Rare Books of the Harlem Renaissance

Celebrating Black Heritage

The Harlem Renaissance that peaked during the 1920s and 1930s was one of the most culturally significant movements of twentieth-century America and helped shape the modern landscape of African American history and culture. Join Kennesaw State University's Special Collections Curator JoyEllen Williams for an interactive session exploring literature of the Harlem Renaissance. Through a guided investigation of rare books, periodicals, and ephemera produced during the Harlem Renaissance, attendees will uncover the multifaceted relationships, identities, and passions that undergirded the movement and reveal themselves today through evidence in physical texts. 

The session format will include a presentation and discussion element combined with hands-on engagement with first and early editions of works by Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, Wallace Thurman, Claude McKay, Nella Larsen, Arna Bontemps, and others. Attendees will leave the session with a stronger understanding of the Harlem Renaissance era and how the literature of the Renaissance contributed to the overall goals of this artistic movement. Attendees will also learn how to examine rare and historic books as artifacts using basic bibliographical techniques.  

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