Carla Kaplan

The 1920s in New York City was a time of freedom, experimentation, and passion -- with Harlem at the epicenter. White men could go uptown to see jazz and modern dance, but women who embraced black culture too enthusiastically could be ostracized. In Miss Anne of Harlem, Carla Kaplan focuses on these white women, collectively called "Miss Anne," who became Harlem Renaissance insiders. She profiles six of the unconventional, free-thinking women, some from Manhattan high society, many Jewish, who crossed race lines and defied social conventions to become a part of the culture and heartbeat of Harlem.Carla Kaplan is an award-winning professor and writer who holds the Stanton W. and Elisabeth K. Davis Distinguished Professorship in American Literature at Northeastern University. She is the author of The Erotics of Talk and Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters. A recipient of a Guggenheim and many other fellowships, Kaplan has been a fellow in residence at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. Recorded On: Wednesday, November 6, 2013