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1 / 16 photos Harlem Renaissance Figures
New Orleans native Louis Armstrong moved to New York City in 1924, where he played the clubs and on Broadway, helping to spread the sound of jazz to a larger audience. (Photo by Museum of the City of New York/Getty Images)
Louis Armstrong
A man of many talents (author, politician, journalist, lawyer, songwriter and civil rights acitvist), James Weldon Johnson led the NAACP during the Harlem Renaissance and also wrote "Life Every Voice and Sing," also known as the African-American National Anthem. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)
James Weldon Johnson
Dance legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson brought African-American dance culture into the lives of audiences through his routines on Broadway during the Harlem Renaissance. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
By forming a band, moving to New York City in the early 1920s and playing at exclusively white clubs like the Cotton Club, Duke Ellington impacted the way that Jazz developed as an artform during the Harlem Renaissance. (Photo by Frank Driggs/Frank Driggs Collection/Getty Images)
Duke Ellington
Songstress Marian Anderson made her contralto voice heard as an opera singer who performed at Carnegie Hall in 1928 and at the New York Metropolitan Opera House in the 1930s, the first black performer to ever do so. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)
Marian Anderson
Through his many poems and novels, Langston Hughes shared the idea that black culture should be celebrated to the public in the 1920s. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Langston Hughes
W.E.B. Du Bois, co-founder ot the NAACP, created The Crisis Magazine, which spoke to the injustives that African-Americans faced during the Harlem Renaissance. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
W.E.B. Du Bois
A triple threat while in New York City (singer, actor and political activist), Paul Robeson brought dramatic performances to the forefront in productions such as All God's Chillun Got Wings during the Harlem Renaissance. (1898 - 1976). (Photo by Edward Gooch/Getty Images)
Paul Robeson
Poet Countee Cullen wrote several pieces of poetry during the Harlem Renaissance that shed light on the struggles of African-Americans during the period. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)
Countee Cullen
Billie Holiday moved her career forward into becoming one of the most influential jazz singers in history after performing in the Apollo Theater in Harlem. (Photo by Harry Hammond/V&A Images/Getty Images)
Billie Holiday
Artist Romare Bearden drew caught the attention of the public eye for his portrayals of African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. (Photo by Anthony Barboza/Getty Images)
Romare Bearden
Marcus Garvey wrote a paper called the Negro World during the Harlem Renaissance, which highlighted the accomplishments of African-Americans and the ideas that African-Americans deserved respect. (Getty Images)
Marcus Garvey
A leading female writer during the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston wrote pieces that reflected the culture of African-Americans, including specific dialects and actions. (Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images).
Zora Neale Hurston
Cab Calloway regularly performed at Harlem's segregated Cotton Club during the 1930s, slowly changing the way that African-Americans were seen by the public. (Photo by Gilles Petard/Redferns)
Cab Calloway
Lena Horne performed on the stage of the Cotton Club while still young during the Harlem Renaissance, helping to build the foundation for the woman who would one day become one of the most popular performers in history. (Photo by Roy Morsch/New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images)
Lena Horne
Yet another young songstress got her start in Harlem, this time at the Apollo Theater, and won first prize. Ella Fitzgerald later became known as the "First Lady of Jazz." (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Ella Fitzgerald
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