James Langston Hughes

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James Langston Hughes

• by Paige Penrod

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An African-American Poet1902 - 1967
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Langston Hughes

• Langston Hughes was known for his colorful
  portrayals of black life in America between the
  1920s and 1960s. He was an African-American
  writer who wrote poetry, short stories, novels
  and plays. Many of his poems rhymed and were put
  to music. His life and work as a black poet of
  Harlem were very important.

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LIFE EVENTS

• James Langston Hughes was born on February 1,
  1902, in Joplin, Missouri.
• His parents divorced when he was little and his
  father moved to Mexico.
• He was raised by his grandmother until she died.
  He was twelve and then went to live with his
  mother in Cleveland, Ohio.
• He began writing poetry in high school.
• In the early 1920s, he started studying at
  Columbia University in New York. He dropped out
  of school after one year.
• In November of 1924 Langston moved to Harlem, New
  York. He then got interested in the jazz and
  blues activities in Harlem.

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LIFE EVENTS -continued

• His poetry won him a scholarship to Lincoln
  University in Strickersville, Pennsylvania. He
  received a bachelors degree in 1929.
• After winning the Harmon gold medal for
  literature, Hughes decided to make a career in
  writing.
• In 1930, he bought a Ford and toured colleges in
  southern America as a teacher and a poet.
• In 1953, he testified before the Senate
  committee, that he was not a Communist and was
  not against America.
• In his later years he taught at the University of
  Chicago and Atlanta.
• Hughes never got married.
• He died in New York on May 22, 1967 after
  complications after a surgery.

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I, Too, Sing America Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the
kitchen When
company comes,
But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the
table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare

Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen,
Then.
Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• In 1921, Hughess first poem appeared in the
  African-American journal called Crisis.
• As a teenager in 1921, he published his first
  play, The Golden Piece.
• His first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was
  published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926.
• In 1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter,
  won the Harmon gold medal for literature. Many
  books were sold and he bought a car to tour
  colleges in the South.
• He was the first black author to support himself
  with his writings.
• In 1940, he wrote a poem called, Goodbye Christ,
  which religious groups did not like.
• Hughes play The Mulatto opened on Broadway in
  1935, but the producer changed parts of it and
  Hughes was not pleased.

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS - continued

• In the 1930s and 1940s he started black theater
  groups in Harlem, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
• During the Spanish Civil War in 1937 he served as
  a newspaper reporter for the Baltimore
  Afro-American newspaper.
• I n the 1950s Hughes published a collection of
  poems called Montage of a Dream Deferred that
  included his famous poem Harlem.
• He wrote a series of Famous biographies for
  children called Famous American Negroes in 1954.
• His book of political poems, The Panther and the
  Lash, about the 1960s was rejected in 1964,
  because it was to risky.
• Hughes published more than 35 books during his
  lifetime.

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PROBLEMS OVERCAME

• His parents divorced when he was little.
• He lived in many places when his Mom was trying
  to find work when he was little.
• He quit college after a year, because he was
  interested in jazz and blues in Harlem.
• He worked many little jobs until he won a
  scholarship to go back to college.
• He wrote about prejudice, hunger and hopelessness
  of the African-American and people really didnt
  want to hear about this.
• He wrote the poem Goodbye Christ which
  religious people did not like.
• People thought Hughes was a Communist and he had
  to testify before a Senate committee to prove he
  wasnt a Communist.
• He never married, but had many friends.

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QUALITIES OF SUCCESS

• Hughes was creative. He painted pictures in his
  writings.
• He was intelligent, because he thought of great
  things to write his poems about. He was finished
  college when most people did not go to college.
• He was hard working. He worked to support
  himself from his writing.
• He was artistic because he wrote many different
  types of literature about black life.

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INFLUENCES

• He was influenced by
• His mom she read poems to him when he was
  little.
• A girl in high school she raised her hand and
  said that Hughes should write a poem for
  graduation day.
• The Bible it taught him lessons to live by.
• Vachel Lindsey another poet that Hughes read
  when he was young.
• Carl Sandburg he inspired Hughes
• Walt Whitman he inspired Hughes with his
  colorful words
• Ernest Hemingway a friend and writer he went to
  bullfights with.

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REFERENCES

• Information was taken from
• http//www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID84
• http//www.kirjasto.sci.fi/lhughes.htm
• Biography Book