JSRCC Library Course Guides wiki / The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance..."also known at the time as the New Negro Movement, was a blossoming of African American arts and letters c. 1920-1939, centering in Harlem, New York." (MagillOnLiterature Plus database) This handout serves as a guide to research information on the Harlem Renaissance at JSRCC Libraries.

Finding Books:

To look for books available at JSRCC Libraries, you can search the VCCSLinc Library catalog

Sample Subject Key Words to search in catalog:

Harlem Renaissance, Harlem (New York, N.Y.) - intellectual life - 20th century, African Americans in literature, Claude McKay, Arna Bontemps, Richard Wright, James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Alain Locke, Langston Hughes

Browse books by call number: PS153.N5 Also search by specific author's call number.

Selected Books available at JSRCC:

Finding Articles:

You can find articles on criticism and interpretation for specific literary works through the library databases. If you plan to use the databases from off-campus, you will need to login with "My JSRCC" login. For more information see: Off Campus Access.

Academic OneFile
Bloom's Literary Reference Online
JSTOR
Literature Resource Center
MagillOnLiterature Plus
Oxford African American Studies Center
Project Muse

Academic OneFile

Provides millions of full text articles from over 5000 magazines and journals on a wide variety of topics. Includes literary criticism and interpretation articles on specific authors and works.

URL: http://library.cc.va.us/license-bin/linker.plx?galeaone

Search tips:

Try a Basic Search.
Type harlem renaissance in the search window.
Type the author's name in the search window.

Example: langston hughes

Bloom's Literary Reference

Examines lives and works of great world writers throughout history, including information on literary

criticism, biographies, themes, movements, characters, and genres.

URL: http://library.vccs.edu/license-bin/linker.plx?xsrbloom

Search tips:

Try a Basic Search.

Search for a particular work by typing the author's name and/or the title in the search window.
Click on the Overviews and Synopses and/or the Analyses and Criticism tabs to review the results from these categories.

Example: langston hughes and weary blues

JSTOR

A digital archive of full-text journals, including literary journals, with a "moving wall" of 3-5 years, after which current issues are added.

URL: http://library.vccs.edu/license-bin/linker.plx?xsrjstor

Search tips:

Try an Advanced Search.
Type the author's name and the title in the 1st search window. If the title is more than one word, type the title in quotes (" ").

Example: zora neale hurston "dust tracks"

Scroll down to the Limit by: section and checkmark Article from the Type menu.
Scroll down to the Discipline(s) and/or Journal(s) section and checkmark Language & Literature.
Press the <Enter> key or click on the Search button to execute the search.
You can also search by literary movement or theme.

Example: harlem renaissance

Literature Resource Center

Provides access to literary information from a large range of literature reference books,

including biography, bibliography, literary analysis and criticism. Covers most literary time

periods and disciplines worldwide.

URL: http://library.vccs.edu/license-bin/linker.plx?galelitrc

Searches to try:

To find biographical information on a specific author:

Try a Basic Search.
Type the author's name in the search window.
Underneath the search window, select the bullet next to Person-By or About.
Scroll down to the by Content Type: section. Leave the box next to Biographies checkmarked. Uncheck all the other boxes from this section.
Press the <Enter> key or click on the Search button to execute the search.

Example: arna bontemps

To find information on a specific title:

Try a Basic Search.

Type the author's name and work title in the search window.

Scroll down to the Limit Search - By Type:section & checkmark box next to Articles.
Underneath the search window, select the bullet next to Name of Work. Scroll down to the by Content Type: section. Leave Literature Criticism and Topic & Work Overviews boxes checked.

Example: hughes and weary blues

Try a Basic Search.
Type harlem renaissance.
Highlight the bullet for keyword.

MagillOnLiterature Plus

"...contains thousands of editorially reviewed critical essays, biographical records, plot summaries, character profiles, setting discussions,and overviews of important literary

genres, time periods, and national literatures." (EBSCO)

URL: http://library.vccs.edu/license-bin/linker.plx?xsrmagill

Search tips:

Try an Advanced Search.

Type the author's name and title in the 1st search window. Leave the All Fields (w/text) menu as is. If the title is more than one word, type the title in quotes (" ").

Example: hughes AND "weary blues"

Oxford African American Studies Center

Provides access to the three-volume Encyclopedia of African American History 1619-1895, the three-volume Black Women in America, and the highly acclaimed Africana, a five-volume history of the African and African American experience. The Center is also in the process of including contents from the African American National Biography and the Encyclopedia of African American Art and Architecture. In addition, AASC offers other key resources from Oxford's reference program, including the Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature and selected articles from other reference works. (Oxford)

Search to try: harlem renaissance

Project Muse

Provides online access to over 300 high quality humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from 60 scholarly publishers. Full text of most journals are covered from the past 10-15 years. (John Hopkins University Press)

URL: http://library.vccs.edu/license-bin/linker.plx?muse

Try an Advanced Search.
Type the author's name in quotes (" ") in the 1st search window. Leave the All Fields (w/text) menu on the right as is.
Type the title of the work in quotes (" ") in the 2nd search window. Leave the All Fields (w/text) menu on the right as is.

example: "langston hughes" AND "weary blues"

Scroll down to the Limit Search - By Type: section and checkmark the box next to Articles.

If you have the citation of an article, how to obtain the full text?

Check JSRCC Full Text Periodicals List from Serials Solutions

Check local libraries

Use Interlibrary Loan Services

For more information:http://teach.jsr.vccs.edu/library/researchguide/stepthree.htm#ILLarticle

Web Sites:

Drop Me Off in Harlem- Interactive multimedia from the Kennedy Center- presents biographies and images of artists and authors. http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/harlem

“Harlem 1900-1940: An African-American Community” -Online exhibition from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Harlem/

Harlem Renaissance Artist Research Guide (Teacher Guide) from The Kennedy Center/ ArtsEdge. http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2248/2248_harlemvoices_teacherguide.pdf

Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro. A Hypermedia Edition of the March 1925 “Survey Graphic” Harlem Number. Includes: “New Negro” anthology – Alain Locke

“The Making of Harlem” – James Weldon Johnson

“Black Workers and the City” – Charles Johnson

“The Tropics in New York” – W.A. Domingo

http://etext.virginia.edu/harlem/

Selected Poetry of Claude McKay (1889-1948) from Representative Poetry

Online.http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poet/220.html

The Jean Toomer Pages created in honor of 100th birthday celebration.

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/%7Esww/toomer/jean-toomer.html

African Americans in the Visual Arts: A Historical Perspective: The Harlem Renaissance.

http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/aavaahp.htm#harlem

Citing Sources:

To learn how to compile your Works Cited list in MLA, please check:

http://teach.jsr.vccs.edu/library/assistance/citation.htm

  Last updated 5/21/08.

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