UNIVERSITY PARK — A new exhibition about the Harlem Renaissance is on display in the Paterno Reading Room on the second floor of the Pattee Library on the University Park campus. The exhibition, “Defining the New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance a Century Later,” features letters, first edition novels, anthologies, photographs, rare periodicals and artwork surrounding the Harlem Renaissance.
“The Harlem Renaissance (1917–40) signaled a cultural and political rebirth for young Black artists and writers in the United States and across the diaspora,” a press release from Penn State News explained. “‘Defining the New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance a Century Later’ joins exhibitions mounted by cultural organizations like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in commemorating the Harlem Renaissance one hundred years later. Showcasing the literary, artistic and poetic contributions and innovation of Black creatives, this exhibition celebrates the history and legacy of an unforgettable cultural movement.
The exhibition, which features a letter from Langston Hughes, first edition books by Zora Neal Hurston and Claude McKay, artwork by Aaron Douglass, among other items, will be on display until Monday, April 7, 2025.
Yolanda Mackey, a doctoral candidate in English and African American and Diaspora studies whose research is on the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Print Culture, curated the exhibition.
A tour will be offered on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, from 11 to 11:30 a.m. by a curator for a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibition. From 11:30 a.m. to noon, an open house in the Blockson Collection, located on the third floor of Pattee Library, will be held.
For more information about the exhibition or to request a tour, email Clara Drummond, lead curator and exhibitions coordinator, at cjd86@psu.edu.
