Langston Hughes Research Paper

James Mercer Langston Hughes was a very important American poet who was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902. Langston Hughes was the very first black writer to earn a living off of poetry. Langston Hughes’ parents divorced when he was a child so he was raised by his grandmother, Mary. When he was thirteen his grandmother passed away so he moved to Lincoln, Illinois to stay with his mother were he would be taught to write poetry. Langston submitted several poems but he would be frequently rejected that did not stop him from trying even harder. Langston graduated from high school in 1920 that is when he moved in with his father who lived in Mexico. After Langston moved his poem was published called “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” in The Crisis Magazine which was run by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1921 Langston enrolled at Columbia University where he studied for a short time. Langston Hughes started to work in 1922 doing odd jobs such as a bus boy, assistant cook, and launderer in New York. On November 13, 1924 Langston moved to Washington D.C. at which time Langston’s first book of poetry called “The Weary Blues” was published by Alfred A Knopf. Langston’s poem won first prize in the Opportunity magazine literary competition were Langston also won a scholarship to Lincoln University in
Shortly after in 1937 Langston served as a war correspondent for several American newspapers during the Spanish and Civil War. In the late 1940s Langston contributed the lyrics for a Broadway musical called Street Scene. Langston also taught writing poetry at the University of Chicago for a short period of time. Langston wrote a play called Troubled Islands in 1949 that inspired the opera. Langston created numerous other books of poetry through the 1950s and 1960s including his “Simple Series” and his autobiography; “I Wonder as I