Celebrate the Centennial of Survey Graphic, with with Jeffrey C. Stewart and Black Classic Press, on March 23, 2025, at 6 PM ET. Register Here 

Read Locke’s essay “Harlem,” published in this 1925 issue of Survey Graphic.

Survey Graphic: Harlem, Mecca of the New Negro is an indispensable aid toward gaining a better understanding of the Harlem Renaissance. The contributors to this edition include W.E.B Du Bois, Arthur Schomburg, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen.

Survey Graphic was the very first book published by Black Classic Press, 46 years ago in 1979. Before this, we had only published pamphlets, but I was determined that this would be our first full book. I arranged for the printing and then set off for graduate school at Atlanta University broke, with no money for tuition or to print the book. In fact, I had to borrow money just to purchase my original copy of Survey Graphic from Ronald Rooks, the first Black antique dealer on Baltimore’s Antique Row. But everything fell into place. With the support of the Atlanta University community, I made it through grad school, Ron and I became great friends, and Survey Graphic remains in print to this day.” —Paul Coates

*Survey Graphic was an offshoot of The Survey, a progressive social work and cultural magazine founded in the early 20th century. Each issue was part of a continuous volume, and the page numbers did not reset for each new monthly edition. The Survey Graphic: Harlem, Mecca of the New Negro issue was a special thematic edition, but it still followed the same volume-wide pagination system.