Portrait of Jessie Redmon Fauset (April 27, 1882 – April 30, 1961): editor, poet, essayist, novelist and educator
A Harlem Renaissance party: (L-R) Ethel Ray, Langston Hughes, Helen Lanning, Pearl Fisher, Regina Anderson, Rudolf Fisher, Luella Tucker, Clarissa Scott, Luella Tucker, Clarissa Scott, Esther Popel, Hubert Delany, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Marie Johnson, E. Franklin Frazier
Harlem Renaissance books: There is Confusion: Fauset, Color: Cullen, The Weary Blues: Hughes, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man: Johnson, Quicksand: Larsen, Home to Harlem: McKay, The Blacker the Berry: Thurman, God Sends Sundays: Bontemps, Black No More: Schuyler
April NYC event series honors the birthplace of The Harlem Renaissance and the movement’s unsung catalyst: Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961)
NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, April 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — From April 21 to April 29, 2026, The Literary Society presents “The Launch and The Spark: A Celebration of the Harlem Renaissance.” This immersive festival spans Harlem and Greenwich Village. “We are correcting a century-old oversight,” says Lana Turner, organizer and chairperson of The Literary Society. “By returning to the site of the original launch and centering Jessie Redmon Fauset, literary editor of The Crisis magazine and the most prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance, we acknowledge the strategic intellect that redefined American identity.”
While the heart of the Renaissance beat was Harlem, its symbolic “launch” occurred downtown at The Civic Club (14 West 12th Street). On March 21, 1924, a dinner organized by Charles S. Johnson for Fauset’s novel, There Is Confusion, became a seismic event that introduced Black brilliance to the publishing elite. Success led directly to the landmark March 1925 Survey Graphic issue, “Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro.”
Now, 102 years later, this festival honors Fauset, the most important intellectual figure of the Harlem Renaissance, who nurtured the careers of Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay. Her novels are studied for their sophistication and exploration of race, gender, and class in the Black middle class.
Festival events are free and open to the public, except tours and films. Highlights:
April 21: Films Screening — Claude McKay: From Harlem to Marseille and Against the Odds: The Artists of the Harlem Renaissance
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM | Maysles Documentary Center (343 Lenox Ave.)
Details: Against the Odds: The Artists of the Harlem Renaissance + Claude McKay from Harlem to Marseille
https://www.maysles.org/calendar/against-the-odds-fauset-mckay
April 22: Literary Salons Walking Tour & Gospel Concert
Time: 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM | Organized by Harlem One Stop
Led by John Reddick, explore “The Dark Tower,” “The Niggerati Manor” and “Dream Haven” and end at Convent Avenue Baptist Church
Details: Celebration of the Harlem Renaissance: The Literary Salons of 1920s Harlem
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebration-of-the-harlem-renaissance-the-literary-salons-of-1920s-harlem-tickets-1987585386395
April 25: The Bustle of 1920s Harlem Tour
Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Organized by Save Harlem Now!
Led by Mark Satlof, explore the West 130s as the epicenter of music, art, literature, clubs and real estate
Details: The Bustle of 1920s Harlem Tour
https://givebutter.com/the-bustle-of-1920s-harlem-tour-pxnnwg
April 26: Stomp Back to the Savoy! Swing Dance in Honor of Harlem Renaissance Artists and Writers Who Loved to Dance
Time: 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Our Lady of Lourdes, Harlem
Featuring the Chris McBride Band and Eyal Vilner Swing Band
Details: International Jazz Month Celebration: Swing Dance Stomp Back to the Savoy!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-jazz-month-celebration-swing-dance-stomp-back-to-the-savoy-tickets-1987845265701
April 27: Jessie Redmon Fauset Symposium
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM | The Schomburg Center
Scholars Dr. Victoria Chevalier, Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin, Dr. Zoe L. Henry and The Hon. Debra A. James
Details: Symposium: The Life and Work of Jessie Redmon Fauset
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/symposium-the-life-and-work-of-jessie-redmon-fauset-tickets-1987349367456
April 29: Signature Closing — Honoring the Birthplace
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM | The First Presbyterian Church (5th Ave. at West 12th St).
Pulitzer winners Dr. David Levering Lewis and Dr. Jeffrey C. Stewart join Dr. Monica L. Miller to situate Harlem as Mecca; Jessie Redmon Fauset as Spark; and The Civic Club as Landmark; 1920s attire encouraged and there will be a silent communal reading followed by a program of celebration
Details: The Harlem Renaissance: Honoring Roots on West 12th Street
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScc9Tl8rkpPs4pw8Q4SXIU5_GupmlnYWX_5ypFYBZl9F3Fr-A/viewform
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About The Literary Society
Organized in 1982, The Literary Society is a New York City book discussion group based in Harlem, dedicated to the study of the African Diaspora through literature. The Society has gained a reputation for developing public programming to engage broader audiences, such as the 2022 staging of The Wedding Reception: An Artful Imagining of the 1838 Wedding of Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass. (“Is This the Most Notable (Purple) Wedding Dress Ever Worn?” The New York Times)
Amy Winn
on behalf of The Literary Society
+1 404-913-9360
winneditorial@gmail.com
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