The Project Proposal provides an overview of your topic, the research questions you will be asking, and how you expect your paper will advance the scholarship in the field. It should also contain your working hypothesis, which your research will test. The multi-paragraph proposal should address the following:
- Description of your topic and its significance
- A clearly stated, feasible research question
- What historiographical debates, themes, and issues your project engages
- The scope of your proposed project (period and region, state, or city)
Following the proposal, you will include an Annotated Bibliography. The bibl biography must consist of 5 peer-reviewed secondary sources (academic articles or books, not book reviews) and three primary sources. The annotated bibliography should do the following:
- Please provide a summary of the source and its argument.
- Discuss how these sources relate to (support or contradict) other sources in your annotated bibliography.
- Address the historiographical debates with which the authors engage (secondary sources).
- Explain how each source fits into your research. Why did you choose to include these sources in your research? How do they help advance your argument? Do these sources reaffirm or challenge your initial thesis?
Each annotation should be a brief paragraph (approx. 100-125 words). The annotations must be in your own words and not copied from abstracts or the source itself. Complete the bibliography in Chicago Manual Style. B low is a detailed guide for developing an annotated bibliography.
Research Question: How did Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, influence and reflect the African American community’s economic aspirations and cultural dynamics during the Harlem Renaissance era and Black Resistance?
The economic success of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, played a significant role in shaping the cultural landscape of the Harlem Renaissance. Tulsa’s Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street, was a thriving center of African American entrepreneurship and wealth accumulation in the early 20th century[1]. This economic development helped to create a platform for cultural and artistic growth, much like the Renaissance in Harlem[2]. The burning and devastation of Black Wall Street during the June 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre impacted not only the community of Tulsa but the entire African American artistry culture as well[3]. However, due to this vice, the idea of Black Wall Street and the spirit of entrepreneurship of the black culture was channeled to the Harlem Renaissance, especially in the advancement of black drama during this period[4]. In this period, the struggles for economic power and representation affected the patterns of cultural performance in African American society.
During the Renaissance, the economic and cultural exchanges between Black Wall Street and Harlem reflected a broader African American intellectual and artistic development network. Analysis of cultural interactions within the Black Atlantic provides a framework for understanding how ideas and influences flowed between these two centers of African American life[5]. The New Negro art movement in Harlem might have been funded by the entrepreneurial spirit of Black Wall Street might have commissioned or supported. This bond is especially discernible in the sphere of theater, where identifiable forms of African American drama evolved during the period of the Harlem Renaissance. The economic prosperity of black Wall Street probably directly funded and inspired Harlem artists to embrace their heritage defiantly. On the other hand, the burning of Black Wall Street in 1921 provides a sad example of racial hatred and inequality that both cultures experienced, therefore maybe having an impact on the agenda and themes of the art in Harlem.