Progressive Era to New Era African American artists, actors, and
writers led the battle against intellectual and artistic bias.
Between the Civil War and World War I, and even during the
deprivations of the Great Depression, there was a great
crescendo of African American artistic expression in the period
known as the "Harlem Renaissance." Paintings, drawings,
classical music, jazz, blues, poetry, novels, plays, and dance
abounded during this era and won world acclaim. People, Places
and Events - Louis Armstrong (1900-1971): Jazz Giant, pioneered
a new style of singing called "scat" - James Baldwin
(1924-1987): Wrote his first and most famous novel, "Go Tell It
on the Mountain" published in 1953 Essayist, and Playwright -
Ralph Bunche (1904-1971): First African American to win the
Nobel Peace Prize Fitzgerald (1918-1996) [See second entry]:
Sang like a saxaphone and mastered a jazz singing technique
called "scat. " (SCROLL TO SECOND ENTRY ON PAGE) - Althea Gibson
(1927-): First African American (male or femal