Harlem Renaissance Ladies

Harlem Renaissance Ladies

I chose to attend a presentation called the Harlem Renaissance Ladies

for two reasons. Firstly, because I wanted know more about the Harlem Renaissance Era, and by looking at the summary of their presentation on Moodle, I believed that I was signing up for just that. And secondly also, I believed that I was also signing up for information on underrepresented female artist that were apart of the Renaissance Era. However, the presentation was gave me more insight than expected.

Angelina weld grimke stuck out to me the because she of her sexuality and her literary works. She was a lesbian and she created an excellent play called “Rachel”. When she was a teenager, she used to send letters asking her friend that was a female to marry her. Angelina was a biracial, half white and black, woman. Her father was a respected black man because he went to harvard, and her mother was white. Angelina’s mother abandoned her when she was young, so she was raised by her father. Because of the era she lived in and her father’s rules, she was obligated to suppress her sexuality.

Angelina is best known for her play “Rachel”. It is about lynching and the struggles of colored women raising children in America. This play is the first play ever written, produced

and staged by african americans. It was later promoted as propaganda by the NAACP. Before

Angelina wrote this play she went to college and became a gym teacher and later a literature

teacher. While she was teaching, she composed this play.