Lean’tin L. Bracks is professor of English and African American literature at Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee. She is the author of Writings on Black Women of the Diaspora: History Language and Identity (1997) and African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence (2013).Jessie Carney Smith is dean of the library and William and Camille Cosby Professor in the Humanities at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the author or editor of several notable books including Black Firsts: 4000Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events (3rd ed., 2013) and The Handy African American History Answer Book (2014).

The Harlem Renaissance is a name ascribed to the cultural, social, and artistic mode occurring between 1919 and 1940 that defined many black Americans. While the majority of those engaged in this outpouring of expression were male, there was also considerable female participation. However, most of the scholarship on black women of this period has concentrated on literary or artistic achievements, omitting other contributions that women made. This very fine collection, edited by Bracks and Smith, brings together an array of essayists who focus on their subjects' roles as activists, educators, entrepreneurs, journalists, philanthropists, playwrights, professionals, or entertainers—and, of course, writers. There are more than 200 women profiled, which provides a depth and breadth that no other single monograph has achieved to date, thus rescuing many of these women from obscurity. Alphabetical entries range in length from one paragraph to several pages. The volume includes a chronology and an appendix of entrants' names organized by their various roles. These features, in addition to the bibliographic references, index, and a list of the volume's contributors, make for an arrangement that will be very useful to the researcher. This well-done encyclopedia provides many delightful surprises for anyone researching the Harlem Renaissance. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.

• ForewordHarlem Renaissance Era 1919-1940 TimelineEntriesSourcesIndexAbout the Editors and Contributors

Lean’tin L. Bracks is professor of English and African American literature at Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee. She is the author of Writings on Black Women of the Diaspora: History Language and Identity (1997) and African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence (2013).Jessie Carney Smith is dean of the library and William and Camille Cosby Professor in the Humanities at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the author or editor of several notable books including Black Firsts: 4000Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events (3rd ed., 2013) and The Handy African American History Answer Book (2014).

The Harlem Renaissance is a name ascribed to the cultural, social, and artistic mode occurring between 1919 and 1940 that defined many black Americans. While the majority of those engaged in this outpouring of expression were male, there was also considerable female participation. However, most of the scholarship on black women of this period has concentrated on literary or artistic achievements, omitting other contributions that women made. This very fine collection, edited by Bracks and Smith, brings together an array of essayists who focus on their subjects' roles as activists, educators, entrepreneurs, journalists, philanthropists, playwrights, professionals, or entertainers—and, of course, writers. There are more than 200 women profiled, which provides a depth and breadth that no other single monograph has achieved to date, thus rescuing many of these women from obscurity. Alphabetical entries range in length from one paragraph to several pages. The volume includes a chronology and an appendix of entrants' names organized by their various roles. These features, in addition to the bibliographic references, index, and a list of the volume's contributors, make for an arrangement that will be very useful to the researcher. This well-done encyclopedia provides many delightful surprises for anyone researching the Harlem Renaissance. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.

• ForewordHarlem Renaissance Era 1919-1940 TimelineEntriesSourcesIndexAbout the Editors and Contributors

Lean’tin L. Bracks is professor of English and African American literature at Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee. She is the author of Writings on Black Women of the Diaspora: History Language and Identity (1997) and African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence (2013).Jessie Carney Smith is dean of the library and William and Camille Cosby Professor in the Humanities at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the author or editor of several notable books including Black Firsts: 4000Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events (3rd ed., 2013) and The Handy African American History Answer Book (2014).

The Harlem Renaissance is a name ascribed to the cultural, social, and artistic mode occurring between 1919 and 1940 that defined many black Americans. While the majority of those engaged in this outpouring of expression were male, there was also considerable female participation. However, most of the scholarship on black women of this period has concentrated on literary or artistic achievements, omitting other contributions that women made. This very fine collection, edited by Bracks and Smith, brings together an array of essayists who focus on their subjects' roles as activists, educators, entrepreneurs, journalists, philanthropists, playwrights, professionals, or entertainers—and, of course, writers. There are more than 200 women profiled, which provides a depth and breadth that no other single monograph has achieved to date, thus rescuing many of these women from obscurity. Alphabetical entries range in length from one paragraph to several pages. The volume includes a chronology and an appendix of entrants' names organized by their various roles. These features, in addition to the bibliographic references, index, and a list of the volume's contributors, make for an arrangement that will be very useful to the researcher. This well-done encyclopedia provides many delightful surprises for anyone researching the Harlem Renaissance. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.

• ForewordHarlem Renaissance Era 1919-1940 TimelineEntriesSourcesIndexAbout the Editors and Contributors