Early is the editor of several volumes, including This is Where I Came In: Black America in the 1960s (2003); The Sammy Davis, Jr., Reader (2001); The Muhammad Ali Reader (1998); Body Language: Writers on Sport (1998); Speech and Power (1993); Lure and Loathing: Essays on Race, Identity, and the Ambivalence of Assimilation (1993); and My Soul’s High Song: The Collected Works of Countee Cullen (1991). Professor Early is the author of The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture, which won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. Other works are One Nation Under a Groove: Motown and American Culture (1994); Daughters: On Family and Fatherhood (1994); and Tuxedo Junction (1989).
Gerald Early
Professor of English; Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Contact Information
- Phone: 314-935-5576
- Email: glearly@wustl.edu
- Website: Website
Media Contact
In the media
‘3 Shades of Blue’ Review: Miles Davis and Friends
Gerald Early reviews the book “3 Shades of Blue” for the Wall Street Journal.
Black Americans Have Always Had Mixed Feelings About Affirmative Action
Clarence Thomas may speak for more people than we realize, writes Gerald Early.
Can a Vastly Bigger National-Service Program Bring the Country Back Together?
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
World Series highlights the dwindling of Black players in America’s pastime
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
St. Louis to celebrate Juneteenth
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
The Soul of Black Conservatism
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Remembering Bill Danforth
Gerald Early remembers Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth, who died Sept. 16, 2020, with two stories Early recalls with particular fondness. “To say that Bill Danforth was a great man nearly goes without saying and seems a platitude without much meaning. What does it mean to be great, after all?” Early writes.
With BLM now part of MLB culture, a conversation on Cardinals, race and St. Louis
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
The Great Reopening Debate
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Talking All Things Sport, Literature And More With Gerald Early
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Who was Jack Johnson? Five facts about the legendary boxer
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
If Trump pardons Jack Johnson it won’t be for his contribution to black America
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Politics in Sports Is as American as Racism
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
What’s behind the NAACP travel warning for Missouri
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Black Like Me, 50 Years Later
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
‘The Obamas came from a place we all came from’
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
‘The Greatest’ was an icon beyond the world of boxing
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Three facts essential to understanding Muhammad Ali
Gerald Early, professor of English and African and African-American studies, and the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Stories
‘The Dilemma of the Black Republican’
Jackie Robinson’s baseball career is synonymous with Civil Rights advancement. But his life also illuminates a period of dramatic electoral realignment.
Baseball finally integrates its record book
Gerald Early answers what the big deal is about including baseball stats from the Negro Leagues in Major League Baseball records.
Remembering Bill Danforth
To say that Bill Danforth was a great man nearly goes without saying and seems a platitude without much meaning. What does it mean to be great, after all? In taking Bill’s measure, I think about Freedom and Fate, the poles around which all human lives orbit. Most of us keep them in a poor balance, misusing, abusing and wasting our freedom, cursing and railing against our fate. Bill kept such an equipoise of these Lords of our Life, an easy meshing of the exuberance of freedom and the acceptance of Fate.
What’s behind the NAACP travel warning for Missouri
Missouri may be the borderline reality, the psychic edge, emblematic of the deeply divided American mind itself. The shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, at the hands of police in 2014 and the violent disorder that resulted from it seem to have both traumatized and energized those of us who live here, radicalized and retrenched us.
Diversifying the scholarship
Founded in 1969, the African and African-American Studies program at Washington University in St. Louis was among the nation’s first. This spring, the university will mark a new chapter when the program becomes a full department within Arts & Sciences.
Filmmaker Ken Burns to deliver Washington University’s Commencement address May 15
Ken Burns, director and producer of some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, has been selected to give the 2015 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Wrighton made the announcement to the Class of 2015 during the annual senior class toast Thursday, April 2, in the Danforth University Center. Commencement is Friday, May 15.
Introducing The Common Reader
Smart writing on timely topics for the widest possible audience. This is the mission of The Common Reader, a new journal launched this fall by Gerald Early. Early and Managing Editor Ben Fulton discuss The Common Reader, online journalism and the continuing value of ink and paper.
Gerald Early’s remembrances of Maya Angelou
Noted American essayist and culture critic Gerald L. Early, PhD, has fond remembrances of when he introduced Maya Angelou before one of her three speaking engagements at Washington University in St. Louis. She delivered talks in Graham Chapel in 1981, 1984 and 1990.
Gerald Early joins National Council on the Humanities
Gerald Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences, has been appointed to the National Council on the Humanities, the 26-member advisory board to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Early is one of five new members nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Gerald Early’s St. Louis Walk of Fame induction ceremony talk
Gerald L. Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, delivered a talk during his induction ceremony into the St. Louis Walk of Fame April 11 on Delmar Boulevard in The Loop. To read the piece, click here.
Gerald Early gets star on St. Louis Walk of Fame
Professor Gerald L. Early, PhD, an internationally renowned essayist and American culture critic, was recognized with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame during an April 11 induction ceremony in front of the Moonrise Hotel on Delmar Boulevard in The Loop. His brass star and a bronze plaque will be embedded at a later time near the corner of Delmar and Eastgate Avenue after construction is completed on the first phase of WUSTL’s Loop Student Living Initiative.
Gerald Early to get star on St. Louis Walk of Fame
Washington University Professor Gerald L. Early, PhD, a noted essayist and American culture critic, will receive a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in The Loop. An induction ceremony will be at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 11, outside the Moonrise Hotel, 6177 Delmar Blvd. His star will be embedded at a later time near the corner of Delmar and Eastgate Avenue after construction is completed on the first phase of WUSTL’s Loop Student Living Initiative.
Filmmaker Burns to receive WUSTL’s International Humanities Medal
Over the course of 30-plus years and more than 20 documentaries, Ken Burns’ films have illuminated the country’s past and brought history to life through techniques such as first person narration. For these lasting contributions, Burns will receive WUSTL’s International Humanities Medal. The event on Friday, Nov. 16, includes a preview and commentary of his upcoming films.
Massey to deliver the inaugural James E. McLeod Memorial Lecture in Higher Education
Educator, administrator and physicist Walter Massey, PhD, is delivering the inaugural James E. McLeod Memorial Lecture in Higher Education Tuesday, Oct. 2. His lecture, titled “Liberal Arts: The Higgs Boson of Higher Education,” will begin at 4 p.m. in Graham Chapel.
The humanities and public life
What is the state of the humanities? How are they taught, what do they teach us, and how do they serve the public good? Earlier this month, cultural leaders from across the state gathered at the Missouri History Museum to discuss “The Importance of the Humanities and Social Sciences for Public Life.” Convened by WUSTL’s Gerald Early, the meeting was the third in a series of regional forums presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences to convene in St. Louis Sept. 7
Gerald Early, director of the Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, and Leslie Berlowitz, president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, will host the third national meeting of the Academy’s blue-ribbon Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. The event, which will take place at the Missouri History Museum Sept. 7, will feature more than a dozen local arts leaders testifying to the importance of the humanities and social sciences in public life and lifelong learning.
St. Louis Humanities Festival April 13 and 14
In 1990, the Illinois Humanities Council presented a daylong event on the theme “Expressions of Freedom.” So was born the Chicago Humanities Festival, one of the nation’s premiere celebrations of the liberal arts. Now it’s St. Louis’ turn. On April 13 and 14, WUSTL’s Center for the Humanities — with the Missouri Humanities Council, Webster University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis — will present the first annual St. Louis Humanities Festival. One of the speakers is novelist and Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson.
Gerald Early’s ‘A Level Playing Field’ examines the history of race and sports
Remarks made during the recently settled NBA lockout brought the subject of race and sports back into the forefront. Gerald Early’s A Level Playing Field: African American Athletes and the Republic of Sports, is a series of essays that give historical perspective to the issue of race and sports through distinct personalities such as baseball’s Jackie Robinson and Curt Flood and NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb. Early, PhD, is the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
Gerald Early brings a mystery to PBS’ History Detectives
A rare 1950s comic book, titled Negro Romance, that Gerald Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences and director of the Center for the Humanities, bought on Ebay is the focus of a mystery in an upcoming episode of PBS’ History Detectives. Early wants to know: Did black artists create this book? Who was the intended audience? Host Gwendolyn Wright gets the answers. The episode will air locally at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, on Nine PBS. It will be repeated at 1 a.m. Thursday, July 14, and 4 p.m. Sunday, July 17.
Civil rights leader Julian Bond to deliver keynote address
Julian Bond, one of the nation’s most respected civil rights leaders, will deliver the keynote address for the Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship 20th Anniversary Conference and Alumni Reunion March 31- April 1 at Washington University in St. Louis. Bond’s address, titled “Post Racial America: Fact or Fiction?” will be at 11 a.m. Friday, April 1, in Graham Chapel. It is free and open to the public.
Early named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences commission
Gerald L. Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Center for the Humanities, has been named to the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences established by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
‘Race in the Age of Obama’
How have race relations in America evolved since the civil rights movement of the 1960s? Was the election of President Barack Obama a milestone in this regard? Did it truly serve as a turning point in America’s history of racial inequality? Later this month, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Washington University in St. Louis will explore these questions and more with a symposium titled “Race in the Age of Obama.”
Tweaking Twain OK as long as original version still available, WUSTL professor says
Changing words in Mark Twain’s classic book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is fine as long as the original version still is easily available for readers, says Gerald L. Early, PhD. “We change texts all the time,” Early says. “For instance, we make children’s versions of the Bible, Homer and Shakespeare.”
Panel to discuss two new African-American literature anthologies
Three prominent writers will examine “African American Literature Today” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in Hurst Lounge.
“African American Literature Today”
Three prominent writers will examine “African American Literature Today” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in Hurst Lounge. The discussion — sponsored by the African & African-American Studies Program and by the Center for the Humanities, both in Arts & Sciences — will focus on a pair of new anthologies, Best African American Essays 2009 and Best African American Fiction 2009, both published by Bantam Books.
African-American writing showcased in series edited by Gerald Early
Those looking to learn more about President Barack Obama and gain an introduction to African-American writing are advised to check out two new books, “Best African American Fiction: 2009” and “Best African American Essays: 2009.”
African-American writing featured in books edited by Gerald Early
Gerald EarlyThose looking to learn more about president Barack Obama and gain an introduction to African-American writing in the process are advised to check out two new books — “Best African American Fiction: 2009” and “Best African American Essays: 2009.” Edited by Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, the two volumes are the first in the “Best of…” series to exclusively showcase African-American writing. They include writing by and about Obama.
America ready to peg Barry Bonds as “Bad Negro,” says WUSTL essayist Gerald Early
Gerald EarlyWhile baseball purists may be poised to place a “steroid-fueled” asterisk next to Bond’s name in the record books, to do so would be a mistake, one that follows an unfortunate pattern in the history of blacks in American sports, suggests Gerald Early, Ph.D., a noted essayist and book author who has written extensively on black culture and sports.
Teaching ‘America’s music’ to the next generation
“Teaching Jazz as American Culture”Jazz is “America’s Music.” Established in the early 1900s, the music has remained popular for nearly a century, going through many variations. In the 1920s, jazz was “pop” music, but today it is often shunned by younger people in favor of today’s popular tunes — rap, rock and country. Can jazz, with its broad history and reputation for being “art” music, be relevant to youth today? The director of a summer jazz institute at Washington University in St. Louis hopes to show that jazz is not only relevant, but also essential. More…
Blacks aren’t playing baseball simply because ‘they don’t want to,’ says Gerald Early
NO BYLINEGerald Early’s “Unpopular Answer to a Popular Question.”As Major League Baseball prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary on April 15 of Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the “color barrier,” there’s been a groundswell of dire warnings about the diminishing ranks of African-Americans on big-league rosters. Some say young urban blacks are isolated from the game by racism, poverty and little access to facilities, but Gerald Early, Ph.D., a noted essayist and black culture expert at Washington University in St. Louis, has a much simpler explanation: “Black Americans don’t play baseball because they don’t want to.” More…
Blacks not playing baseball is a matter of choice, Early says
As Major League Baseball prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary on April 15 of Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the “color barrier,” Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., professor of English, of African & African American studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, publishes a column that argues: “Black Americans don’t play baseball because they don’t want to.”
Early receives Phi Beta Kappa Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities
Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, received the Phi Beta Kappa Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities on Oct. 28. Early, who is professor of English, of African & African American Studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, received the award during the 41st Triennial Council of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which met Oct. 25-29 in Atlanta.
Storms, politics, and the destruction of the American Gulf Coast: A Washington University faculty roundtable on what hurricane Katrina wrought
On Wed., Sept. 14, at 4 p.m. in McMillan Cafe (Room 115) in McMillan Hall, an interdisciplinary panel of Washington University professors will hold a conversation about the meaning and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Leading jazz, American culture scholars to instruct high school teachers this summer
Some of the country’s leading scholars of jazz and American culture will teach at Washington University’s National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for High School Teachers July 4-29. “‘Teaching Jazz as American Culture’ will offer participants an exciting opportunity to learn about one of the most extraordinary art forms the United States has ever produced,” says Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., Washington University’s Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Summer Institute. “The instructors in the institute are among the most noted jazz scholars, writers and composers in the country,” says Early, “and the high school teachers’ exposure to this collection of expertise should be both enriching and inspiring.”
Noted essayist, baseball fan Gerald Early says St. Louis Cardinals’ striking history deserves national attention
EarlySt. Louis’ “striking history” in baseball is not getting the national attention it deserves, says Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis and a noted essayist and baseball fan. “Boston is the big story,” says Early, an American culture critic who served as a consultant on the Ken Burns documentary “Baseball” for the Public Broadcasting Service. “All the stuff about the Red Sox curse, how it’s been so long since they’ve had a World Series win, how they’re the sentimental favorite to win, the East Coast bias — it’s all about Boston.
Exhibitions, book trace development of comics
Original cover art, “Love and Rockets” #15There is no shortcut from popular art to cultural respectability, but few have wandered longer than comic book, which has only recently begun to receive its critical and scholarly due. In October, the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis will present The Rubber Frame: Culture and Comics, a book and a pair of complementary exhibitions that together trace the evolution of comics from early precursors in 18th and 19th century England and Switzerland to turn-of-the-last-century newspapers, the raucous undergrounds of the 1960s and ’70s and the literary alternative comics of today.
Book The Rubber Frame: Essays in Culture and Comics
Edited by D.B. Dowd, professor of visual communications in the School of Art, and 2002 alumnus M. Todd Hignite, The Rubber Frame: Essays in Culture and Comics investigates a series of key themes and moments in the history of comics. Angela Miller, Ph.D., associate professor of art history & archaeology in Arts & Sciences, observes […]
‘Teaching Jazz’ institute supported by NEH grant
The institute’s goal will be to “offer teachers new and engaging ways to teach popular music as a humanities subject,” Gerald Early says.
Jazz Summer Institute
EarlyGerald Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in the Department of English and director of the Center for the Humanities, both in Arts & Sciences, has received a $222,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Division of Education Programs. The grant will fund “Teaching Jazz as American Culture,” an NEH Summer Institute to be held at Washington University in 2005.
The Rubber Frame: Culture and Comics
Original cover art, “Love and Rockets” #15There is no shortcut from popular art to cultural respectability, but few have wandered longer than comic book, which has only recently begun to receive its critical and scholarly due. In October, the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis will present The Rubber Frame: Culture and Comics, a book and a pair of complementary exhibitions that together trace the evolution of comics from early precursors in 18th and 19th century England and Switzerland to turn-of-the-last-century newspapers, the raucous undergrounds of the 1960s and ’70s and the literary alternative comics of today.
Inequalities in schools and neighborhoods focus of daylong conference Feb. 27
Social inequalities in schools and neighborhoods will be addressed by leading national scholars as well as prominent local scholars, experts and activists during a daylong conference Feb. 27 at Washington University. WUSTL’s Program in Social Thought & Analysis (STA) in Arts & Sciences is sponsoring the conference, titled “Inequalities in Schools & Neighborhoods: St. Louis and Beyond.”
Public intellectuals topic of Feb. 12 “Conversation”
Public intellectuals — a class of specialists, all-purpose thinkers — will gather from 10-11:30 a.m. Feb. 12 in Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis to have a “Conversation” about, well, public intellectuals. As part of the university’s yearlong 150th anniversary celebration, Arts & Sciences is sponsoring “Conversations,” a four-part series bringing some of the nation’s top scholars together to discuss key issues that will affect the future of the university, the community and the world.
Korean War had major impact on race relations in the United States
EarlyGerald Early, Ph.D., Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters, contends that the Korean War was a driving force behind integration efforts during the early years of the civil rights movement and was therefore one of the most important conflicts in our nation’s history. In his forthcoming book, “When Worlds Collide: The Korean War and the Integration of the United States,” Early argues that the successful integration of the military in Korea encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 school desegregation ruling, Brown vs. Board of Education, and helped change attitudes about race. Had the military failed, integration overall would have suffered, he contends.
More mainstream than ever, children’s literature remains hard to define, poorly understood and frequently underestimated
Illustration from a Hans Christian Andersen story.What is “children’s literature?” As we pause between the perfect, all-ages storms of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the upcoming Lord of the Rings: Return of the King film adaptation, the answer seems less clear than ever. In the current issue of Belle Lettres, a bi-monthly publication of Washington University’s International Writers Center in Arts & Sciences, a culture critic and a director of teacher education explain that the genre, always hard to define, remains poorly understood and frequently underestimated.
Books
42 Today
Jackie Robinson and His Legacy
New collection explores Jackie Robinson’s compelling and complicated legacy Before the United States Supreme Court ruled against segregation in public schools, and before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, Jackie Robinson walked onto the diamond on April 15, 1947, as first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, making history as the […]
The Cambridge Companion to Boxing
Boxing expert and American culture critic Gerald Early, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the African and African American Studies department, edits this ultimate guide to one of the world’s most interesting and controversial sports. The Companion offers more than two dozen engaging and informative essays about the social impact and historical importance of the sport of boxing. While the book covers luminaries of the sport such as Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Jack Johnson, Joe Louis and more, it also tells the lesser known stories of boxing. There are essays on women in boxing, boxing and literature, boxing in Hollywood films, and boxing and opera. You can also get a comprehensive chronology of the sport, listing all of the important events and personalities.