Anniversary of Langston Hughes' Death

“I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, why Democracy means, everybody but me” - Langston Hughes

(Langston Hughes)

Langston Hughes was born as James Hughes on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, USA. Hughes’ parents separated when he was a child. Hughes then lived with his grandmother in Lawrence, KY. Hughes read a lot while living with his grandmother. After his grandmother died Hughes went to live with his mother in Lincoln, IL. While in elementary school Hughes was elected the class poet. They then moved to Cleveland, OH when he was a teenager. While in high school he was involved with the school newspaper and wrote short stories and plays. He wrote his 1st piece of Jazz poetry while in high school. Hughes graduated high school in 1920. He then moved to Mexico to live with his father. In 1921 Hughes attended Columbia University.

(Hughes as a young man)

Also in 1921 he published his 1st poem. In 1922 he left due to racial prejudice. In 1923 Hughes worked on a ship that traveled to Europe and Africa. He then stayed in Paris, France for a short while. He then lived in England and joined the black expatriate community. In 1924 he moved to Washington D.C. to live with his mother. In 1925 he became personal assistant to Carter G. Woodson. Hughes then started to have his poetry published. In 1926 Hughes attended Lincoln University. Hughes was classmates with Thurgood Marshall. Also in 1926 Hughes published  "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain".

(Hughes in 1926)

Hughes helped to inspire the Négritude movement in France. In 1929 Hughes earned his BA at Lincoln University. Hughes then went to live in Harlem, NY. In 1930 Hughes published his 1st novel. In 1931 Hughes helped form the "New York Suitcase Theater". In 1932 he was part of a board to produce a Soviet film on "Negro Life". He also traveled to the USSR, China and Japan.

(Hughes in 1933)

In 1934 Hughes released his 1st collection of poetry. In 1935 Hughes received a Guggenheim Fellowship.

(Hughes in 1936)

In 1937 he traveled to Spain. In 1940 Hughes joined the American Peace Mobilization. In 1941 Hughes founded The Skyloft Players. In 1943 Hughes began publishing stories about a character he called Jesse B. Semple, often referred to and spelled "Simple", the everyday black man in Harlem who offered musings on topical issues of the day.

(Hughes in 1943)

In 1947 Hughes taught at Atlanta University. In 1949 he spent three months at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools as a visiting lecturer. In 1953, he was called before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations led by Senator Joseph McCarthy due speculations of being a communist.

(Hughes in 1953)

On May 22nd, 1967 Langston Hughes died of complications after abdominal surgery related to prostate cancer in New York City, New York, USA. He was 65 years old.

(Hughes in 1967)

Today is the 50th anniversary of his death. Take time to remember this great writer and poet today.  

Works of Literature by Langston Hughes

-Poetry

• The Weary Blues (1926)
• Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)
• The Negro Mother and Other Dramatic Recitations (1931)
• Dear Lovely Death (1931)
• The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (1932)
• Scottsboro Limited: Four Poems and a Play (1932)
• Let America Be America Again (1938)
• Shakespeare in Harlem (1942)
• Freedom's Plow (1943)
• Fields of Wonder (1947)
• One-Way Ticket (1949)
• Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951)
• Selected Poems of Langston Hughes (1958)
• Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz (1961)
• The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times (1967)
• The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (1994)

-Novels

• Not Without Laughter (1930)
• The Ways of White Folks (1934)
• Simple Speaks His Mind (1950)
• Laughing to Keep from Crying (1952)
• Simple Takes a Wife (1953)
• Sweet Flypaper of Life (1955)
• Simple Stakes a Claim (1957)
• Tambourines to Glory (1958)
• The Best of Simple (1961)
• Simple's Uncle Sam (1965)
• Something in Common and Other Stories (1963)
• Short Stories of Langston Hughes (1996)

-Plays

• Mule Bone (1931)
• Mulatto (1935)
• Troubled Island (1936)
• Little Ham (1936)
• Emperor of Haiti (1936)
• Don't You Want to be Free? (1938)
• Street Scene (1947)
• Tambourines to Glory (1956)
• Simply Heavenly (1957)
• Black Nativity (1961)
• Five Plays by Langston Hughes (1963)
• Jerico-Jim Crow (1964)

-Non Fiction Books

• The Big Sea (1940)
• Famous American Negroes (1954)
• Famous Negro Music Makers (1955)
• I Wonder as I Wander (1956)
• A Pictorial History of the Negro in America (1956)
• Famous Negro Heroes of America (1958)
• Fight for Freedom: The Story of the NAACP (1962)