From Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake’s Shuffle Along to Wallace Thurman’s Harlem to Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, African American writers and musicians redefined the American theater, as did actors Paul Robeson and Rose McClendon on American and international stages. Among the many gifts of the Harlem Renaissance, the movement’s contribution to theater and to American democracy is perhaps the least understood and most important today. Jeffrey C. Stewart introduces us to some of the key players and voices in New York’s vibrant Black theater scene during the 1920s and ’30s in a presentation and conversation with playwright Michael Dinwiddie. 

Other Revisiting the Harlem Renaissance course dates: April 22, April 29, and May 6, 2021.