charles Gilpin was an actor, vaudeville performer and singer who received high praise for his portrayal of Brutus Jones in Eugene O'Neil's The Emperor Jones in 1920. With that, he became the most well known black stage actor to play in a lead role. In 1921, he was named one of the 10 best artists who had made a valuable contribution to the American Theater, the first black actor ever to be so honored.
Image Credit: John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images

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Duke Ellington's band was the house band at the Cotton Club for four years, starting in 1927. The band leader, pianist and prolific composer (with more than 1,000 compositions to his credit) brought jazz into the limelight, no doubt thanks to his charisma.
Image Credit: Getty Images

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Zora Neale Hurston was another key writer of the period, helping shape the culture during the Harlem Renaissance with her fiction, poetry and essays. She helped publish, along with Langston Hughes and others, a literary magazine called Fire!! that promoted the work of the writers and artists who were causing a stir during the Renaissance. Her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) is her most well known work. Hurston had received a Guggenheim fellowship to do ethnographic research in places such as Jamaica and Haiti. Their Eyes Were Watching God was the novel that grew out of her time performing that fieldwork.
Image Credit: Getty Images

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Augusta Savage was a sculptor who, in the early 1920s, attended the Cooper Union art school, where she sold a sculpture of W.E.B Du Bois that was placed in a branch of her work of the New York Public Library. She received other commissions for her work, and continued to exhibit new pieces through the decade, culminating with her well known.
Image Credit: Getty Images


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Painter Aaron Douglas was a force during the Harlem Renaissance. He did illustrations for key magazines of the era such as The Crisis and Opportunity, and in time developed a modernist style he would apply to African subject matter. His work was considered unique among African-American artists. Writer Alain Locke called Douglas a "pioneering Africanist" and used the artist's illustrations in his anthology The New Negro (1925).
Image Credit: Getty Images    

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Langston Hughes wrote about black life in America in his novels, plays, poetry and short stories. His work during the 1920s was very influential in artistic circles during the Harlem Renaissance, and his poetry celebrated the influence of jazz on his writing. He lived in Harlem for most of his life.

​Portrait by Winold Reiss.
Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.


HISTORICAL FACTS: FILMOGRAPHY

General History

The Century: America's Time - 1920-1929: Boom To Busthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7ftyZigYs
The 1920s ushered in an era of great social change, general prosperity, Prohibition and what historians refer to as "modernity." This episode examines these great cultural changes and their affects on the nation. The 1920s, in stark contrast to the Victorian era, "roared," as bathtub gin flowed and more and more Americans moved to urban areas. But the decade also saw limited prosperity for many, especially farmers, and the unrest and discord between the values of small town America and the rapid pace of science and technology. The optimism of the decade would end in the most severe economic depression in American history. Episode 3 presents some of the major events that shaped the decade including The Scopes Monkey Trial, Prohibition, the rise of leisure pastimes, and the impact of inventions such as the automobile, radio, movies and electricity.

The Harlem Renaissance 
Uploaded on Feb 23, 2009
Produced by Rock Creek Academy's Vocational Arts Department for Black History month 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZWZTLK70Oo

Daily Life In Harlem 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrr2XCo-b-o
A short documentary outlining the daily lives of those who lived through the Harlem Renaissance.


Rare 1920's African American Collection 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSgCoDdnUAI
The footage illustrates a little known piece of history and includes footage showing entire black communities visiting one another's country homes, parading through downtown Muskogee in some two dozen Packards, crowding an enormous church in Tulsa not long after the riots, gathering at the National Baptist Convention, and traveling to Europe. It includes black cowboys riding horses amidst oil derricks rising from their ranches.

Negro History Lost, Stolen or Strayed- Great documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beTI_H9wK7Y

The Black Jews of Harlem: Ethiopian-Hebrew Book Review by Ras Iadonis Tafari of LOJSociety.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-vp3InRhaE


We Work Again, 1937
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BafaRPPxlU
We Work Again is a 1937 ephemeral film produced by the Works Progress Administration to promote its efforts at finding work for African-Americans during the great depression. Various jobs are shown, including construction, demolition, "domestics", school teaching, factory work and food preparation.

The Harlem Renaissance: a documentary drama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdBluXZmUSY

Historical Characters

W.E.B. Du Bois - Mini Biography 
Black scholar and activist who led the Niagara Movement and cofounded the NAACP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGOEED_MexI
Learn more about W.E.B. Du Bois: http://bit.ly/VlLrSP

Joséphine Baker: The 1st Black Superstar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggb_wGTvZoU

Paul Colin : Joséphine Baker et la revue nègre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ThAa9w1PVg

Chasing a Rainbow: The Life of Joséphine Baker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHnOfKwAga0

Miguel Covarrubias, caricature artist of 1920s America
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cic8qRfzBJo

Black and Brown: Miguel Covarrubias at the California African American Museum

http://www.kcet.org/socal/home_from_home/podcast/a-trip-to-the-california-african-american-museum.html

Negro Drawings of Miguel Covarrubias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfwsKo5Cw6c



Theater, Film, Dance, Music, Art

Blacks and Vaudeville: PBS documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kbnn3E7Gp8

ORSON HAITI MACBETH '36 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfzGxGIrOWY

Orson Welles' "Voodoo" Macbeth 
Newsreel of Orson Welles' all-black adaptation of Macbeth. Produced by the Negro Theatre Unit of the Federal Theatre Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZLrqJka-EU

Cotton Club Dancers Bust Some Moveshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgcJyZA-rrE
 
Filmed May 23, 1933, Bessie Dudley and Florence Hill show how to move to Duke Ellington's Bugle Call Rag. Both Dudley and Hill were Cotton Club dancers, though this was not filmed at the Cotton Club. Bessie Dudley died January 16, 1999 at the age of 88. I've not yet been able to find information about 

The Cotton Club - Harlem Renaissance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdDsBg_p1v8

RED HOT 1930s COTTON CLUB SHOW-Censored reel survives of Dancers Orgy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLBz3tW3kBI

Soundies: Black Music from the 1940s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY2VEPC0eW0

Top Hits of the Roaring Twenties!*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ZspdOFlj0

Ethel Waters - Am I Blue-1929 Film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN8-Yy8Rl3s


Ethel Waters sings Am I Blue from the 1929 motion picture "On With the Show". This was the first sound movie filmed in color-unfortunately, only black and white copies survive. Also co-starring with Waters in this film are Betty Compson, Arthur Lake and Joe E. Brown. In the second half of the clip, Ms.Waters is accompanied by The Four Emperors of Harmony.


Harlem renaissance-Music/Dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8NAhfhWnnE


'Am I Blue' - Ethel Waters - 1929
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xELXrF9efaQ
The divine Ethel Waters sings her signature song 'Am I Blue'. This is from the 1929 film 'On With The Show'. This film was originally shot in 2 part Technicolor - now sadly lost with only a b&w print surviving. Try and imagine how great this number would have been in colour. Also seen in the cut-away shots is comedienne Louise Fazenda.


Ethel Waters - What Did I Do To Be So Black And Blue (1930) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ELb0dQiV5w


Ethel Waters (Oct.31,1896(1900?) - Sept.1,1977) was an American blues and jazz vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, rock and roll and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues. She was the second African American ever nominated for an Academy Award.


'Birmingham Bertha' Ethel Waters, 1929
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I1RUM3L_Tc


The unmissable, unforgettable and totally lovely Ethel Waters sings 'Birmingham Bertha' from the 1929 film 'On With The Show'. With her is the legendary dancer John Bubbles (John William Sublett), one half of the famous duo 'Buck & Bubbles'. Sheer magic.
Note: 'On With The Show' was originally shot in 2 part Technicolor - now sadly lost and only a b&w version remains. This clip would have looked fabulous in colour especially with Ethel Waters' marvellous feather hat. Sigh!



Taking A Chance On Love - Ethel Waters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue_jOJ8GfhI

From the film
CABIN IN THE SKY,1943
Performed by Ethel Waters with Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
Music ~ Vernon Duke
Lyrics ~ John LaTouche & Ted Fetter


ETHEL WATERS vs LENA HORNE: Stormy Weather - Original vs. Imitation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97T_lLDONoA


Duke Ellington - Black And Tan Fantasy 1929 Arthur Whetsol plays the jungle style trumpet solos!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy4CL2L0ono

Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 1929.
Black And Tan Fantasy.
Black Beauty
Cotton Club Stomp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPFBMPs5nqEDuke Ellington: "Take the A Train
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb2w2m1JmCY


Mood indigo - Duke Ellington https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GohBkHaHap8


Dorothy Dandridge / Nicholas Brothers / Chattanooga Choo Choo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMR3OnbmWkA


A Jig In The Jungle - Dorothy Dandridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UWeLF4OVU4


Dorothy Dandridge ''My Heart Belonga to Daddy'' 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CXuNpZJ-YI

Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong - New Orleans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4jU8IQK5b0


Louis Armstrong in Copenhagen (1933)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZvqvNYJmC4

Louis Armstrong,,The Cotton Club 1945
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdz0mBXjLAU

Harlem Renaissance and Paris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGJ9x_PK_pY

Dr. Richard A. Long speaks about the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, which has been the subject of much discussion and reflection over the past three decades. One of the most important aspects of the Harlem Renaissance was the connection to Paris, France.

The Cotton Club (1984) Trailer (Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ClM5VK3gSw


1920s Hot Hot Hot Dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUfVnrdn1ps

The 1920s was the source of many of today's popular dance styles, such as the Foxtrot, Quickstep and Charleston. Here is some polite white dance and some very hot black and white dance. Most of the early jazz records are marked Foxtrot. In fact the fast foxtrot became the Quickstep, and the slower version retained the name Foxtrot. The Charleston was a major development, along with the Blackbottom.
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance — modern jazz dance — emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance. Every individual style of jazz dance has roots traceable to one of these two distinct origins. Jazz was a big hit in the early 50's and it is still a well loved style of dance all over the world. Moves Used In Jazz Dance include Jazz Hands, Kicks, Leaps, Sideways Shuffling, Rolled Shoulders, and Turned Knees.