Brother Noble Sissle, along with Eubie Blake, produced the first Black-owned and operated Broadway musical. many of the outstanding figures were Alpha men. Phi Beta Sigma could claim Alain L. Locke and James Weldon Johnson; Zeta Phi Beta listed Zora Neale Hurston as one of its members; Jessie Fauset was a member of Delta Sigma Theta; Langston Hughes was an Omega and Arthur Schomburg was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. But the list of Alphas associated with the Harlem Renaissance is distinguished by its length as well as the outstanding contributions of its members. The following is a list of Alpha men and the contributions which they made to this significant cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance: W. E. B. DuBois — From 1910 to 1934, edited the Crisis Magazine, the official organ of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Within its pages he encouraged young writers by publishing their works and awarded prizes through contests to motivate and encourage creativity. An outstanding thinker, he may have been at the forefront of the movement with the publication of his Souls of Black Folk in 1903 which inspired many younger Blacks to write. Charles S. Johnson — Sociologist and editor of Opportunity Magazine, the official organ of the National Urban League from 1923-1929. He became the first Black president of Fisk University in 1947, but only after he had midwifed the Harlem Renaissance into existence. Zora Neale Hurston, in her Dust Tracks On The Road, writes that Charles S. Johnson, through his Opportunity awards and dinners which brought writers and publishers together, did more to make the Renaissance a reality than any other single individual. Countee Cullen — One of the most celebrated poets of the period. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, won The Sphinx / Spring 1979
numerous prizes including the Bynner Poetry Prize, the Spingarn Award, the Harmon Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His best known works include collections of poems entitled Color, Copper Sun, Caroling Dusk, which he edited, and one novel, One Way to Heaven. Harold Jackman — Associate Editor of Challenge Magazine and Contributing Editor to Phylon Magazine. His talents lay in the area of assisting young artists and Negro art, in general, to become better known and respected. He traveled abroad and told the story of Harlem's great surge of literary creativity to audiences in both London and Paris. A close friend of Countee Cullen, he initiated the Countee Cullen Collection of the Trevor Arnett Library at Atlanta University. Noble Sissle — Along with Eubie Blake, was responsible for the first smash Broadway musical produced, written, directed and staged by Blacks. Shuffle Along, which opened in 1921 at the 63rd Street Theater was the theatrical sensation of the 1920's. This musical, which ran for nine months, moved the cause of Blacks in the theater from the roles of comedians to those of respected star performers. Paul Robeson — Singer, actor, lawyer, athlete, political activist. He figured prominently in the movement both as an actor and a singer. He appeared on stage in Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings which was a "first" in terms of interracial casting. Its review was carried on the front page of the New York Times. Later, he became the first Black to star in a Shakesperean role on Broadway. He gave his first recital in Greenwich Village in 1925. By 1929 he had appeared in Carnegie Hall. The Harlem Renaissance came to an abrupt end in 1929 with the crash of the stock market and the accompanying economic malaise in America. Many of the writers and artists left New York to find employment in Black colleges in the South such as Fisk and Atlanta Universities. It was a unique period in American cultural history and although Alpha Phi Alpha was only about 20 years old, its members recorded meritorious contributions to the movement. The desire to "transcend all" manifested itself among the brotherhood of Alpha Phi Alpha — even as early as the Twenties.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brother Perkins, LM 2111, is former Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Southern University, and is presently serving as Deputy Director of the Division of Education Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C. 17