Children's Literature Of The Harlem Renaissance (blacks In The Diaspora)

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The Harlem Renaissance inaugurated a tradition of African American children’s literature, for the movement’s central writers made youth both their subject and audience. W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, Langston Hughes, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, and other Harlem Renaissance figures took an impassioned interest in the literary models offered to children, believing that the "New Negro" would ultimately arise from black youth. As a result, African American children’s literature became a crucial medium through which a disparate community forged bonds of cultural, economic, and aesthetic solidarity. Kate Capshaw Smith explores the period’s vigorous exchange about the nature and identity of black childhood and uncovers the networks of African American philosophers, community activists, schoolteachers, and literary artists who worked together to transmit black history and culture to the next generation.

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Smith,Children's Literature 5/6/04 4:33 PM Children’s Literature of the Harlem Renaissance Page i Smith,Children's Literature 5/6/04 4:33 PM Page ii Blacks in the Diaspora Founding Editors Darlene Clark Hine John McCluskey Jr. David Barry Gaspar Editor Claude A. Clegg III Advisory Board Kim D. Butler Judith A. Byfield Leslie A. Schwalm Tracy Sharpley-Whiting Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis Smith,Children's Literature 5/6/04 4:33 PM Page iii Children’s Literature of the Harlem Renaissance Katharine Capshaw Smith Smith,Children's Literature 5/6/04 4:33 PM Page iv Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Smith, Katharine Capshaw, date Children’s literature of the Harlem Renaissance / Katharine Capshaw Smith. p. cm. — (Blacks in the diaspora) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-253-34443-3 (alk. paper) 1. American literature—African American authors—History and criticism. 2. American literature—New York (State)—New York—History and criticism. 3. Harlem (New York, N.Y.)— Intellectual life—20th century. 4. Children’s literature, American—History and criticism. 5. African American children—Books and reading. 6. African American children in literature. 7. African Americans in literature. 8. Harlem Renaissance. I. Title. II. Series. PS153.N5S62 2004 910.9'9282'0899607307471—dc22 2003025351 1 2 3 4 5 09 08 07 06 05 04 This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders Fax orders Orders by e-mail 800-842-6796 812-855-7931 [email protected] © 2004 by Katharine Capshaw Smith All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Smith,Children's Literature 5/6/04 4:33 PM Page v For Steve, Joseph, and Grace and in loving memory of my father, Frederick W. Capshaw Smith,Children's Literature 5/6/04 4:33 PM Page vi Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xiii Smith,Children's Literature 5/6/0