Calvin Coolidge Hernton (April 28, 1932 – September 30, 2001) was an American sociologist,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, particularly renowned for his 1965 study ''Sex and Racism in America'', which has been described as "a frank look at the role sexual tensions played in the American racial divide, and it helped set the tone for much African-American social criticism over the following decade."

Biography

Hernton was born in

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, United States, on April 28, 1932. He studied at

Talladega College Talladega College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black college in Talladega, Alabama. It is Alabama's oldest private historically black college and offers 17 degree programs. It is accred ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, where he received a B.A. in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

(1954), and at

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

, where he earned a master's degree. In the mid-1950s, he worked as a social worker in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He also gave poetry readings there and co-founded the magazine ''Umbra'', which published a collective of Black writers including

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his Satire, satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known wor ...

and

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

. Hernton subsequently went to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, and worked with the Institute of Phenomenological Studies (1965–69), studying under R. D. Laing. Hernton was active alongside

Obi Egbuna Obi Benue Egbuna (18 July 1938 – 18 January 2014) was a Nigerian-born novelist, playwright and political activist known for leading the Universal Coloured People's Association (UCPA) and being a member of the British Black Panthers, Britis ...

, C. L. R. James and others in the

Antiuniversity of London The Antiuniversity of London was an anti-establishment, alternative education project founded in London in February 1968. Established as a " free university", it was initially based at 49 Rivington Street in Shoreditch; in a Bertrand Russell Pe ...

. Hetnton returned to the US in 1970, and went to

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

as a writer-in-residence, two years later joining the Black Studies department. He was a professor of African-American Studies there until his retirement in 1999."Oberlin College Professor Calvin Hernton to be Honored November 6-8"
press release, October 27, 1998. Oberlin Online. . 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'' (1965), which was translated into several languages, and the ground-breaking ''The Sexual Mountain and Black Women Writers: Adventures in Sex, Literature, and Real Life'' (1987). His poems were also published in ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

'', ''

Evergreen Review ''The Evergreen Review'' is a U.S.-based literary magazine. Its publisher is John Oakes and its editor-in-chief is Dale Peck. The ''Evergreen Review'' was founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 until ...

'' and ''

Black Scholar ''The Black Scholar'' (''TBS'') is a journal founded in California, in 1969, by Robert Chrisman, Nathan Hare, and Allan Ross. It is the third oldest Black studies journal in the US, after the NAACP’s ''The Crisis'' (founded in 1910) and the ...

'', among other places, and on various recordings and were performed in plays on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and on tour. In 2011, the

Chelsea Art Museum The Chelsea Art Museum (CAM) was a contemporary art museum located at 556 West 22nd Street on the corner of Eleventh Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The museum focused on post-war European art. The museum was ...

recreated a performance of ''Black Zero'', a happening staged by

Aldo Tambellini Aldo Tambellini (29 April 1930 – 12 November 2020) was an Italian-American artist. He pioneered electronic intermedia, and was a painter, sculptor, and poet. He died at age 90, in November 2020. Childhood Aldo Tambellini was born in Syracus ...

Group Center In abstract algebra, the center of a group is the set of elements that commute with every element of . It is denoted , from German '' Zentrum,'' meaning ''center''. In set-builder notation, :. The center is a normal subgroup, Z(G)\triangl ...

on several occasions between 1963 and 1965. Sound recordings of Hernton reciting his poetry were accompanied by improvised performances by Ben Morea and

Henry Grimes Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist and violinist. After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music sc ...

."Back In The New York Groove!"
, October 26, 2011; accessed December 10, 2011. Hernton died in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

, at the age of 69.

Bibliography

Fiction * ''Scarecrow'' (novel; 1974) Non-Fiction * ''Sex and Racism in America'' (Doubleday, 1965) * ''White Papers for White Americans'' (Doubleday, 1966) * ''Coming Together: Black Power, White Hatred, and Sexual Hang-ups'' (Doubleday, 1971) * (with

Joseph Berke Joseph H. Berke (January 17, 1939 – January 11, 2021) was an American–born psychotherapist, author and lecturer. Berke studied at Columbia College of Columbia University and graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York ...

) ''The Cannabis Experience: An Interpretative Study of the Effects of Marijuana and Hashish'' (London: Peter Owen, 1974) * ''The Sexual Mountain and Black Women Writers: Adventures in Sex, Literature, and Real Life'' (1987) Poetry * ''The Coming of Chronos to the House of Nightsong: An Epical Narrative of the South'' (Interim Books, 1964) * ''Medicine Man: Collected Poems'' (Reed Cannon & Johnson Publishing, 1976) * ''The Red Crab Gang and Black River Poems'' (Ishmael Reed Publishing Company, 1999) * ''Selected Poems'', edited by David Grundy and Lauri Scheyer (Wesleyan University Press, 2023) Plays * ''Glad to Be Dead'' (1958) * ''Flame'' (1958) * ''The Place'' (1972) *(These plays remain unpublished) Contributions to anthologies * (Poetry) Rosey E. Pool, ed., ''Beyond the Blues: New Poems by American Negroes'' (Hand & Flower Press, 1962) * (Poetry and essay) LeRoi Jones and

Larry Neal Larry Neal or Lawrence Neal (September 5, 1937 – January 6, 1981) was an American writer, poet, critic and academic. He was a notable scholar of African-American theater, well known for his contributions to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s ...

, eds, ''Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing'' (Morrow, 1969)

References

External links

*
"Medicine Man"
by Calvin Hernton, African American Registry
FBI file on Calvin Hernton
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* http://www.pennilesspress.co.uk/NRB/hoodoomojo.htm Review of ''Selected Poems'' by Howard Slater at Penniless Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernton, Calvin C. 1932 births 2001 deaths 20th-century African-American scientists 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets Academics from Tennessee African-American male writers African-American novelists African-American poets African-American sociologists American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male poets American sociologists Fisk University alumni Novelists from Ohio Novelists from Tennessee Oberlin College faculty Talladega College alumni Writers from Chattanooga, Tennessee

Biography

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links