The Quest for I by Ariel D. Robinson Lyrics

After the reconstructive period following the Civil War, a new age of African Americans and African American literature emerged. The New Negro Movement, commonly known as The Harlem Renaissance, was created by a generation of artists, musicians, and authors--none of which were slaves or former slaves. With the new-found freedoms afforded to them, the artists of 1900-1940 needed to establish an identity for themselves. This timeline explores works from authors that discuss, question, or attempt to establish self-identification as individuals during the New Negro Movement. The declarative theme of this timeline draws on the authors' presence in the early to mid 1900s, and how they decided to choose who they were rather than continue to allow society to determine their being and their worth.


1913-The Apollo Theatre opened in Harlem.

1918-"The Heart of a Woman" was published by Georgia Douglas Johnson

1920-The beginning of the Jazz Era

1923-"Heritage" by Gwendolyn B. Bennett

1924-"The New Negro" is born by Alain Locke

1925-"On Being Young--a Woman--and Colored" by Marita Bonner
"I, Too" by Langston Hughes

1927-"How It Feels to be Colored Me" by Zora Neale Hurston

1934-"I Want to Be African" by Paul Robeson