The Great Gatsby

Harlem Renaissance
Langston Hughes (1902-1967)



"We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too... If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."

- Langston Hughes from The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain

James Langston Hughes was born into an abolitionist family in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902. His grandfather, James Mercer Langston, was the first Black to be elected to public office in 1855. He began writing poetry at an early age, but his father was skeptical of his son writing poetry as a career. He enrolled his son into Columbia University with a major in engineering. Hughes proved capable of being an engineer because he had a 3.5 average; yet he dropped out after a short time to devote his time to his true love...writing. His first published poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, was also one of his most popular. It appeared in Brownie's Book. Later, other literary works--like poems, short plays, essays--were published in the NAACP publication Crisis Magazine and other publications.

One of Hughes' finest essays was published in the Nation in 1926, titled "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." He spoke of Black artists denying their roots in order to attain a "false integration."

One of his favorite past times were listening to blues, jazz, and writing poetry. Through these experiences, his poems became musically influenced. In 1924, he returned to Harlem from travels abroad just in time for the Harlem Renaissance. His works were very popular and published frequently. He moved to D.C. in 1925 where he accepted a job with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, editor of the Journal of Negro Life and History and founder of Black History Week. He finally returned to Harlem in 1926.

Hughes received a scholarship to Lincoln University where he received his Bachelor's Degree in 1929. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935 and a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1940. In 1950, he created a series of books about the "average Joe" who was named Jess B. Simple. He also published autobiographies such as Not Without Laughter(1930) and I Wonder As I Wander(1956). His collections of poetry included The Weary Blues (1926), The Drama Keeper (1932), Shakespeare in Harlem (1942), and The Best of Simple (1961). He also edited several anthologies such as An African Treasury (1960) and The Best Short Stories by Negro Writers (1967).

Langston Hughes died of cancer on May 22, 1967. His block of East 17 Street was renamed "Langston Hughes Place" and his place of residence was given landmark status.




Bibliography

www.unc.edu/courses/eng81br1/lang2.html

www.poets.org/LIT/POET/hughes.htm

www.redhotjazz.com/hughes.html



Back to Harlem Renaissance Page Page last updated on May 10, 1999.
Curator: Cassandra Jackson