Langston Hughes Biography
On February 1, 1902, the author James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri. He was an accomplished African American poet, novelist, columnist, playwright, memoirist, and author of short stories. During this time period in the United States, African Americans were not treated equally and segregated based on race. When Hughes and his mother moved to Topeka, Kansas, Langston attended an all-white school near his house instead of an all-black school that was a distance away (Jerison). Langston proved to his peers and instructors that he was intelligent. However, some instructors and students treated him poorly because of his ethnicity. Caroline, his mother, decided to send Hughes to Lawrence, Kansas with his grandmother, Mary Langston,
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Hughes had to move from New York to Washington, D.C. to live with his biological mother due to his financial situation. While in Washington, he worked as a busboy and encountered a well-known poet, Vachel Lindsay (Rampersad). Hughes gave Lindsay his poems to read and Lindsay was impressed by them. In 1926, Hughes wanted to return to school. He enrolled at Lincoln University, an all-black university in Oxford, Pennsylvania (Rampersad). Throughout the rest of Hughes’ life, he was a prolific writer. On May 22, 1967, Hughes died. Hughes’ burial was called “Rivers.” This title was made for Langston Hughes to remember his contributions to literature. His life experiences were a major factor to his contributions to American …show more content…
He left his family and moved to Mexico. Hughes’ mother said he was a “Mean and evil a Negro as ever lived” (Hill 25)! Langston visited his father in Mexico one summer as a child and later said, “My father hates Negros, I think he hates himself too, for being a Negro” (Hill 27-29). His father’s embarrassment and hatred of being African American was antithetical to the deep respect of his ethnicity that his grandmother had so pain-stakingly cultivated in his early years. This antagonism to the race he loved actually influenced him to learn and write more about his African American
Hughes had to move from New York to Washington, D.C. to live with his biological mother due to his financial situation. While in Washington, he worked as a busboy and encountered a well-known poet, Vachel Lindsay (Rampersad). Hughes gave Lindsay his poems to read and Lindsay was impressed by them. In 1926, Hughes wanted to return to school. He enrolled at Lincoln University, an all-black university in Oxford, Pennsylvania (Rampersad). Throughout the rest of Hughes’ life, he was a prolific writer. On May 22, 1967, Hughes died. Hughes’ burial was called “Rivers.” This title was made for Langston Hughes to remember his contributions to literature. His life experiences were a major factor to his contributions to American …show more content…
He left his family and moved to Mexico. Hughes’ mother said he was a “Mean and evil a Negro as ever lived” (Hill 25)! Langston visited his father in Mexico one summer as a child and later said, “My father hates Negros, I think he hates himself too, for being a Negro” (Hill 27-29). His father’s embarrassment and hatred of being African American was antithetical to the deep respect of his ethnicity that his grandmother had so pain-stakingly cultivated in his early years. This antagonism to the race he loved actually influenced him to learn and write more about his African American