“The Harlem Little Theatre Movement, 1920-1929”

“The Harlem Little Theatre Movement, 1920-1929”

John G. Monroe

1983-12-01

In The Color Purple, Nettie writes to Celie about her brief time spent in Harlem, New York City. She describes the fashion, the people, the churches, and the beautiful city lights and the culture all around her. Compared to the oppressive south, Harlem was like a booming city within New York City for African Americans to explore and embrace and celebrate their culture. This article, “The Harlem Little Theatre Movement,” was written in the early 1980’s and focused on the music, dance, and theater culture of the people living in Harlem through the start and end of the 1920’s. It gives a great insight to the types of plays performed, the music used, and the rise and fall of particular theater shows and why, as well as how this decade of black culture theater influenced theater that included and incorporated African Americans in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. Walker, only having the capabilities to a limited amount of resources as she wrote her novel, could have come across an article such as this (as it was in the same time frame, although likely not during the years in which she spent actually writing The Color Purple), to understand the places and attitudes in which her character Nettie would confront as she traveled and wrote to Celie.

Caitlin Wordham

"The Harlem Little Theatre Movement, 19201929." Journal Of American Culture (01911813) 6.4 (1983): 63-70. Humanities International Complete. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

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