The black cultural awakening of the 1920s slowed down in the 1930s as the worldwide economic depression diverted people’s attention from cultural to economic matters.
The Great Depression made it harder for artists and writers to earn money. Many of them found it impossible to stay off relief, but for some the Roosevelt administration’s national recovery programs (the New Deal) allowed them to continue working while receiving a check from the government.
The Harlem Renaissance really never ended; it opened the door for talented black artists for generations to come.
