Calvin C. Hernton

Calvin Coolidge Hernton (April 28, 1932 — September 30, 2001)[1] was an American sociologist, poet and author, particularly renowned for his 1965 study Sex and Racism in America.

Biography

Hernton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, on 28 April 1932. He studied at Talladega College in Alabama, where he received a B.A. in sociology (1954), and at Fisk University, where he earned a master's degree. In the mid-1950s, he worked as a social worker in New York City. He also gave poetry readings there and co-founded the magazine Umbra, which published a collective of Black writers including Langston Hughes, Ishmael Reed and Alice Walker. Hernton subsequently went to London and worked with the Institute of Phenomenological Studies (1965–69), studying under R. D. Laing.[2] He was active alongside Obi Egbuna and CLR James in the Antiuniversity of London[3]

He returned to the US in 1970, and went to Oberlin College as a writer in residence and two years later joined the Black Studies department. He was a Professor of African-American Studies there until his retirement in 1999.[4]

Hernton was the author of nine books that reflect his writings as a poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and social scientist, including the bestselling Sex and Racism In America, which was translated into several languages, and the ground-breaking The Sexual Mountain And Black Women Writers: Adventures in Sex, Literature, and Real Life. His poems were also published in Essence, Evergreen Review and Black Scholar, among other places, and on various recordings and were performed in plays on Broadway and on tour.[4]

In 2011 the Chelsea Art Museum recreated a performance of Black Zero, a happening staged by Aldo Tambellini at Group Center on several occasions between 1963 and 1965. Sound recordings of Calvin Hernton reciting his poetry were accompanied by improvised performances by Ben Morea and Henry Grimes.[5]

Hernton died in Oberlin, Ohio, at the age of 69.

Bibliography

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Poetry

References

  1. ↑ According to Black Biography (Answers.com) and Contemporary Authors Online (Gale Research), he died on 1 October 2001. Some sources (Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Contemporary Authors Online) give his birth year as 1934. Curiously, other sources listed within the Oxford Companion to African American Literature give his birth year as June 23, 1933. The inconsistency appears to result from a typo found in the original text of Sex and Racism in America, which listed the incorrect birthday for the author.
  2. ↑ Margalit Fox, "Calvin Hernton, 69, Scholar Of American Race Relations", New York Times, October 10, 2001
  3. ↑ Jakobsen, Jakob (2012), Anti-University of Londin–Antihistory Tabloid, London: MayDay Rooms
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Oberlin College Professor Calvin Hernton to be Honored November 6-8", October 27, 1998.
  5. ↑ Back In The New York Groove! accessed December 10, 2011.

Further reading

External links