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Histories and Heresies Engendering the Harlem Renaissance CHERYL A. WALL History i) a written narratiue constituting a continuous methodical record, in order oftime, ofimportant or public euents, especially those connected with a particular country, people, indiuidual, etc. 2) that branch of"knowledge which deals with past euents, as recorded in writings or otherwise ascertained; theformal record 0/the past, especially ofhuman affairs or actions; the study oftheformation and growth 0/communities and nations. Heresy 1)theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition , or held to be contrary, to the "catholic" or orthodox doctrine of the Christian church. 2)by extension, opinion or doctrine in philosophy, politics, science, art, etc. at uariance with those generally accepted as authoritatiue. On March 21, 1924, an elegant dinner took place at the Civic Club, perhaps the fanciest venue in Manhattan that catered to black and white guests. Its host was Charles S. Johnson, the editor ofOpportunity magazine . It was, as he later described it, the "debut ofthe younger school of Negro writers." Most ofthem attended, including Gwendolyn Bennett, Countee Cullen, Längsten Hughes, Alain Locke, Eric Walrond, and Walter White. They were joined by their elders W.E.B. Du Bois, James Weldon Johnson, and Georgia Douglas Johnson. Thus arrayed, they were presented to an audience including many ofthe most distinguished personages in the literary life of the United States. The publishers Frederick Allen of Harper Brothers, Horace Liveright of Boni and Liveright, and Walter Bardett ofScribner's were on hand, as were editors [Meridians:/eminism, race, transnationalism 2001, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 59-76]©2001 by Wesleyan University Press. All rights reserved. 59 ofthe influential journals the Century, theWorldTomorrow, the Nation, and Suruey Graphic. Among the authors attending were playwrights Eugene O'Neill andRidgelyTorrenceand thenovelists ZonaGaleandT. S. Stribling. If, as Charles Johnsonwrote afterward, there had been "no formal, prearranged program," the evening's unwritten agendawas clear. After making prefatory remarks, Johnson presented Locke, the evening's master of ceremonies. Liveright highlighted two books on his current list: Jean Toomer's Cane (held over from the season before and still selling poorly) and Jessie Fauset's newly issued There Is Confusion. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson rose with salutations. Columbia University professor Carl Van Doren delivered the main address, "The Younger Generation of Negro Writers." Finallyafterpresentations byWalterWhite, Montgomery Gregory, and art collectorAlbertBarnes, Locke introduced Jessie Fauset.1 The ironywas that the dinner had supposedly been organized to honor Fausetupon the publication ofherfirstnovel, ThereIsConfusion, whichwas after Cane, the earliest book-length work offiction ofthe Harlem Renaissance . Or so, Fausetthought. When herturn finallycame to speak, Fauset briefly thanked her friends for their assistance, and after singling out Dr. Du Bois as her "best friend and severest critic," she sat down. Years later, in a private letter to Locke, she vented the rage her good manners compelled her at the time to conceal. Accusing him ofgoing out ofhis way to tell even her own brother that the dinner had not been for her, she fumed that she "still remember[ed] the consummate cleverness with which you that night as toastmaster strove to keep speech and comment away from the person for whom the occasion was meant."2 In The Harlem Renaissance in Black and White, George Hutchinson quotes from letters thatLocke exchanged with CharlesJohnson thatwould probablynothave alleviated hersuspicions. Locke "wanted to be sure the event was not to feature Jessie Fauset. Johnson reassured him: 'The matter has never rested in my mind as something exclusively for Miss Fauset or anybodyelse . The real motive forgettingthis group togetheris to presentthis newer school ofwriters. There seems to be insistence on getting you to assume the leading role for the movement. I regard you as a sortof'Dean' ofthis youngergroup.'"3Johnson clearlyknew how to couch an appeal to a professor. To be sure, Locke was well qualified both academically and intellectually to assume the mande ofleadership. His academic credentials were sterling: after graduating from Harvard, Locke received a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford; subsequendy, he studied philosophy, 60 CHERYL A. WALL Greek, and modern literature at the University ofBerlin and the Collège de France in Paris. Perhaps more important, he was attuned to the main...

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