These life histories were collected and transcribed by the staff of the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1940. The Library of Congress collection includes 2,900 documents representing the work of more than 300 writers from 24 states. The collection includes interviews relating to the Harlem Renaissance entitled "Harlem Rent Parties" and "The Whites Invade Harlem." Search on the word Harlem in order to locate other life histories concerning Harlem.

The black-and-white photographs of the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection are a landmark in the history of documentary photography. The images show Americans at home, at work, and at play, with an emphasis on rural and small-town life and the adverse effects of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and increasing farm mechanization. Search this collection, using the keyword Harlem, to locate photographs related to Harlem.

The collection includes nearly 700 sound recordings, as well as fieldnotes, dust jackets, and other manuscripts documenting a three-month, 6,502-mile trip through the southern United States.

The collection consists of jazz photographs taken by writer-photographer William P. Gottlieb, from 1938 to 1948, the "Golden Age of Jazz" when swing reached its peak and modern jazz developed. Gottlieb's photographs are perhaps the most widely reproduced images of jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Thelonious Monk, Stan Kenton, Ray McKinley, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, and Benny Carter.

The collection consists of 1,395 photographs taken by American photographer Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) between 1932 and 1964. The bulk of the collection consists of portrait photographs of celebrities, including many figures from the Harlem Renaissance.

The collection includes a selection of ten plays written by Hurston (1891-1960), author, anthropologist, and folklorist. The plays reflect Hurston's life experience, travels, and research, especially her study of folklore in the African-American South.