Answer: She was appointed the first director of the Harlem Community Art Center and was commissioned by the New York World's Fair of 1939 to create a sculpture symbolizing the musical contributions of African Americans. Negro spirituals and hymns were the forms Savage decided to symbolize in The Harp.
The Harp was symbolic in representing the desire to rise as a community, together. So, the central theme in the poem is that all American citizens should raise their voices and sing together like one big united family to honor freedom.
