Biography: Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
Langston Hughes published his first poem in 1921. He attended Columbia University, but left after one year to travel. A leading light of the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes published his first book in 1926. He went on to write countless works of poetry, prose and plays, as well as a popular column for the Chicago Defender.
Early Life
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents, James Hughes and Carrie Langston, separated soon after his birth, and his father moved to Mexico.
While Hughes’ mother moved around during his youth, Hughes was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother, Mary, until she died in his early teens. From that point, he went to live with his mother, and they moved to several cities before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio.
It was during this time that Hughes first began to write poetry, and one of his teachers introduced him to the poetry of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, both of whom Hughes would later cite as primary influences.
Hughes was also a regular contributor to his school's literary magazine and frequently submitted to other poetry magazines, although they would ultimately reject his work.
Harlem Renaissance
Hughes graduated from high school in 1920 and spent the following year in Mexico with his father. Around this time, Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" was published in The Crisis magazine and was highly praised.
In 1921 Hughes returned to the United States and enrolled at Columbia University where he studied briefly, and during which time he quickly became a part of Harlem's burgeoning cultural movement, what is commonly known as the Harlem Renaissance.
But Hughes dropped out of Columbia in 1922 and worked various odd jobs around New York for the following year, before signing on as a steward on a freighter that took him to Africa and Spain. He left the ship in 1924 and lived for a brief time in Paris, where he continued to develop and publish his poetry.
Sexuality
Literary scholars have debated Hughes' sexuality for years, with many claiming the writer was gay and included a number of coded references to male lovers in his poems (as did Walt Whitman, a major influence on Hughes).
Hughes never married, nor was he romantically linked to any of the women in his life. And several of Hughes' friends and traveling companions were known or believed to be gay, including Zell Ingram, Gilbert Price and Ferdinand Smith.
Other biographers have refuted these claims, but because of Hughes' secrecy and the era's homophobia surrounding openly gay men, there is no concrete evidence of Hughes' sexuality.
On May 22, 1967, Hughes died from complications of prostate cancer. A tribute to his poetry, his funeral contained little in the way of spoken eulogy but was filled with jazz and blues music.
Hughes' ashes were interred beneath the entrance of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. The inscription marking the spot features a line from Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." It reads: "My soul has grown deep like the rivers."
Hughes' Harlem home, on East 127th Street, received New York City Landmark status in 1981 and was added to the National Register of Places in 1982. Volumes of his work continue to be published and translated throughout the world.
SOURCE: Biography.com Editors (2014), Langston Hughes Biography, The Biography.com website, A&E Television Networks, URL: https://www.biography.com/writer/langston-hughes
Related Links
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| Reading Guide to Hughes | Biography: Langston Hughes | Biography of the Poet |
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| Brief Guide to Harlem Renaissance | Hughes Impact: Harlem Renaissance | Close Reading: Influence on MLK |
Videos
Langston Hughes: Leading Voice of the Harlem Renaissance
Langston Hughes was the leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance, whose poetry showcased the dignity and beauty in ordinary black life. The hours he spent in Harlem clubs affected his work, making him one of the innovators of Jazz Poetry. Find out more about his life in this short biography.
SOURCE: Biography.com (2014), posted on YouTube, [3:33 mins], URL: https://youtu.be/inP76rkYUso
The Harlem Renaissance
SOURCE: Black History in Two Minutes (or so) (2020), posted on YouTube, [3:01 mins], URL: https://youtu.be/9gboEyrj02g
Literary Icons You NEED to Know from the Harlem Renaissance
One of the most influential periods in Black American History post-slavery is the Harlem Renaissance, an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City.
SOURCE: Storied (2021), posted on YouTube, [14:32 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/hEJS39QuEAs
Click on the image above to access the video "Langston Hughes"
Langston Hughes, among the most versatile and prolific of modern American authors, achieved distinction in poetry, fiction, and drama. Race is at the center of his work–the beauty, dignity, and heritage of blacks in America. But Hughes was never racist–he always sought to speak to all Americans, especially on the larger issues of social, economic, and political justice. [Transcript available]
SOURCE: Voices and Visions series (1988), Produced by the New York Center for Visual History. [Duration: 56:45 mins], video available from Annenberg Learner, URL:https://www.learner.org/series/voices-visions/langston-hughes/