LANGSTON HUGHES
The Poet Laureate of Harlem
Poet, Essayist, Novelist,
Playwright, Journalist and
Lyricist
(February 1, 1902 - May 22,
1967)
by Ted Love and Tracy M. Snell
• James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri.
His mother was a school teacher, she also wrote poetry.
His father, James Nathaniel Hughes, was a storekeeper.
He had wanted to become a lawyer, but he had been
denied to take the bar exam. Hughes's parents
separated and his mother moved from city to city in
search of work. In his rootless childhood, Hughes lived
in Mexico, Topeka, Kansas, Colorado, Indiana and
Buffalo. Later the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio,
where Hughes's stepfather worked in the steel mills.
During this period Hughes found the poems of Carl
Sandbury, whose unrhymed free verse influenced him
deeply. After graduating from a high school in
Cleveland, Hughes spent a year in Mexico with his
light-skinned father, who had found there a release as
a successful cattle rancher from racism of the North.
On the train, when he returned to the north, Hughes
wrote one of his most famous poems, 'The Negro Speaks
of Rivers'.
• When financial strain ended his travels, Hughes
returned to the United States. He once again
attempted various forms of work, this time in
Washington, D.C., where his mother had moved.
Besides blue-collar work, he also served briefly in
the office of publisher and historian Carter G.
Woodson. Although he respected Dr. Woodson's
significance to the African American community,
Hughes did not like the eye-strain or the detail of
his assignments. Nevertheless, he continued to
write. In 1925 he won first prize in poetry in
Opportunity magazine. He also met writer Carl
Van Vechten, who assisted Hughes in securing a
book contract with publisher Alfred A. Knopf.
Hughes also enjoyed his "discovery" by poet Vachel
Lindsay as the "busboy poet."
• His prolific literary career was launched in
1926 with a volume of jazz poems, THE WEARY
BLUES, written for performance with musical
accompaniment in the famous Harlem clubs
of the era.
• Among his many poetry titles THE NEGRO
MOTHER (1931), THE DREAM KEEPER (1932),
and MONTAGE OF A DREAM DEFERRED (1951)
argue passionately a belief in human equality,
a wish for color-blind brotherhood, and a
growing disillusionment with the American
dream.
• Hughes shared his poetry with the common
man as he traveled the country. In later
years he served as cultural emissary for the
United States to Europe and Africa. "An
artist," Hughes said, "must always be free to
choose what he does, certainly, but must
also never be afraid to do what he might
choose."
• Langston Hughes died in 1967.
His Kansas heritage and his
grandmother's stories helped
shape the words he shared with
the world.