Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance - Hardcover

"Professor Kaplan, a biographer of the writer Zora Neale Hurston, captivatingly illuminates and places in overdue perspective." -- New York Times "In this remarkable work of historical recovery ... [Kaplan] resurrects Miss Anne as a cultural figure and explores the messy contradictions of her life ... deeply researched." -- New York Times Book Review "An empathetic and skillful writer, Kaplan ... shares the previously untold story of a group of notable white women who embraced black culture--and life--in Harlem in the 1920s and '30s... Captivating." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Endlessly fascinating, Miss Anne in Harlem reveals a whole new perspective on the Harlem Renaissance, and Carla Kaplan delivers an essential and absorbing portrait of race and sex in 20th century America." -- Gilbert King, author of Devil in the Grove "With superb, exhaustive research and finely dramatic writing, Carla Kaplan's brilliant Miss Anne in Harlem fills an aching void in our knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance. It also significantly deepens our understanding of American culture in the 1920s and American feminism in general." -- Arnold Rampersad, author of The Life of Langston Hughes "A work of meticulous and far-ranging scholarship, Miss Anne in Harlem matches its characters' shocking and subversive lives with explosive revelations and subtle insights... Kaplan's haunting narrative forces a rethinking of race and gender." -- Megan Marshall, author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism "[An] utterly fascinating and deeply insightful account... This fine book takes the Misses Anne seriously and goes further, to reveal the workings of interracial networks in one of the most important cultural phenomena in American history." -- Nell Irvin Painter, author of The History of White People "The fact that white women played a pivotal role in creating the Harlem Renaissance was a secret hiding in plain sight, but it took Carla Kaplan's keen eye, rigorous research, and crystal clear prose to reveal it. A surprising, delightful book." -- Debby Applegate, author of The Most Famous Man in America "Carla Kaplan has taken on a dauntingly liminal topic and by force of scholarly rigor and narrative compassion rendered it central to our understanding of an era. Lush, original, and vigorously argued..." -- Diane McWhorter, author of Carry Me Home "Kaplan always writes from inside her characters, and with a novelist's sense of scope--and compassion." -- Hilton Als, New Yorker.com "Kaplan's meticulously documented and intrepid history of Miss Anne encompasses a unique vantage on the complexities of race and gender and a dramatic study in paradox." -- Booklist (starred review) "(Kaplan's) extensive research has given life to a critical period in black American history-and given credit to the white women who, for various reasons, helped the Harlem Renaissance flourish." -- NPR.org "[A] revelatory book... Aside from its significance as cultural history, Miss Anne in Harlem is packed with amazing life stories." -- NPR's Fresh Air "[R]ichly researched, thoughtful new book." -- Boston Globe "In her clear-sighted, empathetic assessment of a half-dozen of these women, Carla Kaplan casts a fresh eye over people and relationships too often reduced to stereotypes." -- Daily Beast "[An] intriguing new book." -- Washington Post Book World "Carla Kaplan has given us and history a great gift." -- New York Journal of Books

The 1920s in New York was a time of passion and freedom, in which new forms of art, including jazz and modern dance, flourished. At the heart of this cultural explosion was Harlem, where everything was changing, including the influential denizens who helped define it. Among these were a little-known group of white women who for decades have been relegated to the shadows of history. In this groundbreaking cultural biography, esteemed scholar Carla Kaplan offers a captivating and full-blooded portrait of this band of independent-minded and spirited white women collectively referred to as Miss Anne. Sexualized and sensationalized in the white press-often portrayed as monstrous or insane-Miss Anne was sometimes derided in black literature and among the Harlem community as well. While it was socially acceptable for white men to head uptown for "exotic" dancers and "hot" jazz, a white woman who embraced life on West 125th Street found herself ostracized. Miss Anne in Harlem introduces these women-many from New York's highest social echelons, many of them Jewish-who became patrons of, and romantic participants in, the Harlem Renaissance. In this superb blend of social history and biography, illustrated with black-and-white photos and two eight-page color inserts, Kaplan illuminates the myriad faces of Miss Anne, explores her motivations, and makes clear her often misunderstood choices. Returning Miss Anne to her rightful place in the interracial history of the Harlem Renaissance, Kaplan's formidable history remaps the landscape of the 1920s and alters our perception of this historical moment.