Gerald Early, African American Studies, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri

Photo of Gerald Early.

Gerald Early, African American Studies, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri

“Martin Luther King and the Reinvention of Christian Leadership in the United States”
Avenali Lecture
Alumni House

Gerald Early is Professor of English and African-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. A noted essayist and American culture critic, Early is the author of several books, including The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture, which won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. Early has edited volumes on the topics of African-American culture, jazz, and sports. His essays have appeared in numerous editions of the Best American Essays series, and he is a regular commentator on National Public Radio's Fresh Air. He has also served as a consultant on a number of Ken Burns' documentary films, including Baseball; Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson; Jazz and The War.