Alain L. Locke: The Biography of a PhilosopherAlain L. Locke (1886-1954), in his famous 1925 anthology TheNew Negro, declared that “the pulse of the Negro world has begun to beat in Harlem.” Often called the father of the Harlem Renaissance, Locke had his finger directly on that pulse, promoting, influencing, and sparring with such figures as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, William Grant Still, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Bunche, and John Dewey. The long-awaited first biography of this extraordinarily gifted philosopher and writer, Alain L. Locke narrates the untold story of his profound impact on twentieth-century America’s cultural and intellectual life. Leonard Harris and Charles Molesworth trace this story through Locke’s Philadelphia upbringing, his undergraduate years at Harvard—where William James helped spark his influential engagement with pragmatism—and his tenure as the first African American Rhodes Scholar. The heart of their narrative illuminates Locke’s heady years in 1920s New York City and his forty-year career at Howard University, where he helped spearhead the adult education movement of the 1930s and wrote on topics ranging from the philosophy of value to the theory of democracy. Harris and Molesworth show that throughout this illustrious career—despite a formal manner that many observers interpreted as elitist or distant—Locke remained a warm and effective teacher and mentor, as well as a fierce champion of literature and art as means of breaking down barriers between communities. The multifaceted portrait that emerges from this engaging account effectively reclaims Locke’s rightful place in the pantheon of America’s most important minds. |
From inside the book
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Page 7
... social opportunities available to African Americans in this relatively liberal Northern city.3 On his maternal side, Locke also descended from educators. His maternal grandmother, Sarah Shorter Hawkins, was, like Ishmael Locke, involved ...
... social opportunities available to African Americans in this relatively liberal Northern city.3 On his maternal side, Locke also descended from educators. His maternal grandmother, Sarah Shorter Hawkins, was, like Ishmael Locke, involved ...
Page 12
... social barriers were breached.11 Although his feelings about many things, not least of all his family background, ran deep, the claims of respectability often led Locke to be selfprotective, with the result that many saw him as remote ...
... social barriers were breached.11 Although his feelings about many things, not least of all his family background, ran deep, the claims of respectability often led Locke to be selfprotective, with the result that many saw him as remote ...
Page 16
... social aspects and values in human experience are inescapably there but are likely to be more than occasionally a source of pollution, even though this very threat, as the surreptitiousness suggests, is to be mediated in socially ...
... social aspects and values in human experience are inescapably there but are likely to be more than occasionally a source of pollution, even though this very threat, as the surreptitiousness suggests, is to be mediated in socially ...
Page 17
... social mediations. These were, needless to say, revolving around issues of race, or even if not about such issues directly, the strategy of mediation often derived from a racial consciousness. This note talks about the question of humor ...
... social mediations. These were, needless to say, revolving around issues of race, or even if not about such issues directly, the strategy of mediation often derived from a racial consciousness. This note talks about the question of humor ...
Page 25
... social consequences: The person who has a father and a grandfather to be proud of will . .. have greater care of his personal conduct than he who has no such ancestry. . . . [T]he extreme of such pride is a haughty overbearing air but ...
... social consequences: The person who has a father and a grandfather to be proud of will . .. have greater care of his personal conduct than he who has no such ancestry. . . . [T]he extreme of such pride is a haughty overbearing air but ...
Contents
1 | |
5 | |
28 | |
3 Oxford and Berlin | 59 |
The Early Years | 107 |
5 Howard and Beyond | 142 |
6 The Renaissance and the New Negro | 179 |
7 After The New Negro | 218 |
Sahdji to the Bronze Booklets | 251 |
9 The Educator at Work and at Large | 285 |
10 Theorizing Democracy | 328 |
11 The Final Years | 358 |
12 Lockes Legacy | 381 |
Notes | 391 |
Index | 419 |
Other editions - View all
Alain L. Locke: The Biography of a Philosopher Leonard Harris,Charles Molesworth No preview available - 2010 |
Alain L. Locke: The Biography of a Philosopher Leonard Harris,Charles Molesworth No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
academic African American African art Alain Locke ALPHU appeared argued argument artistic attitude Berlin Bois’s called Claude McKay College color Cosmopolitan criticism Cullen cultural decades democracy Dickerman early especially essay esthetic eventually experience expression Fauset friends friendship Harlem Renaissance Harvard Howard University Hughes Hughes’s Hurston idea intellectual interest issue Johnson journal Kallen Kellogg Kelly Miller Langston Langston Hughes later lectures letter literary literature Locke felt Locke wrote Locke’s Mary Locke Mason McKay McKay’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center mother Negro art novel one’s Oxford Philadelphia philosophy poems poet poetry political problem published question race racial racism Rhodes Rhodes Scholarship role Sahdji Schomburg School Seme sense social story Survey Graphic talent theory thought tion told Locke took Toomer tradition value theory values Vechten views W. E. B. Du Bois Washington writing year-end reviews York