Locke, Alain

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Alain Locke

Born September 13, 1886

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Died June 10, 1954

American philosopher, educator, editor, and writer

"All of us probably expected too much of the Negro Renaissance, but its new vitality of independence, pride, and self-respect, its scoff and defiance of prejudice and limitations were so welcome and heartening."

The most memorable achievements of the Harlem Renaissance did not just spring into life by magic. The movement's young writers and artists were nurtured and encouraged by a number of older figures, the most important of whom was writer-educator Alain Locke. A highly educated philosophy professor with a passionate dedication to both preserving African American culture and encouraging bold new art, Locke served as a kind of midwife (someone who aids in the birthing process) of the Harlem Renaissance. Through his work as a writer and editor—especially of the influential anthology The New Negro: An Interpretation—he also served as a proud voice explaining to a broad audience the background and aims of the Harlem Renaissance.

Parents instilled early values

Locke was the descendent of a family of educated, free African Americans (they had been freed from slavery even before the end of the Civil War [1861–65]) who had been living for several generations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were part of the black community referred to as the "O.P." ("Old Philadelpha" families). His grandfather, Ishmael Locke, had been an educator and school administrator, and his father, Pliny, had earned a law degree at Howard University (the nation's leading black college) and taught at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy (pronounced PEDD-uh-GOE-jee; the profession of teaching).

Locke's mother, Mary, a teacher at the Philadelphia Institute for Colored Youth, encouraged her only child to appreciate literature, to study piano and violin, and to practice good manners. Although they were not wealthy, the Lockes were members of a comfortably middle-class black community, and they always stressed the values of education and good behavior. Later in life Locke would describe his family's properness through the image of his grandmother wearing a sunbonnet and gloves to hang laundry.

A slight-statured, book-loving, intelligent boy who often suffered from ill health, Locke excelled at his studies early on. He graduated second in his class from Philadelphia's Central High School and first in his class from the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy. Locke entered Harvard University in 1904, where he developed an interest in philosophy and studied under American philosopher William James (1842–1910), whose ideas about the benefits of living in a pluralistic society (one that recognizes the value of all the different groups of which it's made) influenced his own thinking.

An outstanding student of philosophy

In 1907 Locke graduated from Harvard with high honors and a bachelor's degree in English and philosophy. That same year he became the first African American—and the last for the next sixty years—to be chosen as a Rhodes scholar, a program that allows outstanding graduates the chance to attend England's elite Oxford University. From 1907 to 1910 Locke studied at Oxford, where he experienced racism and felt isolated until he became friendly with a group of African students. He was known as a very intellectual, studious person with a warm personality, a good sense of humor, and an elegant way of dressing.

After leaving Oxford, Locke went to Germany's University of Berlin for a year of study in philosophy, then to Paris for another year at the College de France. For the rest of his life Locke would make frequent visits to Europe. He maintained a deep love of European culture that existed alongside his appreciation for African American traditions.

Returning to the United States in 1912, Locke spent six months traveling around the southern states, looking for a job in a black university. A white person with Locke's impressive record and credentials would have been hired quickly by any leading white institution, but Locke's race limited his opportunities. During his travels throughout the South, he witnessed more hostility toward blacks than he ever had in Philadelphia or Europe, and he also grew even more interested in the dynamic cultural expressions of African Americans.

In 1912 Locke became an assistant professor of English and an instructor in philosophy and education at Washington, D.C.'s Howard University, where he would remain employed (except for a short period in the late 1920s) for the next forty years. He took a very active role in educating his students about their heritage, while simultaneously stressing the value of learning about Western European culture and languages.

Although Locke's obvious brilliance and great energy made him popular with students, he could sometimes be over-bearing and rather straitlaced. He did, however, encourage his students to express themselves freely, and in 1916 he founded a literary magazine called Stylus so that students would have a place to publish their work. Locke returned to Harvard that same year to work on his doctoral dissertation (which centered on the idea that values are not absolute but shaped by an individual's cultural background and surroundings), and he earned his Ph.D. in 1918. He was the first African American to receive a doctoral degree in philosophy from Harvard.

Recognizes black talent

As the 1920s began, Locke was among the first to sense a shift in how African Americans felt about themselves and about their role in American society. His work as an educator had brought him into contact with many talented young people, and he sensed that a cultural blossoming was under way. Locke made frequent visits to Harlem, where he would often be seen walking quickly along in an elegant suit, always carrying a tightly furled umbrella. He became a friend and supporter of many of the young writers and artists who were in New York in search of like-minded people and material success. Among those who would, over the years, benefit from Locke's influence and support were: poets Langston Hughes (1902–1967; see biographical entry) and Countee Cullen (1903–1946; see biographical entry); short story writers Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960; see biographical entry) and Rudolph Fisher (1897–1934); novelist Jean Toomer (1894–1967; see biographical entry); and classical singer Roland Hayes (1887–1977).

Meanwhile, Locke was still teaching at Howard University, where he stirred up controversy by pushing administrators to offer courses on race relations and to establish a national black theater. This tension led to Locke's dismissal from Howard in 1924, soon after his return from a sabbatical (a period of study that is usually spent away from a professor's university) in North Africa. Locke would return to Howard in 1928, but for these few years he had the time and freedom to devote himself to the Harlem Renaissance.

As a shining example of the Talented Tenth (black leader W.E.B. Du Bois's term for the upper crust of African American society), Locke shared their conviction that African Americans could promote racial progress through their abilities and accomplishments. Unlike Du Bois, however, Locke felt that black writers and artists could help their race most by producing a broad spectrum of high-quality art, not just works that cast a positive light on African Americans. He also believed passionately that the richest sources for inspiration lay in the African American folk tradition—the treasure trove of stories and music that blacks had produced during their several centuries in the United States.

Through articles written for various publications, anthologies of black literature he edited, and his own complex network of personal connections—especially with wealthy or influential whites who were interested in African American culture—Locke served as a kind of talent or press agent for the younger generation of Harlem Renaissance writers, actors, musicians, and visual artists. Always on the lookout for new talent, he gave his young friends advice on how to further their careers, and he introduced them to people who could help them reach their goals. Most important, though, was Locke's role as the editor of The New Negro anthology.

The New Negro: The core of the Harlem Renaissance

Considered one of the most important books published during—and about—the Harlem Renaissance, The New Negro: An Interpretation had its start at a special dinner organized by Opportunity editor Charles S. Johnson (1893–1956; see Chapter 2). Supposedly planned as a celebration to mark the publication of Jessie Redmon Fauset's (1882–1961; see biographical entry) first novel, There Is Confusion, the dinner held at New York's downtown Civic Club on March 21, 1924, was really a way to introduce new talents like Jean Toomer and Countee Cullen to the white publishers and patrons who could help bring them recognition.

Among those in attendance was Paul Kellogg, editor of the Survey Graphic magazine, who wanted to put together a special issue showcasing the work of African American writers and artists. Kellogg asked Locke to edit the issue, which was to "express the progressive spirit of contemporary Negro life," and Locke accepted the assignment with enthusiasm. Published in March 1925, the result was a collection of poems, stories, essays, and art by thirty-four contributors (four of them white, the rest black) that blended African American folk influences with modern voices. The public's response was overwhelming. The issue was the most popular in the Survey Graphic's history, with an estimated readership of forty thousand; it had to be reprinted twice. By the end of the year the publishing company of Albert and Charles Boni had put out a bound, expanded version of the Survey Graphic issue under the name The New Negro: An Interpretation. This anthology still stands as the clearest expression of the ideas that lay at the core of the Harlem Renaissance, ideas that were described by Locke in his introduction to the volume and in the four essays he contributed.

Locke's introduction announced the arrival of a "New Negro" and a bold, confident new stage in African American history. Just as the circumstances of so many blacks had been changed by the migration from the South to the North and the shift from rural to urban life, ideas about what black people were like and what they could do also had to change. Old stereotypes were being destroyed, and African Americans were beginning to take their rightful place in American society. They would no longer accept the view of themselves as a "problem," but would instead take pride in themselves and be full participants in their nation's democracy.

This would be achieved, Locke asserted, through "the revaluation by white and black alike of the Negro in terms of his artistic endowments and cultural contributions, past and prospective." Locke grandly predicted that this exciting young generation of black writers and artists would serve as "the advance guard of the African peoples in their contact with twentieth century civilization," and he said that all of this was happening in Harlem, "the laboratory of a great race-welding," where blacks from all parts of the world came together to do great things.

Although the significance and value of The New Negro anthology was immediately recognized, its promises were not so easily or so quickly realized. As the 1920s drew to a close, the Harlem Renaissance was also winding down. Locke returned to Howard University in 1928 and began to devote more of his time to his teaching responsibilities than to his friends in Harlem. The next year saw the American stock market crash and resulting economic decline that marked the beginning of the Great Depression (the period of economic hardship and widespread unemployment that lasted from the stock market crash of 1929 until 1941, when the United States entered World War II [1939–45]). The hoped-for improvement in race relations and in the status of blacks through artistic achievement had not come about, and African Americans had many decades of struggle still ahead. In an article in Phylon in 1950, Locke noted, "All of us probably expected too much of the Negro Renaissance, but its new vitality of independence, pride, and self-respect, its scoff and defiance of prejudice and limitations were so welcome and heartening."

After the Harlem Renaissance

During the remaining decades of his life, Locke maintained his position as a leading black scholar and thinker. He continued to write critical essays and, until 1942, edited an annual review of black literature for Opportunity. He served as a visiting professor at the universities of Wisconsin and California and the City College of New York, lectured across the United States and throughout Latin American, traveled to Europe and Africa, and served on various editorial boards. In 1933 Locke was commissioned by the American Association of Adult Education (AAAE) to evaluate adult education centers in Harlem and Atlanta, and in response to the lack of attention to black issues he found there, he established the Association of Negro Folk Education (ANFE) in 1935. Locke was elected president of the AAAE in 1945.

In 1951 Locke received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to produce a work summarizing his studies of African American culture. His work on this project was interrupted when he was hospitalized for a heart ailment. He retired from Howard University in 1953 and moved to New York City. Locke's health then declined steadily, and he died in June of 1954. His colleague Mary Just Butcher finished his final book, The Negro in American Culture, which was published in 1956.