Celebration planned to honor Calvin Hernton

Oberlin College and the African American Studies Department will say goodbye to one of its most esteemed and well-loved faculty this weekend. Several events in honor of Calvin Hernton, professor of African American Studies, are being held this weekend.

Hernton, who is completing his last semester this spring, announced his retirement in the fall. He joined the faculty of Oberlin in 1970 and has been a force in countless students' lives since.

Hernton, who specializes in literature, has been responsible for creating six courses in his years at Oberlin. In addition to several courses about African-American literature, he created courses on African and Caribbean literature.

Rebecca Dixon, visiting instructor of African American Studies, is an alumnus of Oberlin, where she majored in African American Studies. As a major, Hernton acted as Dixon's adviser and mentor.

"Calvin Hernton is one of the most dedicated teachers I have ever known," Dixon said, "He served as my adviser as an undergraduate student and has continued to be a mentor to me. He has served as a role model to me as a scholar and a teacher."

Dixon said Hernton's knowledge and love of African-American literature put her ahead of her classmates when she went on to graduate school. "When I went to grad school I noticed none of the students had the same kind of background in African-American literature that I did," she said.

As well as earning praise for teaching, Hernton has established himself as a scholar and writer, both during his time at Oberlin and before. His best-known nonfiction books, The Sexual Mountain and Black Women Writers and Sex and Racism in America, still arouse discussion and debate today.

Hernton is known for his criticism of African-American literature and poetry, as well as his own writing. A renowned poet and writer, Hernton published a volume of poetry, Medicine Man, in 1977. His poems have also been included in almost 30 anthologies, journals and poetry reviews.

Hernton also moonlighted as a screenwriter in the late 1980s, when he wrote scripts for the ABC television series, A Man Called Hawk.

Hernton grew up in Chattanooga, Tenn. and earned his bachelor's degree in 1954 from Talladega College in Talladega, Ala. He went on to earn a master's in sociology from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. in 1956.

At Fisk, Hernton's thesis was a thematic analysis of letters to the editor and newspaper editorials about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

After earning his MA, Hernton worked as an instructor of sociology and history at various colleges and universities for four years. He then spent some years in New York, working for the Department of Welfare and the National Opinion Research Center.

In 1970, he became a writer in residence at Oberlin, and since then he has served as an associate professor, professor and then chair of the African American Studies Department.

Beyond his credentials and publications, Hernton is best known by his students, colleagues and contemporaries for his challenging intellect, eloquence and compassion.

Deloris Nevels, administrative assistant in the African American Studies Department, has worked with Hernton since she took her current job almost 20 years ago. She said that Hernton is a gifted, but private person. She said he is quiet about his accomplishments and successes.

African-American poet Joe Johnson wrote of Hernton: "Hernton got the power (technical facility), Hernton got the heart (daring) to write about those funky sides of corners, on top of, on the bottom of his being."

He described listening to Hernton read his poetry: "He reached zones that we in the Umbra Workshop were then only moving towards. We all wanted to make fierce personal statements. Hernton was there. He had dem fat, black greasy deep visions in dem days ... We heard Hernton singing what we were talking about."

This weekend's events begin with a lecture by Sonia Sanchez, a poet and professor of creative writing and African American Studies at Temple University, today at 4:45 in King 306. Sanchez's lecture will be followed by a buffet dinner in the Root Room. Hernton will give a reading Saturday at 11 a.m. at African Heritage House.