Research the period. The Harlem Renaissance emerged in the years after World War I. Start by studying the great migration of African-Americans from the rural south to the industrial north on a time line. Note how the emerging black middle class acquired more access to education and employment opportunities, but still lacked a cultural identity.
Use a time line to learn about the period right before the Harlem Renaissance to understand context. Identify leaders of the time that helped to make Harlem a black Mecca. The Harlem Renaissance was not just for writers, it also inspired African-American musicians and painters.
Review the contributions of "The Talented Ten." The early part of the Harlem Renaissance was shaped by a group of well-educated black professionals, including Ida B. Wells, Alain Locke and Frances Harper. Read the works of W.E.B. Dubois, the founder of this movement, and study his ideas on racial uplift through the efforts of the Talented Tenth.
Compare the works of contemporary writers who followed the Harlem Renaissance writers. Recognize the new wave of younger writers who have created their own distinctive style. Authors such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker or Louis Henry Gates continue to define black identity.
Purchase an anthology of Harlem Renaissance writings. Look for an authoritative text that contains influential writings of the time, such as "The Miseducation of the Negro" by Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month. "The New Negro" anthology was published in the middle of the Harlem Renaissance and contains some of the period's most representative works.
Explore the literary works of Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison. These prominent writers of the Harlem Renaissance created unique stories detailing their political, social and economic views.
Visit The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to see a wide variety of images and information from this time (see Resources section below). Review biographies of popular writers who flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. Authors such as Claude McKay, Dorothy West, and Morrita Bonner were all celebrated authors of the time whose works have become a part of the American identity.