Jeffery Renard Allen on Horace Cayton and Lore Segal’s HER FIRST AMERICAN (Virtual Event)

Join the Center for Jewish History and the Leo Baeck Institute for the talk “Horace Cayton: Black Renaissance Man and Reconteur” by award-winning author Jeffery Renard Allen about the historical significance of Horace Cayton, who became the romantic partner to Lore Segal soon after the end of World War II. Allen will position Cayton, a well-known intellectual and political figure known for his quips and colorful personality, within the larger framework of the Harlem Renaissance, as a member of the generation termed the “New Negro” and as a part of the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement. Cayton served as the inspiration for Lore’s character of Carter Bayoux in her best-known novel, Her First American. A new fortieth-anniversary edition of Her First American is just out and includes and introduction by Jeffery Renard Allen.

This virtual event is part of the programming series surrounding the exhibition “And That’s True Too: The Life and Work of Lore Segal,” on view in New York City through April 15th. Use the link below to register.