How are library databases different from Google?
Using a library database, either from Wayne State University libraries or MEL, will give you access to published articles and entries from reference books, written by scholars and expert researchers, that you cannot get on the open web through a search from Google.
Wayne State University Library Databases
- African American Experience This link opens in a new windowFind essays written by scholars and experts on topics and people, journal articles from scholarly publications and primary sources like photographs and letters. Browse World War I to the Great Depression to find the Topic Center on the Harlem Renaissance.
- Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new windowSearch several published encyclopedia entries on topics related to the Harlem Renaissance. Search by topic or artist. Your search results will include information entries from the Encyclopedia of African American History, Black Women in America, African American National Biography.
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new windowThis is a library database that contains articles from scholarly journals and popular magazines, ebooks and ebook chapters, reports and other resources. Use ProQuest Central to search for social issues related to the Harlem Renaissance, such as politics, political, race relations, discrimination, social conditions, black culture, activism.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowThis is a good database to search for articles from scholarly journal publications. Use the ADVANCED SEARCH to search "harlem renaissance" and a topic, such as "political aspects" or culture. You can also search for particular authors or works, but make sure you check the ARTICLES box so you don't get book reviews in your search results.
Books from WSU Libraries
If you have a Detroit Public Library card, you can go to a branch of the Detroit Public Library, and ask for a MI Library Card sticker for your Detroit Public Library card.
When you have a MI Library Card sticker on your Detroit Public Library card, you can use that card to check out books from the Wayne State University library. Make sure you also bring picture or school ID with you, along with your Detroit Public Library card with the MI Library Card sticker on it.
- Catalog search: Harlem RenaissanceSearch results for a subject search on Harlem Renaissance; included are print books, e-books and videos in the WSU libraries
Women Artists of the Harlem Renaissance by
Women artists of the Harlem Renaissance dealt with issues that were unique to both their gender and their race. They experienced racial prejudice, which limited their ability to obtain training and to be taken seriously as working artists. They also encountered prevailing sexism, often an even more serious barrier. Including seventy-two black and white illustrations, this book chronicles the challenges of women artists, who are in some cases unknown to the general public, and places their achievements in the artistic and cultural context of early twentieth-century America. Contributors to this first book on the women artists of the Harlem Renaissance proclaim the legacy of Edmonia Lewis, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Augusta Savage, Selma Burke, Elizabeth Prophet, Lois Maillou Jones, Elizabeth Catlett, and many other painters, sculptors, and printmakers. In a time of more rigid gender roles, women artists faced the added struggle of raising families and attempting to gain support and encouragement from their often-reluctant spouses in order to pursue their art. They also confronted the challenge of convincing their fellow male artists that they, too, should be seen as important contributors to the artistic innovation of the era.
Call Number: E-book (Online)ISBN: 9781628460339Publication Date: 2014-08-04
The Harlem Renaissance Revisited by
This volume provides new historical and literary insights into the Harlem Renaissance, returning attention to it not only as a broad expression of artistic work but also as a movement that found catharsis in art and hope in resistance. By examining such major figures of the era as Jessie Fauset, Paul Robeson, and Zora Neale Hurston, the contributors reframe our understanding of the interplay of art, politics, culture, and society in 1920s Harlem. The fourteen essays explore the meaning and power of Harlem theater, literature, and art during the period; probe how understanding of racial, provincial, and gender identities originated and evolved; and reexamine the sociopolitical contexts of this extraordinary black creative class. Delving into these topics anew, The Harlem Renaissance Revisited reconsiders the national and international connections of the movement and how it challenged clich#65533;d interpretations of sexuality, gender, race, and class. The contributors show how those who played an integral role in shattering stereotypes about black creativity pointed the way toward real freedom in the United States, in turn sowing some of the seeds of the Black Power movement. A fascinating chapter in the history of the African American experience and New York City, the cultural flowering of the Harlem Renaissance reverberates today. This thought-provoking combination of social history and intellectual art criticism opens this powerful moment in history to renewed and dynamic interpretation and sharper discussion.
Call Number: E 185.89 .I56 H37 2010 (UGL)ISBN: 9780801894602Publication Date: 2010-05-28
Portraits of the New Negro Woman by
Of all the images to arise from the Harlem Renaissance, the most thought-provoking were those of the mulatta. This title investigates the visual and literary images of black femininity that occurred between the two world wars. It highlights the centrality of the mulatta by examining arguments about race in the Harlem Renaissance.
Call Number: PS 153 .N5 S49 2007 (UGL)ISBN: 9780813539768Publication Date: 2007-01-29
Montage of a Dream by
Over a forty-six-year career, Langston Hughes experimented with black folk expressive culture, creating an enduring body of extraordinary imaginative and critical writing. Riding the crest of African American creative energy from the Harlem Renaissance to the onset of Black Power, he commanded an artistic prowess that survives in the legacy he bequeathed to a younger generation of writers, including award winners Alice Walker, Paule Marshall, and Amiri Baraka. Montage of a Dream extends and deepens previous scholarship, multiplying the ways in which Hughes's diverse body of writing can be explored. The contributors, including such distinguished scholars as Steven Tracy, Trudier Harris, Juda Bennett, Lorenzo Thomas, and Christopher C. De Santis, carefully reexamine the significance of his work and life for their continuing relevance to American, African American, and diasporic literatures and cultures. Probing anew among Hughes's fiction, biographies, poetry, drama, essays, and other writings, the contributors assert fresh perspectives on the often overlooked "Luani of the Jungles" and Black Magic and offer insightful rereadings of such familiar pieces as "Cora Unashamed," "Slave on the Block," and Not without Laughter. In addition to analyzing specific works, the contributors astutely consider subjects either lightly explored by or unavailable to earlier scholars, including dance, queer studies, black masculinity, and children's literature. Some investigate Hughes's use of religious themes and his passion for the blues as the fabric of black art and life; others ponder more vexing questions such as Hughes's sexuality and his relationship with his mother, as revealed in the letters she sent him in the last decade of her life. Montage of a Dream richly captures the power of one man's art to imagine an America holding fast to its ideals while forging unity out of its cultural diversity. By showing that Langston Hughes continues to speak to the fundamentals of human nature, this comprehensive reconsideration invites a renewed appreciation of Hughes's work--and encourages new readers to discover his enduring relevance as they seek to understand the world in which we all live.
Call Number: E-book (Online)ISBN: 9780826217165Publication Date: 2007-05-18
MeL Databases
The following databases are available through the Michigan Electronic Library (Mel). If you go directly to mel.org and click on Databases, you will be able to see all of the database resources available to you through MeL because you are a Michigan resident. You can access these from home, school, the library--wherever there is an internet connection. These are great for all of your school research assignments!
- Academic OneFileA good place to find articles published in scholarly journals and magazines.
Try searches like
"harlem renaissance" AND prosperity
"new negro" AND politics
"civil rights movement"
When you get your search results page, scroll down to the TOPIC FINDER on the right side of the page to explore the topic. - Britannica High SchoolBackground articles on the movement and people involved in the Harlem Renaissance
- E-booksA series of e-Books on the Harlem Renaissance
- Gale Virtual Reference LibraryBackground articles on the Harlem Renaissance and people associated with the movement
Internet Resources
Harlem Renaissance
- Digital Harlem: Everyday Life 1915-1930Digital representation of Harlem and the lives of everyday African Americans during the years 1915-1930
- Harlem, 1900-1940From the Schomburg Center at the New York Public Library:
"This exhibition presents various elements of the history of the urban experience in Harlem's early days as the Cultural Capital of African Americans. " - Primary Sources from the Library of CongressDigitized photographs and documents related to the Harlem Renaissance
Civil Rights Era and Civil Rights Movement
- Civil Rights Act (Library Guide)This library guide was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. It includes links to excellent web collections, such as from the Library of Congress, videos, and library databases.
- The Civil Rights MovementAn online exhibition with photos and essays, produced by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library
- The Civil Rights EraFrom the Library of Congress, this display offers information and primary sources on the Civil Rights Movement
- Civil Rights Digital LibraryFrom the State Library of Georgia, a collection of significant primary source documents from the Civil Rights movement
- DPLA (Digital Public Library of America)A vast repository of digitized primary source materials related to all aspects of American life and culture
Visiting the Wayne State University Libraries
- Licensed Resource TerminalsThe libraries have 2 computer terminals in the Purdy Library designated for use by non-Wayne State University affiliates for the sole purpose of accessing WSULS licensed resources. Select the link for more information about these terminals and access.
- Guest Printing and CopyingGuest printing is accessed by a Guest Card. Guest Cards can be purchased from any OneCard Cash Deposit Machine for $1.00 and loaded with funds at the machine. Cost to print or copy is 11 cents per page (black & white printing).
- Food and Drink PoliciesGenerally, food is only allowed in a restricted area in the Undergraduate Library. Capped beverages are allowed at tables and open spaces. No drinks (or food) allowed at any library computer workstations.
- Standards of BehaviorAll guest of Wayne State University are expected to follow the posted Standards of Behavior.