The Life and times of Langston Hughes

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There are many great African – American poets and story writers who have made a great influence in today’s society. James Mercer Langston Hughes, better known as Langston Hughes was first recognized as an important literary figure during the 1920s, which was also known as the Harlem Renaissance. He has won many awards for his writing that had touched the hearts of his various audiences. Through his writings he has been able to change the way we as a people view the world, and our fellow man.
Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri to Caroline Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes. At a very young age Hughes’ parents had divorced and each gone their separate ways, leaving young Hughes to be raised by his grandmother Mary Patterson Langston, in Lawrence, Kansas, until he had reached the age of thirteen. At this age is when he moved to Cleveland, Ohio to live with his mother and her new husband. As time passed Hughes went on to attend Columbia University in New York City for a year, and then later journeyed to places such as Africa, and Europe as a seamen for work. His start as a poet though had begun when he started attending Lincoln University.
In the year of 1942, Hughes had moved in with some relatives in Washington’s elite LeDroit Park section of the capital. After many various “odd” jobs, Hughes began working for Dr. Carter G. Woodson in his Superb black publishing house. Though after a short while, Hughes had quit because though the pay and what he was doing was a great asset to the company and others he just wasn’t content working there. In the fourteen months that Hughes had lived in Washington he had written more poetry than he had ever done previously. Some of the poems that he had written were “Ce...

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...-Americans, and people of African Descent all around the world. His writing has inspired people to follow their dreams before they were forgotten and no matter how ridiculous other people thought they might be. Though he is dead his writings will live on and be expressed in many more ways.

Works Cited

"." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
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Cohen, Samuel S.. "Salvation." 50 essays: a portable anthology. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2007. . Print.
Hughes, Langston, and Donna Sullivan Harper. Short stories. New York: Hill and Wang, 1996.
Print.
Rampersad, Arnold. The life of Langston Hughes. New York: Oxford University Press,
19861988. Print.
"Langston Hughes." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 July 2014. Web. 14 May 2014.
.

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