- George E. Kent
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name = George E. Kent
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birth_date = 1920
birth_place =Columbus, Georgia
death_date = 1982
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alma_mater = Savannah State CollegeBoston University
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occupation = educator
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spouse = Desiré Ashe
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footnotes =George E. Kent (1920–82) was an
African-American professor ofliterature , with a specialism in Afro-American literature.Early life and education
Born in
Columbus, Georgia , George Kent was the youngest of four children born to Irvy D. Kent, ablacksmith and Louise Austin Kent, a school teacher. Even as a child he would teach alongside his mother. He met his wife, Desiré Ashe, whilst studying for his BA at Savannah State College. After serving in the 25th Infantry (1942–5), he received his MA and PhD in English fromBoston University . Dr. Kent and his wife, Desire, had two children; a son Edward, now deceased, and a daughter, Sherald.With a strong love of literature, and a dream of becoming a teacher in his own future, he began teaching at the age of 16 in one of the schools his mother had established. His formal higher education began with a B.S in English from Savannah State College. He later obtained a Masters and PH.D from
Boston University , in English Language and Literature, respectively. During these formative years, he also served in the military.Career
Over a long teaching career, he held numerous positions including visiting professorships with colleges and universities such as
Wesleyan University ,University of Connecticut ,Florida A & M University ,Grambling State College , and theUniversity of Chicago . From the 1940s through the 1960s he held positions from Professor of English to Professor and Chairman of Languages and Literature, as well as Dean ofDelaware State College . He was also Professor and Chairman of English in the Division of Liberal Arts atQuinnipiac College .He finished his career in education as a Professor of English, with a specialty in African-American literature and poetry at the
University of Chicago from 1970 until his death in 1982. While at the University,George E. Kent is remembered as a pioneer for being among the first tenured African-American professors at theUniversity of Chicago and as the first African-American professor of English. Dr. Kent should also be remembered as an intense scholar and intellectual dedicated to excellence in his work as well as in the expectations he had of the many students he taught and mentored.Throughout his tenure at the
University of Chicago , he offered excellence. He brought that into the school, and for his students to whom he was fiercely loyal and held high expectations for them pursuing not only their studies but their lives in excellence. It is in this respect that the Organization of Black students honors Dr.George E. Kent annually at the OBSGeorge E. Kent Lecture .Kent taught at Delaware State College in Dover from 1949 to 1960, and then at Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Connecticut until 1969. He then joined the
University of Chicago , becoming a full professor there in 1970, a position he retained until his death. The annual George E. Kent Lecture at theUniversity of Chicago is named in his honour.His specialism was Afro-American literature. He completed the first full biography of the poet
Gwendolyn Brooks just before his death from cancer in 1982.Key publications
*"Blackness and the Adventure of Western Culture", 1972
*"A Life of Gwendolyn Brooks", University Press of Kentucky, 1990 (ISBN 0-8131-0827-6)References
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0148-6179%28198324%2917%3A4%3C143%3ATLOGEK%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage 'The Legacy of George E. Kent' James W. Coleman, Joanne Veal Gabbin "Black American Literature Forum", Vol. 17, No. 4 (Winter, 1983), pp. 143-147]
*http://obs1.uchicago.edu
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