“I'd rather be a lamppost in Harlem than the governor of Georgia.” (Watson 14) Why would such a phrase become the saying among people of color in the early 20th century? In Harlem, New York, before there was a revolution full of art, music and innovation, most blacks were treated with dishonor. It wasn't until the 1920s and 1930s, when the renaissance was at its peak, that white attitudes slowly began to change. W. E. B. Dubois, Langston Hughes, and Shuffle Along were just a few of the established Harlem figures and products that earned title and credibility in the twentieth century. Harlem provided a discrimination-free area where blacks and whites could bond in the arts. The Harlem Renaissance led to an uprising of the black spirit that encouraged the outbreak of the civil rights movement. What was Harlem before its renaissance? Before World War I, before the Civil War, before the Declaration of Independence, before George Washington; New York had been found as a colony. It was discovered by the Dutch and populated by a population of Germans, Irish and Jews. The first African American arrived in Harlem only in 1905. They lived in an apartment at 31 West 133rd Street (Watson 11). Soon after, this area, two square miles in northern Manhattan, became a haven for Southerners, West Indians, and blacks. Harlem has earned the label of the poorest and most crowded area in New York (3 and 4). These early residents left their Victorian-built buildings, tree-lined streets, and the Harlem Opera House, unaware that the village they left would one day become an icon of the civil rights movement (12). Arna Bontemps, an African American poet, described that “The fall of 1924 is… middle of paper… The Harlem Renaissance. Ed. A Haights Cross-Communication. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004.Campbell, Mary Schmidt, et al. Harlem Renaissance Art of Black America. Ed. Carlo Miers. New York: Abradale Press Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987. Haskins, Jim. The Harlem Renaissance. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, 1996. Howes, Kelly King. Harlem Renaissance. Ed. Cristina Slovey. Detroit: UXL, 2001.Martin, Patricia Sullivan. “Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.” Civil rights in the United States. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. United States History in Context. Network. May 11, 2014.Moore, John Hartwell. “NAACP.” Encyclopedia of race and racism. vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 335-342. US history in context. Network. May 11, 2014.Watson, Steven. The Harlem Renaissance: Center of African-American Culture, 1920-1930. First edition. New York: Pantheon Books, 1995.