Between the two world wars, an estimated 3 million African Americans relocated from the American South to Northern cities, among them Detroit, Kansas City, Chicago, and New York—a period often collectively referred to as “The Great Migration.” Black families, eager to find work and provide for themselves away from the oppressive realities of the Jim Crow South, established communities of color within these cities, such as Harlem in upper Manhattan, or Chicago’s South Side, or the Vine Street area in Kansas City. These communities-within-communities became enclaves of Black culture, defined by family, church, and neighbors. 

The Harlem Renaissance, a cultural and artistic movement led by Black artists during the 1920s, was born in one of these communities that grew up in the wake of the Great Migration. Harlem became a hub for African American visual artists, musicians, dancers, playwrights, and authors to create work that inspired a generation of Black creatives and has influenced creative expression in all mediums up to the present day. 

Hughes positions Nancy Lee’s personal artistic journey within the context of this period. As she outlines her acceptance speech for the scholarship, she reflects proudly on her family’s roots, moving from the sparsely populated rural Deep South to this sprawling Northern city knowing no one.