famous writer and longtime resident of lawrence langston hughes, born in joplin, mo., is celebrated throughout the university of kansas and the city. to help us celebrate his birthday and kick off black history month, we spoke to professors across campus to tell us what we need to know about hughes’s important and wide-ranging career and the lasting impact his work had on culture American… in a nutshell.
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grew up in lawrence, kansas
although he was born in missouri, langston hughes moved to lawrence to live with his grandmother mary langston. Hughes lived primarily with his grandmother during his early childhood while his mother moved away looking for work.
“hughes spent his formative years at lawrence. he learned many of his values from his grandmother, which are revealed in his various forms of writing,” said edgar tidwell, professor of english. A number of autobiographical moments from his time at Lawrence appear most notably in Hughes’s novel “Not Without Laughs,” Tidwell said.
was an important leader of the harlem renaissance
“when you think of the harlem renaissance, people tend to think of it as the 1920s in harlem, new york, and that’s natural; That’s where it started,” said Evans, who has been teaching Harlem Renaissance (engl 105) literacy for about five years.
hughes himself defined the harlem renaissance in this strict sense. However, “in 1925, Alain Locke, in his introduction to an anthology called ‘The New Negro,’ predicted a kind of ongoing revival of black literature and the arts that he envisioned would never end but continually evolve” Evans said. “ironically, hughes proves that dr. locke true because he and zora neale hurston both had long careers that extended well beyond the 1920s in harlem.”
He was a poet of the people
“his life’s work was to bring people together socially, politically and artistically,” said shawn alexander, director of the langston hughes center in ku and an associate professor of African and African American studies. “at the same time, in his attempts to unite people, he challenged the nation to live up to his ideals, as seen in two of his most famous poems, ‘i sing america too’ and ‘montage of a deferred dream ‘. ‘”
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He was also one of the first artists to write jazz poetry. “Her first volume of poetry by him is called ‘The Weary Blues’ in 1926. Here he is integrating jazz and blues rhythms, themes, and themes into poetry. he’s experimenting with this,” evans said.
He was more than just a poet; he was a writer in almost every genre you can think of
“hughes is known primarily as a poet, but he wrote in many forms and genres, including poetry, short story, drama, novel, autobiography, journalistic prose, song lyrics and history,” alexander said. “For example, in 1962 he published the first comprehensive history of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, titled ‘Fight for Freedom: The Story of the NAACP.'”
Over his career, Hughes wrote 16 collections of poetry, 12 novels and short story collections, 11 major plays, eight children’s books, seven non-fiction works, and numerous essays.
“a very prolific writer in just about any genre you can think of. and his career, of course, spanned decades. His career ended when he died in 1967. He was active until the last moment,” Evans said.
was rebellious, breaking away from the black literary establishment
“[hughes]’s 1926 essay ‘the black artist and the racial mountain’ turned out to be something of a manifesto for young black American writers and artists. And in this Hughes articulates for the first time a kind of racial consciousness and cultural nationalism. In other words, Hughes is breaking with the establishment here in the sense that he is asking younger writers and artists to take pride in their blackness and black heritage. and make that a source of information for your art,” evans said. “Hughes is, above all, what might be called a people’s poet in the sense that he writes his poetry and fiction in a way that makes it accessible to almost everyone. you don’t have to have a college degree; you don’t need to have a background in Greek mythology to get what he’s after. the issues he is dealing with are the issues of everyday life for African Americans. he would say that this is his lasting contribution in that he helped create an environment that influenced two or three generations of writers.”
he was a world traveler
“He was more than an African American. he was much more than an American. he was a man of the world,” said tidwell. “Many people are not aware or tend not to pay much attention to the fact that Langston Hughes was a world traveler.”
His autobiographies “The Great Sea” (1940) and “I Wonder As I Wander” (1956) are admirable records of his travels in the United States, Europe, Africa, Russia, and East Asia. He embraced the international flavor of the people and their community spirit, Tidwell said. people were naturally attracted to his warm personality, and it was said that he never met a stranger.
He had a complicated relationship with his mother
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“His mother was very much in and out of his life,” Tidwell said. “But she was a very complex woman.”
Tidwell co-edited the book “My Dear Boy: Carrie Hughes’s Letters to Langston Hughes, 1926-1938,” which explores Hughes’s relationship with his mother through the letters she sent him during the last years of his life. While working on the book, Tidwell said that she “began to learn how complicated the Hughes family relationships were. it was an opportunity to see what life was like for them through the eyes of her mother. he didn’t always reply to his mother by return mail; instead, she often used her writing to pick up themes that came up in her correspondence with him.”
worked with the father of black history
“a brief but often neglected connection occurred when hughes returned to the us. uu. from a tour abroad. He stayed in Washington, D.C., and spent some time working for historian Dr. carter g. woodson,” tidwell said.
hughes helped woodson catalog notable new experiences and achievements of African Americans. these achievements were celebrated during black history week, which dr. woodson opened in february 1926 between the birthdays of abraham lincoln and frederick douglass. in 1976 the association for the study of african american life and history (asalh) and president gerald ford extended the commemoration to the entire month. by his own pioneering scholarship, dr. woodson earned the designation “the father of black history”.
his legacy lives on in ku
“the hughes legacy lives on in many ways at ku, but the most obvious example is with the langston hughes center,” alexander said.
as part of the department of african and black studies, the langston hughes center (lhc) serves as a scholarly research and educational center that builds on the legacy and vision of langston hughes. coordinates and develops teaching, research, and outreach activities in African-American studies and the study of race and culture in American society in Ku and throughout the Midwest. since the revival of the lhc in 2008, it has held four major symposiums and sponsored nearly 80 lectures and academic programs.
ku has also sponsored the langston hughes visiting professorship since 1977. this program attracts prominent ethnic minority scholars in a wide range of disciplines to campus. professor langston hughes teaches two courses per semester and hosts a campus-wide symposium. Additionally, several former recipients are now full faculty members at KU.
cover photo courtesy of the langston hughes center.
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