James langston hughs short biography
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HUGHES, (JAMES) LANGSTON
HUGHES, (JAMES) LANGSTON (1 Feb. 1902-22 May 1967), Black poet, playwright, novelist, and lecturer, was born in Joplin, Mo. to James Nathaniel and Carrie M. (Langston) Hughes. Carrie and James divorced shortly after Langston's birth, and James left the United States for Mexico. His mother and step-father moved the family to Cleveland in 1916. Hughes began writing seriously while a student at CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, where his efforts were encouraged by teachers and RUSSELL and ROWENA JELLIFFE of Playhouse Settlement (see KARAMU HOUSE).
His first stories appeared in TheMonthly literature journal published by Central High School. Hughes attended Columbia University for a year, but dropped out to travel, working his way through Spain, France, Italy, and Africa. Hughes's first poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," was published in The Crisis, the organ of the NAACP, in 1921. In 1922 he moved to Harlem, becoming a central member of the Harlem Renaissance.
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Langston Hughes
1902-1967
Who Was Langston Hughes?
Poet and writer Langston Hughes became a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance after his first poem was published in 1921. His first book of poetry followed five years later, in 1926. One of the first Black Americans to earn a living as a writer, Hughes went on to compose many more works of poetry, prose, and plays that center the 20th century African American experience and remain influential today. Some of his most famous poems are “Dreams,” “I, Too,” and “Harlem.” Additionally, he wrote a popular column for the Chicago Defender. In May 1967, Hughes died in his mid-60s from prostate cancer.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: James handlar i textilier Langston Hughes
BORN: c. February 1, 1901
DIED: May 22, 1967
BIRTHPLACE: Joplin, Missouri
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius
Early Life
James Mercer Langston Hughes, better known as Langston Hughes, was born in Joplin, Missouri. His birth date—likely February 1, 1901—is the subject of some debate.
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Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes’s birth year was revised from 1902 to 1901 after new research from 2018 uncovered that he had been born a year earlier. His parents, James Nathaniel Hughes and Carrie Langston Hughes, divorced when he was a young child, and his father moved to Mexico. He was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Sampson Patterson Leary Langston, who was nearly seventy when Hughes was born, until he was thirteen. He then moved to Lincoln, Illinois, to live with his mother and her husband, before the family eventually settled in Cleveland. It was in Lincoln that Hughes began writing poetry.
After graduating from high school, he spent a year in Mexico followed by a year at Columbia University. During this time, he worked as an assistant cook, a launderer, and a busboy. He also traveled to Africa and Europe working as a seaman. In November 1924, he moved to Washington, D.C. Hughes’s first