The Harlem Renaissance arguably began with the 1925 publication of The New Negro, an anthology edited by Alain Locke. Arnold Rampersad calls The New Negro the Harlem Renaissance’s “definitive text, its bible.” Containing poems, fiction, drama, and music, this book helped define a critical cultural movement.
A Harvard graduate and the first Black recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship (1907), Locke was the Chair of the Philosophy Department at Howard University, and also the faculty advisor for the literary society and magazine, The Stylus. The famous collection of African Art at the Howard Gallery of Art in Childers Hall was started by Locke. Locke was one of the first serious collectors of African art in the United States. In addition, he helped form the campus drama club, The Howard Players. He would teach at the university for over four decades.
Valerie Boyd has written that Locke’s “…role in shepherding the younger generation of writers cannot be diminished.” But she continues, less flatteringly: “With his scrupulously tailored suits, frail frame, high-pitched voice, and brisk pace…Foppish and homosexual, Locke was known to take a special interest in the careers of attractive and intelligent young men like Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes. On the other hand, he was notorious at Howard for warning female students on the first day of class that they would likely receive C’s, regardless of their ability.”
Locke co-founded the Associates in Negro Folk Education, and was the first African American to serve as president of the American Association for Adult Education. A building on the Howard Campus was named in his honor.
Locke is the author of Race Contacts and Interracial Relations (1916), The Negro in America (1933), World View on Race and Democracy (1943), and Diversity Within National Unity (1945). In addition to The New Negro (1925), he edited Plays of Negro Life (1927) and When Peoples Meet: A Study of Race and Culture Contacts (1942).
He is buried in Congressional Cemetery.
The Homes
1326 R St. NW, Washington, DC
Marked by an historic plaque.
1309 R St. NW, Washington, DC
Alain Locke
1326 R St. NW, Washington, DC
Located in Shaw/Logan Circle neighborhood, Northwest - East of Rock Creek
Alain Locke
1309 R St. NW, Washington DC
Located in Shaw/Logan Circle neighborhood, Northwest- West of Rock Creek