Let the Jazz Bands Blare: The Harlem Renaissance Goes to School

Abstract

In March 1924, a party in New York altered the course of African American history. The party, a benefit dinner, was hosted by Charles S. Johnson, a sociologist and editor of Opportunity magazine, one of the central periodicals of the Harlem Renaissance. The purpose of the event was to honor Jessie Fauset both for her work as literary editor of The Crisis—perhaps the single most prominent magazine ever devoted to African American life—and for the publication of her first novel, There is Confusion (1924). The party was held at the Civic Club, the only private club in Manhattan that welcomed both black people and white women. One hundred and ten members of the New York literati—black and white, men and women—showed up to applaud Fauset on her accomplishment. That evening, editors, writers, and publishers celebrated their common belief that a new era of black creativity had commenced. This...