Alain Leroy Locke

@ National Portrait Gallery

Description

In the African American cultural movement of the 1920s known as the Harlem Renaissance, no one played a larger role than Alain Locke. A leading member of the Howard University faculty throughout most of his career, Locke believed that black artists and writers must look to their own heritage for their inspiration and material. In The New Negro, his anthology of essays, fiction, poetry, and art published in 1925, he conveyed that message with a persuasiveness that made the book a shaping influence of the renaissance and, at the same time, convinced many white critics that African American culture was worthy of more serious consideration. In the mid-1930s Locke became involved in producing the "Bronze Booklets," a series that for many years was a basic tool in the teaching of African American history.

Type:

Image

Format:

Photogravure

Rights:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

View Original At:

http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=npg_NPG.83.188.30&repo=DPLA