The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke: The Life of Alain Locke

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Biography Winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Nonfiction A tiny, fastidiously dressed man emerged from Black Philadelphia around the turn of the century to mentor a generation of young artists including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence and call them the New Negro -- the creative African Americans whose art, literature, music, and drama would inspire Black people to greatness. In The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke, Jeffrey C. Stewart offers the definitive biography of the father of the Harlem Renaissance, based on the extant primary sources of his life and on interviews with those who knew him personally. He narrates the education of Locke, including his becoming the first African American Rhodes Scholar and earning a PhD in philosophy at Harvard University, and his long career as a professor at Howard University. Locke also received a cosmopolitan, aesthetic education through his travels in continental Europe, where he came to appreciate the beauty of art and experienced a freedom unknown to him in the United States. And yet he became most closely associated with the flowering of Black culture in Jazz Age America and his promotion of the literary and artistic work of African Americans as the quintessential creations of American modernism. In the process he looked to Africa to find the proud and beautiful roots of the race. Shifting the discussion of race from politics and economics to the arts, he helped establish the idea that Black urban communities could be crucibles of creativity. Stewart explores both Locke's professional and private life, including his relationships with his mother, his friends, and his white patrons, as well as his lifelong search for love as a gay man. Stewart's thought-provoking biography recreates the worlds of this illustrious, enigmatic man who, in promoting the cultural heritage of Black people, became -- in the process -- a New Negro himself. Cover 1 The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 The New Negro 14 PART I. THE EDUCATION OF ALAIN LOCKE 16 1. A Death and a Birth 18 2. A Black Victorian Childhood 28 3. Child God and Black Aesthete 46 4. An Errand of Culture at Harvard College,1904–1905 61 5. Locke’s Intellectual Awakening,1905–1907 86 6. Going for the Rhodes 105 7. Oxford Contrasts 128 8. Back Cosmopolitan 148 9. Paying Second-Year Dues at Oxford,1908–1909 174 10. Italy and America,1909–1910 189 11. Berlin Stories 205 12. Exile’s Returns 222 13. Race Cosmopolitan Comes Home,1911–1912 239 14. Radical Sociologist at Howard University,1912–1916 256 15. Rapprochement and Silence 286 16. Fitting in Washington, D.C.,1917–1922 302 PART II. ENTER THE NEW NEGRO 322 17. Rebirth 324 18. Mother of a Movement, Mothered in Return,1922–1923 345 19. Europe Before Egypt 367 20. Egypt Bound 392 21. Renaissance Self-Fashioning in 1924 408 22. The Dinner and the Dean 421 23. Battling the Barnes 433 24. Looking for Love and Finding the New Negro 444 25. Harlem Issues 466 26. The New Negro and Howard 490 27. The New Negro and The Blacks 517 28. Beauty or Propaganda? 534 29. Black Curator and White Momma 558 30. Langston’s Indian Summer 580 31. The American Scholar 592 32. On Maternalism 612 PART III. METAMORPHOSIS 640 33. The Naked and the Nude 642 34. The Saving Grace of Realism 670 35. Bronze Booklets, Gold Art 682 36. Warn a Brother 707 37. The Riot and the Ride 730 38. Transformation 753 39. Two Trains Running 768 40. The Queer Toussaint 784 41. The Invisible Locke 798 42. FBI, Haiti, and Diasporic Democracy 828 43. Wisdom de Profundis 850 44. The New Negro Lives 877 Epilogue 888 NOTES 892 Chapter 1 892 Chapter 2 892 Chapter 3 893 Chapter 4 894 Chapter 5 895 Chapter 6 896 Chapter 7 897 Chapter 8 897 Chapter 9 898 Chapter 10 899 Chapter 11 899 Chapter 12 900 Chapter 13 901 Chapter 14 901 Chapter 15 903 Chapter 16 903 Chapter 17 904 Chapter 18 905 Chapter 19 905 Chapter 20 906 Chapter 21 907 Chapter 22 907 Chapter 23 908 Chapter 24 908 Chapter 25 909 Chapter 26 910 Chapter 27 911 Chapter 28 912 Chapter 29 913 Chapter 30 914 Chapter 31 915 Chapter 32 916 Chapter 33 917 Chapter 34 918 Chapter 35 919 Chapter 36 920 Chapter 37 920 Chapter 38 921 Chapter 39 922 Chapter 40 922 Chapter 41 923 Chapter 42 924 Chapter 43 924 Chapter 44 925 Epilogue 925 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 926 Manuscript Collections 926 Interviews 926 INDEX 928 Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for BiographyWinner of the 2018 National Book Award for NonfictionA tiny, fastidiously dressed man emerged from Black Philadelphia around the turn of the century to mentor a generation of young artists including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence and call them the New Negro -- the creative African Americans whose art, literature, music, and drama would inspire Black people to greatness.In The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke, Jeffrey C. Stewart offers the definitive biography of the father of the Harlem Renaissance, based on the extant primary sources of his life and on interviews with those who knew him personally. He narrates the education of Locke, including his becoming the first African American Rhodes Scholar and earning a PhD in philosophy at Harvard University, and his long career as a professor at Howard University. Locke also received a cosmopolitan, aesthetic education through his travels in continental Europe, where he came to appreciate the beauty of art and experienced a freedom unknown to him in the United States. And yet he became most closely associated with the flowering of Black culture in Jazz Age America and his promotion of the literary and artistic work of African Americans as the quintessential creations of American modernism. In the process he looked to Africa to find the proud and beautiful roots of the race. Shifting the discussion of race from politics and economics to the arts, he helped establish the idea that Black urban communities could be crucibles of creativity. Stewart explores both Locke's professional and private life, including his relationships with his mother, his friends, and his white patrons, as well as his lifelong search for love as a gay man.Stewart's thought-provoking biography recreates the worlds of this illustrious, enigmatic man who, in promoting the cultural heritage of Black people, became -- in the process -- a New Negro himself. "A tiny, fastidiously dressed man emerged from Black Philadelphia around the turn of the century to mentor a generation of young artists including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence and call them the New Negro--the creative African Americans whose art, literature, music, and drama would inspire Black people to greatness. In "The New Negro : The Life of Alain Locke," Jeffrey C. Stewart offers the definitive biography of the father of the Harlem Renaissance, based on the extant primary sources of his life and on interviews with those who knew him personally. He narrates the education of Locke, including his becoming the first African American Rhodes Scholar and earning a PhD in philosophy at Harvard University, and his long career as a professor at Howard University. Locke also received a cosmopolitan, aesthetic education through his travels in continental Europe, where he came to appreciate the beauty of art and experienced a freedom unknown to him in the United States. And yet he became most closely associated with the flowering of Black culture in Jazz Age America and his promotion of the literary and artistic work of African Americans as the quintessential creations of American modernism. In the process he looked to Africa to find the proud and beautiful roots of the race. Shifting the discussion of race from politics and economics to the arts, he helped establish the idea that Black urban communities could be crucibles of creativity. Stewart explores both Locke's professional and private life, including his relationships with his mother, his friends, and his white patrons, as well as his lifelong search for love as a gay man. Stewart's thought-provoking biography recreates the worlds of this illustrious, enigmatic man who, in promoting the cultural heritage of Black people, became--in the process--a New Negro himself."-- Provided by publisher Section I. The Education of Alain Locke 1. A Death and a Birth 2. A Black Victorian Childhood 3. Child God and Black Aesthete 4. An Errand of Culture at Howard College, 1904-1905 5. Locke's Intellectual Awakening at Harvard, 1905-1907 6. Going for the Rhodes 7. Oxford Contrasts 8. Black Cosmopolitan 9. Paying Second Year Dues at Oxford, 1908-1909 10. Italy and America, 1909-1910 11. Berlin Stories 12. Exile's Return 13. Race Cosmopolitan Comes Home , 1911-1912 14. Radical Sociologist at Howard University, 1912-1916 15. Rapprochement and Silence : Harvard, 1916-1917 16. Fitting in Washington, DC, 1917-1922 Section II. Enter the New Negro 17. Rebirth 18. Mother of a Movement, Mothered in Return, 1922-1923 19. Europe Before Egypt 20. Egypt Bound 21. Renaissance and Self-Fashioning in 1924 22. The Dinner and the Dean 23. Battling the Barnes 24. Looking for Love and Finding the New Negro 25. Harlem Issues 26. The New Negro and Howard 27. The New Negro and The Blacks 28. Beauty or Propaganda? 29. Black Curator and White Momma 30. Langston's Indian Summer 31. The American Scholar 32. On Maternalism Section III. Metamorphosis 33. The Naked and the Nude 34. The Saving Grace of Realism 35. Bronze Booklets, Gold Art 36. Warn A Brother 37. The Riot and the Ride 38. Transformation 39. Two Trains Running 40. The Queer Toussaint 41. The Invisible Locke 42. FBI, Haiti, and Diasporic Democracy 43. Wisdom de Profundis 44. The New Negro Lives Epilogue. The definitive biography of Alain Locke, the first African American Rhodes Scholar and Harvard PhD in philosophy, Howard University philosophy scholar, and architect of the Harlem Renaissance, who mentored a generation of artists including Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Nurston and promoted the work of African Americans as the quintessential creators of American modernism. This biography explores his professional and private life, including his relationships with white patrons and his lifelong search for love as a gay man Alaine Locke rose early on April 23, 1922, a cool, Sunday after Easter in Washington, D.C.