|
A Centennial Tribute to
Langston
Hughes
Painting by Artist Winold
Reiss, National Portrait
Gallery
LANGSTON
HUGHES
(1902-1967)
~Dream Deferred~
What happens to a dream
deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or
fester like a sore--
and then run?
Does it stink like rotten
meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it
just sags
like a heavy load
Or does it just
explode?
LANGSTON HUGHES, was part of the Harlem
Renaissance and was known during
his lifetime as "the poet
laureate of Harlem," He also worked as a journalist,
dramatist, and
children's author. His poems, which tell of the joys and
miseries
of the ordinary black man in America, have been widely
translated.
James Langston Hughes was born on Feb. 1, 1902, in
Joplin, Mo. In 1921 he
enrolled at Columbia University in New York City
but he was so lonely and
unhappy that he left after a
year.
He worked at various jobs, including that of a seaman,
traveling to Africa
and Europe. His first book of poetry, 'The
Weary Blues', published in 1926,
made him well known among literary
people. He went on to Lincoln University
in Oxford, Pa., on a
scholarship and received his B.A. degree there in 1929.
From then
on Hughes earned his living as a writer, portraying black life in
the
United States with idiomatic realism. 'Not without Laughter', a
novel
published in 1930, won him the Harmon god medal for literature. A
book of
poems for children, 'The Dream Keeper', came out in 1932.
In 1934 appeared
'The Ways of White Folk's', a collection of short
stories. His play 'Mulatto'
opened on Broadway in 1935. He wrote the
lyrics for 'Street Scene', a 1947
opera by Kurt Weill. Hughes
also lectured in schools and colleges, where he
talked with black youth
who had literary ability and encouraged them to write.
In the 1950s
and 1960s, Hughes's work included a volume of poetry,
'Montage of a
Dream Differed', published in 1951; of short stories,
'Laughing
to Keep from Crying' (1952); and a children's picture book
titled
'Black Misery'(1969), which wryly illustrates what it is like
to
grow up black in the United States.
Langston Hughes died of
Lung Cancer, in New York City, in 1967.
(F. Leon Wilson of Spectra Links Digest)
Arnold Rampersad on Langston
Hughes
Born in 1902 in Joplin,
Missouri, Langston Hughes grew up mainly in Lawrence, Kansas, but also
lived in Illinois, Ohio, and Mexico.
By the time Hughes enrolled at
Columbia University in New York, he had already launched his literary
career with his poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in the Crisis, edited by
W E. B. Du Bois. He had also committed himself both to writing and to
writing mainly about African Americans.
Hughes's sense of
dedication was instilled in him most of all by his maternal grandmother,
Mary Langston, whose first husband had died at Harpers Ferry as a member
of John Brown's band, and whose second husband (Hughes's grandfather) had
also been a militant abolitionist. Another important family figure was
John Mercer Langston, a brother of
Hughes's grandfather who was one of
the best-known black Americans of the nineteenth century. At the same
time, Hughes struggled with a sense of desolation fostered by parental
neglect. He himself recalled being driven early by his loneliness 'to
books, and the wonderful world in books.’
Leaving Columbia in 1922,
Hughes spent the next three years in a succession of menial jobs. But he
also traveled abroad. He worked on a freighter down the west coast of
Africa and lived for several months in Paris before returning to the
United States late in 1924. By this time, he was well known in African
American literary circles as a gifted young poet.
His major early
influences were Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg, as well as the black poets
Paul Laurence Dunbar, a master of both dialect and standard verse, and
Claude McKay, a radical socialist who also wrote accomplished lyric
poetry. However, Sandburg, who Hughes later called "my guiding star," was
decisive in leading him toward free verse
and a radically democratic
modernist aesthetic.
His devotion to black music led him to novel
fusions of jazz and blues with traditional verse in his first two books,
The Weary Blues (1926) and Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927). His emphasis on
lower-class black life, especially in the latter, led to harsh attacks on
him in the black press. With these books, however, he established himself
as a major force
of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1926, in the Nation, he
provided the movement with a manifesto when he skillfully argued the need
for both race pride and artistic independence in his most memorable essay,
'The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain."
By this time, Hughes
had enrolled at the historically black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania,
from which he would graduate in 1929. In 1927 he began one of the most
important relationships of his life, with his patron Mrs. Charlotte Mason,
or "Godmother," who generously supported him for two years. She supervised
the writing of his first novel, Not Without Laughter (1930)--about a
sensitive, black midwestern boy and his struggling family. However, their
relationship collapsed about the time the novel appeared, and Hughes sank
into a period of intense personal unhappiness and
disillusionment.
One result was his firm turn to the far left in
politics. During a year (1932-1933) spent in the Soviet Union, he wrote
his most radical verse. A year in Carmel, California, led to a collection
of short stories, The Ways of White Folks (1934). This volume is marked by
pessimism about race relations, as well as a sardonic
realism.
After his play Mulatto, on the twinned themes of
miscegenation and parental rejection, opened on Broadway in 1935, Hughes
wrote other plays, including comedies such as Little Ham (1936) and a
historical drama, Emperor of Haiti (1936). Most of these plays were only
moderate successes. In 1937 he spent several months in Europe, including a
long
stay in besieged Madrid. In 1938 he returned home to found the
Harlem Suitcase Theater, which staged his agitprop drama Don't You Want to
Be Free? The play, employing several of his poems, vigorously blended
black nationalism, the blues, and socialist exhortation. The same year, a
socialist organization published a pamphlet of his radical verse,
"A
New Song."
With World War II, Hughes moved more to the center
politically. His first volume of autobiography, The Big Sea (1940),
written in an episodic, lightly comic manner, made virtually no mention of
his leftist sympathies. In his book of verse Shakespeare in Harlem (1942)
he once again sang the blues. On the other hand, this collection, as well
as
another, his Jim Crow’s Last Stand (1943), strongly attacked racial
segregation.
Perhaps his finest literary achievement during the war
came in the course of writing a weekly column in the Chicago Defender that
began in 1942 and lasted twenty years. The highlight of the column was an
offbeat Harlem character called Jesse B. Semple, or Simple, and his
exchanges with a staid narrator in a neighborhood bar, where
Simple
commented on a variety of matters but mainly about race and
racism. Simple became Hughes's most celebrated and beloved fictional
creation, and the subject of five collections edited by Hughes, starting
in 1950 with Simple Speaks His Mind.
After the war, two books of
verse, Fields of Wonder (1947) and One-Way Ticket (1949), added little to
his fame. However, in Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951) he broke new
ground with verse accented by the discordant nature of the new bebop jazz
that
reflected a growing desperation in the black urban communities of
the North. At the same time, Hughes's career was vexed by constant
harassment by right-wing forces about his ties to the Left. In vain he
protested that he had never been a Communist and had severed all such
links. In 1953 he suffered a public humiliation at the hands of
Senator Joseph McCarthy, who forced him to appear in Washington, D.C., and
testify officially about his politics. Hughes denied that he had ever been
a party member but conceded that
some of his radical verse had been
ill-advised.
Hughes's career hardly suffered from this episode.
Within a short time McCarthy himself was discredited and Hughes was free
to write at length about his years in the Soviet Union in I Wonder as I
Wander (1956), his much-admired second volume of autobiography.
He
became prosperous, although he always had to work hard for his measure of
prosperity and sometimes called himself, with good cause, a 'literary
sharecropper.’
In the 1950s he constantly looked to the musical
stage for success, as he sought to repeat his major coup of the 1940s,
when Kurt Weill and Elmer Rice had chosen him as the lyricist for their
Street Scene (1947). This production was hailed as a breakthrough in the
development of American opera; for Hughes, the apparently endless cycle of
poverty into which he had been locked came to an end. He bought a home in
Harlem.
The Simple books inspired a musical show, Simply Heavenly
(1957), that met with some success. However, Hughes's Tambourines to Glory
(1963), a gospel musical play satirizing corruption in a black storefront
church, failed badly, with some critics accusing him of creating
caricatures of black life. Nevertheless, his love of gospel music led to
other
acclaimed stage efforts, usually mixing words, music, and dance
in an atmosphere of improvisation. Notable here were the Christmas show
Black Nativity (1961) and, inspired by the civil rights movement,
Jericho--Jim Crow (1964).
For Hughes, writing for children was
important. Starting with the successful Popo and Fifina (1932), a tale set
in Haiti and written with Arna Bontemps, he eventually published a dozen
children's books, on subjects such as jazz, Africa, and the West Indies.
Proud of his versatility, he also wrote a commissioned history of the
NAACP and the text of a much
praised pictorial history of black
America. His text in The Sweet Flypaper of Life (1955), where he
explicated photographs of Harlem by Roy DeCarava, was judged masterful by
reviewers, and confirmed Hughes's reputation for an unrivaled command of
the nuances of black urban culture.
The 1960s saw Hughes as
productive as ever. In 1962 his ambitious book-length poem Ask Your Mama,
dense with allusions to black culture and music, appeared. However, the
reviews were dismissive. Hughes's work was not as universally acclaimed as
before in the black community. Although he was hailed in 1966 as a
historic artistic figure at the
First World Festival of Negro Arts in
Dakar, Senegal, he also found himself increasingly rejected by young black
militants at home as the civil rights movement lurched toward Black Power.
His last book was the volume of verse, posthumously published, The Panther
and the Lash (1967), mainly about civil rights. He died in May that year
in New
York City.
In many ways Hughes always remained loyal to
the principles he had laid down for the younger black writers in 1926. His
art was firmly rooted in race pride and race feeling even as he cherished
his freedom as an artist. He was both nationalist and cosmopolitan. As a
radical democrat, he believed that art should be accessible to as many
people as
possible. He could sometimes be bitter, but his art is
generally suffused by a keen sense of the ideal and by a profound love of
humanity, especially black Americans. He was perhaps the most original of
African American poets and, in the breadth and variety of his work,
assuredly the most representative of African American
writers.
From The Oxford Companion to African American
Literature, Oxford University Press, © 1997.
Mother to Son
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't
been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And
boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor
--
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And
reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the
dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn
back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder
hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se
still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal
stair.
Biographical Data
The Negro Speaks of Rivers: Dream
Keeper
Langston Hughes is often referred to as the "Poet
Laureate of the Negro Race."
I Hear America Singing
J. Langston Hughes: A central figure of the
Harlem Renaissance.
James Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)
"We younger Negro artists now intend to express
our individual dark - skinned selves without fear or shame. If white
people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't
matter. We know we are beautiful. and ugly too...If colored people
are pleased we are glad. if they are not, their displeasure doesn't
matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we
know how and we stand on the top to the mountain, free within
ourselves."
"The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" the
Nation, 1926
Books and Writers
African - American poet, novelist, and playwright, who
became one of the foremost interpreters of racial relationships in the
United States.
Lawrence Hughes in Lawrence: Lawrence, Kansas
Saint .Luke's AME Church in Lawrence, Langston
attended services, sometimes reluctantly. In his autobiography, Langston
stated that in the black churches of Lawrence, he heard rhythms that
influenced his poetry.
Amazing Americans - Langston Hughes
Hughes' creative genius was influenced by his life in
New York City's Harlem, a primarily African American
neighborhood.
Black History Month - Biography - Langston
Hughes
Following the example of Paul Laurence Dunbar,
one of his early poetic influences, Langston Hughes became the
second African American to earn his living as a writer.
Modern American Poetry
Compiled and prepared by Cary Nelson.
Langston Hughes Biography
Langston Hughes and
the Academy of American Poets
"Hughes who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl
Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly
known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America
from the twenties though the sixties."
Langston Hughes
- The Black Renaissance in Washington, D.C.
Washington's middle class community experienced a
literary rebirth during the 1920s. Eventually, some writers took
their skills to Harlem. Hughes lived in Washington, D.C. from
November 1924 to January 1926.
Poetry
Authors in Depth -Langston Hughes - Meyer Literature
Throughout his long career as a professional writer,
Hughes remained true to the African American heritage he celebrated in his
writings, which were frankly "racial in theme and treatment, derived from
the life I know.
Spectra Links
Langston Hughes : The Shakespeare of
Harlem
Gale - Free Resources - Black History Month -
Biography - Langston Hughes
Young Hughes learned the blues and spirituals.
He would subsequently weave these musical elements into his own poetry and
fiction.
Library of Congress. Today in History Archive
See: Langston Hughes
America's Library. Langston Hughes
Biographical articles on Hughes
The Negro Speaks of Rivers: Dream
Keeper
Langston Hughes is often referred to as the "Poet
Laureate of the Negro Race."
I Hear America Singing
J. Langston Hughes: A central figure of the
Harlem Renaissance.
James Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)
"We younger Negro artists now intend to express
our individual dark - skinned selves without fear or shame. If white
people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't
matter. We know we are beautiful. and ugly too...If colored people
are pleased we are glad. if they are not, their displeasure doesn't
matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we
know how and we stand on the top to the mountain, free within
ourselves."
"The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" the
Nation, 1926
Books and Writers
African - American poet, novelist, and playwright, who
became one of the foremost interpreters of racial relationships in the
United States.
Lawrence Hughes in Lawrence: Lawrence, Kansas
Saint .Luke's AME Church in Lawrence, Langston
attended services, sometimes reluctantly. In his autobiography, Langston
stated that in the black churches of Lawrence, he heard rhythms that
influenced his poetry.
Amazing Americans - Langston Hughes
Hughes' creative genius was influenced by his life in
New York City's Harlem, a primarily African American
neighborhood.
Black History Month - Biography - Langston
Hughes
Following the example of Paul Laurence Dunbar,
one of his early poetic influences, Langston Hughes became the
second African American to earn his living as a writer.
Modern American Poetry
Compiled and prepared by Cary Nelson
Langston Hughes Biography
Langston Hughes and
the Academy of American Poets
"Hughes who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl
Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly
known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America
from the twenties though the sixties."
Langston Hughes
- The Black Renaissance in Washington, D.C.
Washington's middle class community experienced a
literary rebirth during the 1920s. Eventually, some writers took
their skills to Harlem. Hughes lived in Washington, D.C. from
November 1924 to January 1926.
Poetry
Authors in Depth -Langston Hughes - Meyer Literature
Throughout his long career as a professional writer,
Hughes remained true to the African American heritage he celebrated in his
writings, which were frankly "racial in theme and treatment, derived from
the life I know.
Spectra Links
Langston Hughes : The Shakespeare of Harlem
Gale - Free Resources - Black History Month -
Biography - Langston Hughes
Young Hughes learned the blues and spirituals.
He would subsequently weave these musical elements into his own poetry and
fiction.
Library of Congress. Today in History Archive
See: Langston Hughes
America's Library. Langston Hughes
Biographical articles on Hughes.
The
Harlem Renaissance
"Harlem was like a great magnet for the Negro
intellectual, pulling him from everywhere. Once in New York, he had
to live in Harlem. Harlem was not so much a place as a state of
mind, the cultural metaphor for black America itself."
(Langston Hughes)
Chronology - The Harlem Renaissance
See: Langston Hughes
America's Library. Langston Hughes
Biographical articles on Hughes' life
Langston Hughes : The Shakespeare of
Harlem.
He shared his feelings about everyday African
Americans through different forms of literature.
Harlem Renaissance 1919 - 1948
African American Writers and Poets
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than
the
flow of human blood in human
vein
My soul has grown deep like the
rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were
young
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to
sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above
it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe
Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all
golden in the sunset...
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Literary Criticism on Hughes' Work
Critical Works: Langston Hughes
Selected Bibliography of Critical Works on Langston
Hughes
Criticism - a bibliography
see: Langston Hughes
hughesbib
Excellent site of resources on the study of
Hughes' work.
Academy of American Poets
Site on Langston Hughes, with good links to the
web.
Voices and Visions Series
Offers an extensive Hughes site.
Bibliography: Langston Hughes
Reflection : Minority Voices
Criticism - Art - Harlem Renaissance
see: Langston Hughes
African American Poetry Criticism
An excellent bibliography of critical work on Hughes'
literary work.
Short Stories of Langston Hughes
Hughes was fond of calling himself "a literary
sharecropper."
Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)
Teacher Resource File
Lesson Plan - Langston Hughes
Related topics: Music, Poetry, Civil Rights Movement,
Geography, and Choral Reading
Bibliography : Langston Hughes
Selected bibliographies of critical works of Langston
Hughes. From the Jazz Literature Archive.
The Stranger Redeemed: A Portrait of a Black
Poet
Yale - New Haven Teachers Institute
Langston Hughes Related Sites
They provide interesting information on the life and
work of an American Original.
Political Plays of Langston Hughes
Little - Known Labor Plays of Langston Hughes to be
Published on Hughes' Birthday
Works of Langston Hughes
Hughes addresses Jazz : its universality and its
ability to bring people together despite their differences.
The Langston Hughes Tribute
A dedication to a great great African American
writer.
Major Themes, Historical Perspectives, and Personal
Issues
Classroom Issues and Strategies
The primary problems encountered in teaching Langston
Hughes grow out of his air of improvisation and familiarity. Vital
to an understanding of Hughes's poetry and prose is to understand the
quality of black colloquial speech and the rhythms of jazz and the
blues.
The
poet's Corner
Langston Hughes
Critical Work on Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes and the Chicago Defender
Essays on Race, Politics, and Culture,
1942-62.
African - American History : Roy DeCarava and Langston
Hughes
Recent Acquisitions in African - American
History
Jazz is Timeless
Langston Hughes: Flypaper of Life with Roy
DeCarava (1984)
Suggested readings etc.
SCORE: Teacher Guide - The Poetry of Langston
Hughes
Teacher Cyber Guide to the Poetry of Langston
Hughes
Langston Hughes
Modern American Poetry
The South
Langston Hughes: Poems
Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center
Seattle, WA
Bibliographic Information on Langston
Hughes
The Crisis Magazine On - Line
Cover Story: The Life and Times of Langston
Hughes - remembering the prolific literary legend 100 years after his
birth.
Featured
Author: Langston Hughes
With News and Reviews From the Archives of the
New York Times.
Featured Author - Langston Hughes
With News and Reviews From the Archives of the New
York Times.
Poetry Website - Langston Hughes
Link baton
Books by Langston Hughes, ISBN etc.
IMS : Langston Hughes, HarperAudio
Short Stories; written by Langston Hughes and read by
actor Ossie Davis.
PAL : Perspectives in American Literature: A
Research and Reference Guide
See: Langston Hughes
Not So Simple : The "Simple" Stories by Langston
Hughes
"The fictional works of Langston Hughes have not yet
received the scholarly attention they deserve."
The
Langston Hughes Review
Official Publication of the Langston Hughes
Society
Featured
Author : Langston Hughes
With News and Reviews From the Archives of the New
York Times.
Longman English Literature
The English Pages Literature Workbook
Literature of the Harlem Renaissance
Most African American Writers wrote to escape the
trials of life, such as poverty and discrimination. In the 1920s,
literature blossomed and became a key factor in the lives of common
folk.
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was one of the dominant voices in
American literature of this century and perhaps the single most
influential Black poet.
Black Renaissance in DC Timeline
See: Langston Hughes
In 1926, when Langston Hughes presented his famous
manifest, "The Negro and the Racial Mountain". he attacked the
tendency of middle-class blacks to suppress their Black selves and
heritage in an uncritical embrace of whiteness.
A Spark for Langston Hughes
Bessie Smith: A Heroine for Cora
Hughes Langston
An Encarta Encyclopedia Article titled "Hughes,
Langston"
African American Odyssey: World War 1 and Postwar
Society (Part 2)
The Harlem and the Flowering of Creativity. African
Americans wrote symphonies and sonatas in the period between the world
wars. They did not only write. However the night club scene and music
seemed to capture the period.
Langston Hughes: An Illustrated Edition; artist: Stephen
Alcorn
Listed in The New York Review of Books'
READER'S CATALOG: The 40,000 Best Books In Print.
Miss Blues'es Child by Langston Hughes
Storylines: storytellers
Langston Hughes
Internet School Library Media Center
Langston Hughes bibliography page
Langston Hughes : The Weary Blues
The Weary Blues
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth
to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the
other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a
lazy sway ....
He did a lazy sway ....
To the tune o' those Weary
Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor
piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety
stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet
Blues!
Coming from a black man's soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song
voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano
moan--
"Ain't got nobody in all this world,
Ain't got nobody but ma
self.
I's gwine to quit ma frownin'
And put ma troubles on the
shelf."
Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the
floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more--
"I got the
Weary Blues
And I can't be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And
can't be satisfied--
I ain't happy no mo'
And I wish that I had
died."
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went
out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to
bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a
rock or a man that's dead.
Awards & Other Recognitions
Blunt(MO07) - Press Release - Blunt Reports
Stamp to Honor Langston Hughes
Joplin's Native Langston Hughes won the honor of
having a postage stamp to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. US
Congressman Roy Blunt's Bill was co-sponsored by Congressman Charlie
Rangel (D-Harlem), and expressed the sense of Congress to issue a postage
stamp to commemorate Hughes' work.
The Crystal Stair Award
A crystal stair serves as the central image of the
poem "Mother to Son" by the 20th - century African American poet Langston
Hughes. The Crystal Stair Award has been established by School of
Social Work to recognize "natural social workers" - volunteers and
professionals from any discipline who have worked passionately for social
justice and the elimination of prejudice and oppression.
Happy 100th Birthday Mr. Hughes
Alice Walker celebrates 100th birthday of poet
Langston Hughes
In 1926 Langston Hughes was awarded the Witter Bynner
Prize
This award was for the best poetry submitted by
an American undergraduate. His award was given based on a collection
of five poems, one of which was "The House in Taos". In this
very same contest, Waring Cuney received an honorable mention.
First African American to be inducted into the
Missouri Writers Hall of Fame*
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/mo07_blunt/langstonhughesstamp.html
Guggenheim Fellow
Langston Hughes is a Guggenheim Fellow.
The fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement in the
past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.
News and Media
Events at Rutgers University to celebrate Black
History Month
See: Langston Hughes: 100th Birthday
celebration.
The
Langston Hughes Society
The Langston Hughes Review: Official Publication
of the Langston Hughes Society
Langston Hughes Symposium
A celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of
Langston Hughes
Lawrence celebrates Langston Hughes Events
To learn more about the celebrations, please visit the
Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau Website.
Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center
Poet in residence: Laboratory School;
University of Chicago
First prize for poetry in the Opportunity Magazine;
1925
First Prize for poetry in the Witter Bynner
Undergraduate Contest, Lincoln University; 1926
The Amy Springarn Award
The Intercollegiate Poet Award; Palms magazine;
1927
The Harmon Gold Medal for Literature;
1931
Langston Hughes and his World: A Centennial
Celebration, a research conference at Yale University February 21-23,
2002. Note: A Website link will be available in future.
Langston Hughes Festival, Joplin,
Missouri - February 1, 2003
Dream Explosion: The fifth Annual Langston
Hughes Black Poetry Festival, Florrisant, Missouri. April 20-27,
2002
Langston Hughes Celebration, Enoch Pratt
Library, Baltimore, Maryland February 24, 2002
I, TOO
I, too, sing
America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in
the kitchen
When company comes,
But I
laugh,
And eat well,
And grow
strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When
company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat
in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how
beautiful I am
And be ashamed - -
I, too, am
America.
In Print:Langston Hughes' Bibliography
Prose Writing
Most of the titles can be found at a Howard University
Library.
A Negro Looks at Soviet Central Asia. Moscow and
Leningrad: Co-operative Publishing Society of Foreign Workers in the
U.S.S.R., 1934.
The Big Sea: An Autobiography. Knopf, 1940,
reprinted, Thunder's Mouth, 1986. Howard University
Library.
The Sweet Flypaper of Life. Langston Hughes and
Roy De Carava, Simon & Schuster, 1955, reprinted Howard University
Press, 1985. Howard University Library.
I Wonder as I Wander: An
Autobiographical Journey. Rinehart, 1956, reprinted, Thunder's Mouth,
1986. Howard University Library.
A Pictorial History of the Negro
in America. Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer. Crown, 1956. 4th
Edition published as A Pictorial History of Black Americans, 1973. 6th
Edition published as A Pictorial History of African Americans, 1995.
Howard University Library.
Fight for Freedom: The Story of the
NAACP. Norton, 1962. Howard University Library
Black Magic. Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer. A
Pictorial History of the Negro in American Entertainment. Prentice-Hall,
1967. Howard University Library.
Black Misery. Paul S.
Erickson, 1969, reprinted, Oxford University Press, 1994.
The Langston Hughes Reader. New York: Braziller,
1958.
Five Plays by Langston Hughes. Edited by Webster
Smalley. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963.
Good Morning
Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings by Langston Hughes. Edited
by Faith Berry. New York & Westport: Lawrence Hill, 1973.
Fiction
The Best of Simple. Illustrated by Bernhard Nast. New York:
Hill and Wang, 1961. Howard University Library.
The Best of
Simple. Paperback. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1988. Howard University
Library.
The Best of Simple. 1 sound recording. Folkways Records,
1961. Library of Congress.
Laughing to Keep from Crying. 1st
ed. New York: Holt, c1952 (Held at College of William and Mary);
Mattituck, NY: Aeonian Press, 1976. Howard University Library. [Note:
Short stories]
Laughing to Keep from Crying and 25 Jesse Semple
Stories. Limited ed. Franklin Center, PA: Franklin Library, 1981. Howard
University Library.
Not Without Laughter. New York: A. A. Knopf,
1930; New York: Collier, 1979; 1st Scribner paperback fiction ed. New
York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. Howard University
Library.
The Return of Simple. Edited by Akiba Sullivan Harper. 1st
ed. New York: Hill and Wang, 1994. Howard University
Library.
Short Stories. Edited by Akiba Sullivan Harper. 1st
ed. New York: Hill and Wang, 1996. Howard University Library.
The
Simple Omnibus. Mattituck, NY: Aeonian Press, 1978, c1961. Howard
University Library.
Simple Speaks His Mind. New York: Simon and
Schuster, c1950; Mattituck, NY: Aeonian Press, 1976. Howard University
Library.
Simple Speaks His Mind. 1 sound disc. (side 2).Folkways
Records, 1952. Howard University Library.
Simple Stakes a Claim.
New York: Rinehart, c1957. Howard University Library.
Simple
Stories. 1 cassette. 7 stories from The Best of Simple and Simple's Uncle
Sam. Caedmon, 1968. Howard University Library.
Simple Takes a
Wife. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953. University of
Virginia.
Simple's Uncle Sam. New York: Hill and Wang, 1967,
c1965. New York. Hill and Wang, 1977. Howard University
Library .
Something in Common and Other Stories. New York: Hill and
Wang, 1963. University of Virginia.
Something in Common. 1st
ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Paperback. Howard University
Library.
Tambourines to Glory: A Novel. New York: Hill and Wang,
1958. New York: Hill and Wang, 1970. Howard University
Library.
The Ways of White Folks. 1st ed. New York: A. A. Knopf,
1934. Howard University Library.
The Ways of White Folks. (Short Stories) New York: A.
A. Knopf, 1969; New York: Vintage, 1971. Howard University
Library.
Poetry
Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1928: And Year Book of
American Poetry. Edited by Stanley Braithwaite. New York: Harold Vinal,
Ltd., 1928. University of Virginia.
Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for
Jazz. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1961. (Held by University of Virginia); New
York: Knopf, 1971, c1961. Carrier Library.
The Block. Collage by
Romare Bearden; selected by Lowery S. Sims and Daisy Murray Voigt. New
York: Viking, 1995. Library of Congress. Howard University
Library.
Carol of the Brown King: Poems. N.Y.: Atheneum Books,
1997.
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Edited by Arnold
Rampersad. New York: Knopf, 1996, c1994. Howard University
Library.
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Edited by Arnold
Rampersad; David Roessel, associate ed. Paperback. Vintage Books, 1995.
For review and a list of the poems included see Amazon Book Company.
Howard University Library.
Dear Lovely Death,. Amenia, NY:
Troutbeck Press, 1931. Library of Congress.
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems. Knopf,
1932.
Enjoyment of Poetry. Poetry of the Blues. Sound
recording. Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature (Library of
Congress). [Poetry of Hughes and Florence Becker Lennon] Howard University
Library.
Fields of Wonder. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. Howard
University Library.
Fine Clothes to the Jew. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1927. University of Virginia.
Four Negro Poets. By
Alain LeRoy Locke. New York: Simon & Schuster, c1927. Howard
University Library.
Freedom's Plow. New York: Musette Publishers,
1943. Howard University Library..
Jim Crow's Last Stand. Atlanta: Negro Publication
Society of America, 1943.
Langston Hughes Reading His Poems with Comment, May 1,
1959. Sound recording. 1959. Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature,
Library of Congress.
Langston Hughes Reads and Talks about
His Poems. Sound recording. Spoken Arts, 1970. Library of Congress.
Howard University Library.
Mandelik, Peter. A Concordance to the
Poetry of Langston Hughes. Detroit: Gale Research, 1975. University of
Virginia.
Montage of a Dream Deferred. 1st ed. New York: Henry
Holt, 1951. University of Virginia.
The Negro Mother and Other Dramatic Recitations. N.Y.:
Golden Stair Press, 1931.
A New Song. New York: International
Workers Order, 1938. Library of Congress.
One-way Ticket.
Illus. by Jacob Lawrence. 1st ed. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1949, c1948.
Howarad University Library.
The Panther & the Lash: Poems of
Our Times. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1969. Howard University
Library.
The Panther & the Lash. 1st Vintage classics ed. New
York: Vintage Books, 1992. Howard University Library.
The Pasteboard Bandit. N.Y.: Oxford University Press,
1997. Howard University Library.
Poems. 1972. [uniform title, in
Arabic] (From Library of Congress.) Howard University
Library.
Scottsboro Limited: Four Poems and a Play in Verse.
Illustrations by Prentiss Taylor. New York: Golden Stair Press,1932.
University of Virginia.
Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. 1st ed.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959; Vintage classics ed. New York: Vintage
Books, 1990. Also, 1974 ed. University of Virginia.
Selected
Poems of Langston Hughes. 1st ed. Drawings by E. McKnight Kauffer. New
York: Knopf, c1959 (Held by Averett); Drawings by E. McKnight Kauffer. New
York: Knopf, 1993. Howard University Library.
Shakespeare in
Harlem. With drawings by E. McKnight Kauffer. 1st ed. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1942. Howard University Library.
The Weary Blues. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1926. Howard University Library.
My People
The night is beautiful
So the faces of my
people.
The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my
people.
Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are
the souls of my people.
Works Edited by Hughes
An African Treasury: Articles, Essays,
Stories, and Poems by Black Africans. Edited by Langston Hughes. New York:
Crown, 1960. Howard University Library.
Anthology of Black Poets. 1
sound cassette. Los Angeles, CA: Pacifica Radio Archive,
1983.
Anthology of Negro Poetry. 1 sound disc. By Arna Wendell
Bontemps. Folkways, 1961. (Held by University of Virginia).
The
Best Short Stories by Negro Writers: An Anthology from 1899 to the
Present. Edited by Langston Hughes. Boston: Little, Brown, 1967. Howard
University Library.
The Best Short Stories by Black Writers; The
Classic Anthology from 1899 to 1967. Paperback. Little, Brown,
1969.
The Book of Negro Folklore. Edited by Langston Hughes and
Arna Bontemps. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1958. Howard University
Library.
The Book of Negro Folklore. Edited by Langston Hughes and
Arna Bontemps. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1983. Howard
University Library.
The Book of Negro Folklore. Microform. edited
by Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps. New York: Dodd, Mead, c1958. Library
of Congress. Also Howard University Library.
The Book of Negro
Folklore. Microform. Edited by Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps. New
York: Dodd, Mead, 1958. (From Library of Congress Catalog) Also Howard
University Library.
The Book of Negro Humor.
Edited by Langston Hughes. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966. Carrier
Library.
Famous American Negroes. New York:
Dodd, Mead, 1954. Howard University Library..
Famous Negro Heroes
of America. Illustrated by Gerald McCann. New York: Dodd, Mead,
1958. Carrier Library.
Famous Negro Music Makers. New York:
Dodd, Mead, 1955. Howard University Library.
The New Negro Poets
U.S.A.. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1964. Old
Dominion.
Poems from Black Africa: Ethiopia, South Rhodesia, Sierra
Leone, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Kenya, Gabon, Senegal, Nyasaland,
Mozambique, South Africa, Congo, Ghana, Liberia. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1963. Howard University Library..
The Poetry of
the Negro, 1746-1970 An anthology edited by Langston Hughes and Arna
Bontemps. 1st ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1949 (Held at College of
William and Mary); Rev. and updated ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.
Howard University Library.
Yoseloff, Thomas. Seven Poets in Search
of an Answer: Maxwell Bodenheim, Joy Davidman, Langston Hughes, Aaron
Kramer, Alfred Kreymborg, Martha Millet, Norman Rosten. A poetic symposium
edited by Thomas Yoseloff. New York: Ackerman, 1944. University of
Virginia.
Works Translated by Hughes
Anthologie Africaine et Malgache Edited by Langston Hughes and
Christiane Reygnault. Paris: Editions Seghers, 1962. Library of
Congress.
Blood Wedding; and, Yerma. By Federico Garcia Lorca. tr.
by Langston Hughes and W. S. Merwin. 1st ed. New York: Theatre
Communications Group, 1994.
Cuba Libre, Poems By Nicolas Guillen;
tr. from the Spanish by Langston Hughes and Ben Frederic Carruther; illus.
by Gar Gilbert. Los Angeles: Anderson & Ritchie, 1948.
University of Virginia.
Masters of the Dew. By Jacques Rouman. tr.
by Langston Hughes and Mercer Cook. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock,
1947. University of Virginia.
Collections
The
Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Edited by Arnold Rampersad. Columbia:
University of Missouri Press. 2001. Library of
Congress.
Langston Hughes in the Hispanic World and Haiti. Edited
by Edward J. Mullen. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books,1977. Library of
Congress.
Langston Hughes. Presentation par Francois Dodat. Choix
de Textes, Bibliographie, Portraits [et] Fac-Simsimiles.Paris: Editions P.
Seghers, 1964. [French]
Juvenile Literature
Black Misery. Illustrations by Arouni. New York: Paul Eriksson,
1969. University of Virginia.
Black Misery. Illustrated by Arouni.
New York: P.S. Eriksson, 1969.
Black Misery. Illustrated by Arouni.
Oxford University Press, 1994. (The Iona and Peter Opie Library of
Children's Literature). Review at Amazon Book Company. Booklist recommends
Grades 6-12, all ages.
The Block: Poems. Collage by Romare Bearden;
selected by Lowery S. Sims and Daisy Murray Voigt. New York: Viking,
1995. University of Virginia.
The Block: Poems. Illustrated
by Romare Bearden. Viking Children's Books, 1995. Reviewed at Amazon Book
Company. Booklist recommends grades 6-12.
The Book of Rhythms.
Illus. by Matthew Wawiorka. Rev. ed. of The First Book of Rhythms. Oxford
University Press, 1995. Reviews available at Amazon Book Company. Ages
9-12.
Carol of the Brown King: Nativity Poems. Illustrated by
Ashley Bryan. New York: Atheneum Books, 1998.
Davis, Ossie.
Langston: A Play New York: Delacorte Press, 1982. [Note: Play is about Hughes. He visits a drama group rehearsing one of his
plays and uses the actors to recreate scenes from his early life. Juvenile
drama]
Don't You Turn Back: Poems. Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
Woodcuts by Ann Grifalconi. New York: Knopf, 1969. University of
Virginia.[Note: Poetry selected by Harlem fourth graders.]
The
Dream Keeper and Other Poems. Illustrations by Helen Sewell. New York:
Alfred Knopf, 1932; New York: Knopf; dist. by Random House, 1986.
University of Virginia.
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems.
Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. New York: Knopf, 1994. Carrier Library.. For
a review of this collection see Amazon Book Company. Booklist recommends
for grades 4-12.
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems. Illustrated by
Brian Pinkney. Paperback. Knopf, 1996.
The Dream Keeper and Other
Poems 1 sound recording. Folkways Records, 1955. Library of
Congress.
The Dream Keeper and Ohter Poems.
Recording script & sound recording. Folkways, 1961? Library of
Congress.
The First Book of Jazz. Pictures by Cliff Roberts. music
selected by David Martin. New York: F. Watts, c1955; updated ed, 1976.
1955 ed. Carrier Library.
The First Book of Jazz. Illustrated by Cliff Roberts.
Ecco Press, 1995; Paperback ed. Ecco Press, 1997.
The First Book of
Negroes. Pictures by Ursula Koering. New York: F. Watts, c1952.
Carrier Library.
The First Book of Rhythms. Pictures by Robin King
[pseud.]. New York: F. Watts, 1954. Carrier Library.
The First Book
of the West Indies. Pictures by Robert Bruce. New York: F. Watts, 1956.
Carrier Library.
Jazz. By Langston Hughes; updated and expanded by
Sandford Brown. 3rd ed. New York: F. Watts, 1982. (Note: earlier ed. was
The First Book of Jazz.)
The Langston Hughes Reader. 1st ed. New
York: G. Braziller, 1958; New York: G. Braziller, 1971, c1958. Old
Dominion.
The Pasteboard Bandit. By Arna Wendell Bontemps and
Langston Hughes; illustrations by Peggy Turley. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1997.
Popo and Fifina. By Arna Bontemps and
Langston Hughes; illus. by Simms Campbell. New York: Macmillan, 1932; New
York: Oxford University Pr., 1993.
The Sweet and Sour Animal Book.
Illustrations by students of the Harlem School of the Arts. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1994. University of Virginia.
Thank You,
M'am. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 1991. (Note: A teenage tries to
steal a purse and is rebuked in a surprising fashion).
The Dream Keeper
Bring me all of your dreams,
You
dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may
wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough
fingers
Of the world.
Essays
Langston
Hughes and the Chicago Defender: Essays on Race, Politics, and Culture,
1942-62. Edited by Christopher C. De Santis. Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, c1995. University of Virginia.
Good Morning,
Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings. Edited by Faith Berry.
1st ed. New York: L. Hill,1973; Seacaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1992.
(1973 ed. University of Virginia.
Operas/Drama
Black
Nativity. Woodstock, Ill.: Dramatic Pub., c1992. Original title: Wasn't
That a Mighty Day? Library of Congress. [Note: Christmas
music]
Black Nativity. 1 sound disc. By Marion Williams, Princess
Stewart, Alex Bradford and Langston Hughes. Vee-Jay Records, 196- .
Library of Congress.
Canto de Una Muchacha Negra. By Silvestre
Revueltas. New York: E.B. Marks Music Corp., 1948. Includes Hughes' "Song
for a Dark Girl." Library of Congress.
Five Plays. Edited by
Webster Smalley. 1st Midland book ed. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1968. University of Virginia. (Note: c1963 ed. held by
Carrier; includes "Mulatto," "Soul Gone Home," "Little Ham," "Simply
Heavenly," "Tambourines to Glory.").
Five Plays. Paperback. Edited
by Webster Smalley. Indiana University Press, 1963.
Jerico-Jim-Crow-Jerico; A Song-Play. Libretto. 1963. Library of
Congress.
Jericho-Jim Crow. 2 sound discs. New York: Folkways,
c1964. Old Dominion.
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life. By Langston
Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston; edited by George Houston Bass and Henry
Louis Gates, Jr., and the complete story of the mule bone controversy. New
York: HarperPerennial, 1991. University of Virginia.
The Negro
Mother, and Other Dramatic Recitations. With decorations by Prentiss
Taylor. New York: Golden Staress, c1931; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries
Press, 1971. University of Virginia.
The Negro Mother, and Other
Dramatic Recitations. Salem, NH: Ayer Co., 1987.
[Note: Contents include "The Colored Soldier," "Broke," "The Black Clown,"
"The Big-timer," "The Negro Mother," "Dark Youth of the U.S.A." Simply
Heavenly. Script. University of Virginia.
Simply Heavenly. Book and lyrics by Hughes,
music by David Martin. New York: Dramatists Play Service,
1959.
Street Scene. Kurt Weill composer/performer; book by Elmer
Rice; lyrics by Langston Hughes. University of Virginia.
Three
Negro Plays. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969. [Note: Hughes, "Mulatto,"
Baraka "Slaves," Hansberry "Sign in Sidney Brustein's
Window."
Troubled Island: An Opera in Three Acts. Libretto. By
William Grant Stills; libretto by Langston Hughes. New York: Leeds Music
Company, c1949. University of Virginia.
Musical Settings
Barber, Samuel. Fantasy in Purple. Words by Langston Hughes. 1
music manuscript score. 1925. Library of
Congress.
Bartos, Jan Zdenek. Koncert Pro Housle
a Orchestr. Original text Langston Hughes. Praha: Panton, 1974. Library of
Congress.
Davidson, Charles. Freedom Train. Microform. From a poem
by Langston Hughes; music by Charles Davidson. Library of
Congress.
Gordon, Ricky Ian. Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs.
Music by Ricky Ian Gordon, using poems by Langston Hughes. Williamson
Music; distributed by Hal Leondard, c1995. University of
Virginia.
Bonds, Margaret. The Ballad of the Brown
King. Written by Hughes, Libretto by Hughes, music by Margaret
Bonds. New York: Sam fox, 1961.
Gordon, Ricky Ian. Only Heaven: Piano-Vocal.
Milwaukee, Wis.: Williamson Music; distributed by H. Leonard Corp.,1997.
Library of Congress.
Haden, Charlie. Dream Keeper. By Charlie Haden
and the Liberation Music Orchestra. Hollywood, CA: Blue Note, 1991.
Library of Congress.
Siegmeister, Elie. Madam to You. Sound
recording. Composers Recordings, p1979. Carrier
Library.
Siegmeister, Elie. Ways of Love: Langston Hughes Songs. 1
sound disc. Five pieces for piano. New York: CRI, p1986. University of
Virginia.
Swanson, Howard. Seven Songs. 1 sound disc. New York:
American Recording Society, 1953. College of William and
Mary.
Weston, Randy. Bantu. 2 discs. sound recording. Roulette RE
130, 1976. Music by Randy Weston, words by Langston Hughes. Library
of Congress.
Nonprint
Media
America's Town Meeting of the Air. 1 tape
reel. Cataloged from notes compiled by the Recording Laboratory of the
Library of Congress; actual tape contents may vary. Originally broadcast
on ABC Radio, New York, Feb. 17, 1944. Address--Radio. Library of
Congress.
The Beat Generation. 3 sound discs. Santa Monica, CA:
Rhino/Word Beat, p1992. [Note: includes "Blues Montage" Langston Hughes,
with Leonard Feather]. Old Dominion.
The First Album of Jazz for
Children, with Documentary Recordings from the Library of Folkways
Records. New York: Folkways Records, c1954. [Note: narrated by Langston
Hughes, based upon his book of the same title]. Old Dominion.
The
Glory of Negro History. 1 sound disc. New York: Folkways Records, 19
? [Note narrated by Langston Hughes]. Old Dominion.
The
Harlem Renaissance and Beyond. 1 videocassette. Mt. Kisco, NY: Guidance
Associates, c1990. Carrier Library.
Langston Hughes Video
recording: The Dream Keeper. Juvenile poetry. South Carolina Educational
Television Network, a New York Center for Visual History Production,
1988. Eastern Mennonite University.
Looking for Langston. Video recording. Sankofa Fil and Video.
New York: Third World Newsreel, 198? College of William and
Mary.
Poems from Black Africa. 1 cassette recording. Performed by
Langston Hughes. Caedmon, 1971. University of
Virginia.
Poetry and Reflections. 1 cassette. Caedmon, p1980.
University of Virginia.
The Poetry of Langston Hughes. 1 cassette.
Caedmon, 1969?. University of Virginia.
The Spoken Arts
Treasury of 100 Modern American Poets Reading Their Poems. 1 sound
cassette. New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1985. Old
Dominion.
The Subject Is Jazz. Jazz and Other Arts. 3 16mm tapes.
NBC Television; in cooperation with the Educational Television and Radio
Center; executive producer, Brice Howard. NBC Television, 1958. Gilbert
Seldes, host; Langston Hughes, guest. Library of
Congress.
Tambourines to Glory. 1 sound disc. Gospel songs by
Langston Hughes & Jobe Huntley. Folkways, 1958. University of
Virginia.
Migration
A little Southern colored child
Comes to a
Northern school
And is afraid to play
With the white
children.
At first they are nice to him,
But finally they
taunt him
And call him "nigger."
The colored
children
Hate him, too,
After awhile.
He is a
little dark boy
With a round black face
And a white embroidered
collar.
Concerning this
Little frightened
child
One might make a story
Charting tomorrow.
Autobiography/Biography
Hughes, Langston. The Big Sea: An Autobiography. New York: A. A.
Knopf, 1940 (Held by College of William and Mary); New York: Thunder's
Mouth Press; dist. by Persea Books, 1986. University of
Virginia.
Hughes, Langston. The Big Sea: An Autobiography. Hill and
Wang, 1940, 1963; 2nd Hill and Wang ed., 1993.
Hughes, Langston.
The Big Sea: An Autobiography. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press;
distributed by Persea Books,1986.
Hughes, Langston. O Imenso Mar;
Autobiografia de Langston Hughes. Rio de Janeiro: Editorial Vitoria, 1944.
[Portugese] Library of Congress Catalog.
The Big Sea,. New
York & London, A.A. Knopf, 1940. Note: 7p. Library of
Congress.
Hughes, Langston. I Wonder as I Wander: An
Autobiographical Journey. New York: Rinehart, 1956. University of
Virginia; New York: Hill and Wang, 1964, c1956 College of William and
Mary; New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, dist. by Persea Books, 1986, c1956.
Carrier Library.
Hughes, Langston. I Wonder as I Wander: An
Autobiographical Journey. Paperback. Rei ed. Hill and Wang,
1993.
Hughes, Langston. I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical
Journey. 2nd Hill and Wang ed. New York: Hill and Wang,
1993.
Berry, Faith. Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond Harlem By
Faith Berry. Westport, Conn.: L. Hill, c1983. College of William and
Mary.
Haskins, James. Always Movin' On: The Life of Langston
Hughes. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1993. Carrier Library.
A
Langston Hughes Memorial. 1 sound cassette. Los Angeles, Calif.: Pacifica
Radio Archive, 198?. University of Virginia.
Nazel, Joe.
Langston Hughes. Los Angeles, CA: Melrose Square Pub.,
c1994.
Rollins, Charlemae H. Black Troubadour: Langston Hughes.
Chicago: Rand McNally, 1970. Carrier Library.
Rampersad,
Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes. By Arnold Rampersad. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1986. Carrier Library.
Biography/Juvenile
Berry, S. L. Langston Hughes. Mankato, Minn.: Creative Education,
1994.
Cooper, Floyd. Coming Home:From the Life of Langston Hughes.
New York: Philomel Books, c1994. (Held by Averett).
Dunham,
Montrew. Langston Hughes: Young Black Poet. By Montrew Dunham; illus. by
Robert Doremus. 1st Aladdin pbk. ed. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks,
1995.
Hill, Christine M. Langston Hughes: Poet of the Harlem
Renaissance Springfield, NJ: Enslow, c1997.
McKissack, Pat and
Fredrick McKissack. Langston Hughes: Great American Poet. Hillside, NJ:
Enslow Pub., 1992.
Meltzer, Milton. Langston Hughes: A Biography.
New York: Crowell, 1968. (Held by Averett)
Meltzer, Milton. Langston Hughes An illustrated edition by Milton
Meltzer; illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook
Press, c1997.
Myers, Elisabeth P. Langston Hughes: Poet of His
People. Illus. by Russell Hoover. New York: Dell, 1981, c1970. (Held by
Averett).
Osofsky, Audrey.Free to Dream: The Making of a Poet. 1st
ed. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, c1996.
Walker, Alice.
Langston Hughes, American Poet. Juvenile By Alice Walker; illustrated by
Don Miller. New York: Crowell, 1974. Old Dominion.
Walker,
Alice. Langston Hughes, American Poet. New York: HarperCollins,
1998.
Letters/Papers
Arna Bontemps-Langston Hughes Letters, 1925-1967. Selected and
edited by Charles H. Nichols. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1980; New York:
Paragon House, 1990. (1980, University of Virginia).
Collection, 1921-1941 21 items, Library of Congress
Manuscript Material. Library of Congress.
Langston Hughes Collection, 1926-1967.
Microform. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources,
1995. College of William and Mary. [Note: biographical
material, research notes, manuscripts, galley proofs.]
Papers of Langston Hughes, 1925-1982. 84 items. Manuscripts
of the poems "Motto," "Youth," "Snail," "Alabama Earth (At Booker
Washington's Grave)," "Cross" and "Mississippi-1955 ("To the memory of
Emmett Till lynched in Mississippi, USA/August 1955")," and reprints of
"Low to High" and "High to Low". University of Virginia.
Letters to Mrs. Ina Steele. 2 items. University of Letters
of Langston Hughes to H. R. Hays. 1942 July 4-25. 3 items.
University of Virginia.
Letter to F. Coleman Rosenberger. 1948 October 21. 1
item. University of Virginia.
Alain Locke Papers 1841 - 1954
These papers are rich in documentation on the Harlem
Renaissance including correspondence , manuscripts, and photographs of
many of the prominent figures of this period . Langston Hughes is
prominently featured here. Moorland Springarn Research Center; Howard
University Libraries.
Glenn C. Carrington Papers 1861 - 1977
The Carrington papers include a broad selection of
materials documenting the Harlem Renaissance, including programs, flyers,
newsclippings, articles, and photographs. Noteworthy is the material
on Langston Hughes, which includes correspondence, photographs,
autographed writings and programs.
Moorland Springarn Research Center; Howard University
Libraries.
Arthur B. Springarn Papers 1914 - 1971
Among the Arthur B. Springarn Papers is a series (l
1/2 linear foot in size) of materials on Langston Hughes, including
correspondence and drafts of the play, Mule Bone, by Hughes and Zora Neale
Hurston. Moorland Springarn Research Center; Howard University
Libraries.
Joel E. Springarn Papers.
Of note in these papers is the correspondence of
Langston Hughes with Joel and his wife, Amy Springarn. Moorland
Springarn Research Center; Howard University
Libraries.
Nonfiction
African American History: Four Centuries of Black Life. By
Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer. New York: Scholastic,
1990.
Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the African-American in
the Performing Arts. By Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer. New York: Da
Capo Press, 1990; Pbk reprint ed., 1990; Reprint ed. 1993. (1990 ed. Old
Dominion)
Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the Negro in American
Entertainment. By Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967.
Fight for Freedom: The Story of the NAACP.
New York: Norton, 1962. Carrier Library.
The First Book of
Africa. New York: F. Watts, 1960; rev. ed, 1964. Carrier
Library.
Das Buch vom Jazz. Feldafing, Buchheim Verlag,
1955.
A New Song. Frontispiece by Joe Jones. New York:
International Workers Order, c1938. University of
Virginia.
A Pictorial History of Black
Americans. By Langston Hughes, Milton Meltzer, and C. Eric Lincoln. 5th
rev. ed. New York: Crown, 1983. ( University of Virginia + 4th ed).
Formerly :A Pictorial History of the Negro in America.
A Pictorial
History of African Americans. 6th ed. New York: Crown Publishers,
c1995.
Proletarian Literature in the United States. Anthology
edited by Granville Hicks, Joseph North, Michael Gold, Paul Peters, Isido
Schneider and Alan Calmer. New York: International Publishers,
1935.
The Sweet Flypaper of Life. By Roy DeCarava and Langston
Hughes. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1955. University of Virginia.
New York: Hill and Wang, 1967, c1955. College of William and Mary.
Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1984.
Criticism and Interpretation
Barksdale, Richard. Langston Hughes: The Poet and His Critics.
Chicago: American [1977]. Carrier Library.
Bloom, Harold, ed.
Langston Hughes. New York: Chelsea House, c1989. Carrier
Library.
Bonner, Pat E. Sassy Jazz and Slo'Draggin' Blues: Music in
the Poetry of Langston Hughes. New York: P. Lang, 1996.
Cobb,
Martha. Harlem, Haiti, and Havana: A Comparative Critical Study of
Langston Hughes, Jacques Roumain, Nicolas Guillen. 1st ed. Washington, DC:
Three Continents Press, 1979.
Dace, Tish. Langston Hughes: The
Contemporary Reviews. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Carrier
Library.
Emanuel, James A. Langston Hughes. New York: Twayne, 1967.
Twayne's United States Authors Series. Carrier Library..
Gates,
Henry Louis, Jr. and K. A. Appiah. Langston Hughes: Critical Perspectives
Past and Present. New York: Amistad. Dist. by Penguin USA, c1993.
Carrier Library.
Harper, Donna S. Not So
Simple: The "Simple" Stories by Langston Hughes. Columbia: University of
Missouri Press,c1995.
Miller, R. Baxter. The Art and Imagination of
Langston Hughes. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, c1989.
Carrier Library.
McLaren, Joseph. Langston Hughes: Folk Dramatist
in the Protest Tradition, 1921-1943. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,
1997. Old Dominion.
Mullen, Edward J., ed. Langston Huges in
the Hispanic World and Haiti. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1977.
University of Virginia.
Neilson, Kenneth P. To Langston Hughes, with
Love. Hollis, NY: All Seasons Art, c1996. [Note: Selected newspaper
articles published in The New York Voice/Harlem
Onwuchekwa, Jemie.
Langston Hughes: An Introduction to the Poetry. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1976. (Held by Averett)
Ostrom, Hans. Langston
Hughes: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, c1993.
Carrier Library.
O'Daniel, Therman B. Langston
Hughes: Black Genius; A Critical Evaluation. For the College Language
Association. New York: Morrow, 1971. Carrier Library.
Tracy,
Steven C. Langston Hughes and the Blues. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, c1988. College of William and Mary. [Note: Folklore &
mythology].
Trotman, C.James, ed. Langston Hughes: The Man, His
Art, and His Continuing Influence. New York: Garland,1995. Carrier
Library.
Bio/Bibliography
Dickinson, Donald C. A Bio-Bibliography of Langston Hughes,
1902-1967. 2nd rev. ed. Hamden, Conn.:Archon Books, 1972. Carrier
Library.
Mikolyzk, Thomas A. Langston Hughes: A Bio-Bibliography.
New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. Carrier Library.
Miller, R.
Baxter. Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks: A Reference Guide. Boston:
G. K. Hall, c1978. Old Dominion.
Other
Content
Anch'io Sono America. Milano:
Accademia, 1971.
"Banquet in Honor". in Negro Quarterly. Vol. 1,
no. 2 (Summer, 1942), p. 176-178. University of
Virginia.
Barrel House: Northern City. U.S.?: s.n., 19--?.
[Broadside, 1 sheet] Library of Congress.
Girls from Esquire.
1952. Library of Congress.
Jim Crow's Last Stand. New York:
Negro Publ. Soc. of America, c1943. College of William and
Mary.
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