Langston Hughes is regarded as one of the most significant American authors of the twentieth century. Foremost a poet, he was the first African-American to earn a living solely from his writings after he became established. Over a forty-year career beginning in the 1920 s until his death in 1967, Hughes produced poetry, plays, novels, and a variety of nonfiction. He is perhaps best known for his creation of the fictional character, Jesse B.
Semple, which first appeared in a Chicago Defender newspaper column in 1943. Hughes’ writings focused mainly on the lives of plain black people and show their beauty, wisdom, and strength to overcome social and economic injustice. Although Hughes traveled extensively and later called New York City home, this biographical sketch focuses on his stay in Washington, D. C. from November 1924 to January 1926.
Black Washington’s middle class community experienced a literary rebirth during the 1920 s. Eventually, some writers took their skills to Harlem, a section of New York City widely considered to be the ‘Mecca’ of black culture in the 1920 s. Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, but grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. His parents separated shortly after his birth, because his father disliked racism and moved to Mexico. Hughes’ grandmother raised him. As a teenager, he joined his mother in Cleveland after she had remarried.
The Essay on Clothes To The Jew Hughes Black Fine
... of literature, and as a public figure to the Black Americans, Langston Hughes is recognized as one of Americas Cultural Heroes. In ... could ever be greeted so contemptuously. After this many Black people felt that Hughes had betrayed his own race. Even with these ... their lack of artistic and cultural training. Hughes wasn't left without friends in the Black community or press. The New York age ...
From 1916 through 1923, Hughes visited his father in Mexico often. During this period, he published his first prose, ‘Mexico Games’ in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) periodical for children, the Brownie’s Book. When crossing the Mississippi River in route to Mexico in 1922, he also wrote his famous poem, ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers.’ In late 1924, following travel abroad, Hughes returned to the United States with little money. He joined his mother and younger brother at the home of relatives in the premier black residential area of Washington, Le Droit Park. They stayed in the 1900 block of 3 rd Street, NW and later moved to an apartment, located at 1749 S Street. There was another reason for Hughes’ presence in Washington.
Though he would earn a degree from Lincoln University (PA) in 1929, he really wanted to attend Howard University. Saving enough money for tuition became his goal. Shortly after his arrival in the City, Hughes sought a position as a page at the Library of Congress, but Washington’s black leaders were unsuccessful in landing him this choice position. Hughes accepted an advertising job at the black weekly, the Washington Sentinel, but quit the paper shortly after because of poor pay. He then took a job at a laundromat. During his leisure hours, he spent time on 7 th Street, NW where ordinary black people lived.
Along the storefronts, he observed them eating barbecue and fish sandwiches. Seventh Street residents were poor but cherished life. They shot pool and told many tall tales. Here, Hughes saw something else of interest.
People sang and played the blues. Although the songs were happy or sometimes sad, they often contained the theme of the underdog moving on despite social unrest. Hughes also visited sanctified Churches on 7 th Street and enjoyed the spirituals. He liked the blues and spirituals so much that he integrated them into his poetry.
Hughes frequented other locations in the City too. On Saturday nights, he stopped by author Georgia Johnson’s home at 1461 S Street to discuss literature, eat cake, and drink wine. Hughes also observed Jewish merchants on upper 7 th Street plying their wares. Following a bad cold that cost him his laundry job, Hughes landed a better one as Dr. Carter G.
The Essay on Langston Hughes 10
Langston Hughes was one of the most original and versatile black writers of twentieth-century Langston Hughes, I never realizing the monumental literary portfolio that he produced. His accomplishments are well represented through his poetry, fiction, and drama. Born in Joplin, Missouri, to James Nathaniel and Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes, he was reared for a time by his grandmother in Lawrence, ...
Woodson’s assistant. At 1539 9 th Street, NW, Woodson edited the Journal of Negro History, not far from the 12 th Street YMCA where Hughes once stayed. At a salary of $55 per week, Hughes’ tasks included cleaning the office and reading proofs. Because reading proofs irritated his eyes, Hughes quit and began work as a busboy at the Ward man Park Hotel. Working at the Hotel, located at 2660 Woodley Road, NW, resulted in a stroke of good luck for the money-strapped Hughes. Nicholas Vac hel Lindsay, the famous white poet, stayed there.
Due to the City’s segregated policy, Hughes could not attend the poet’s reading in the auditorium. However, using the ingenuity characterized by his fictional creation, Jesse B. Semple, Hughes hatched a plan. After writing out three of his poems, ‘Jazzonia,’ ‘Negro Dancers,’ and ‘The Weary Blues,’ on a piece of paper, he placed them beside Lindsay’s dinner plate one evening. As he picked up trays of dishes, Hughes saw Lindsay reading them. The next day, in local newspapers, Lindsay informed the world of his discovering a ‘Negro busboy poet.’ Hughes gained nationwide fame when an interview by reporters appeared in The Associated Press.
Greater things were destined to come Hughes’ way. He grew weary of Washington because of what he often saw as the ‘rigid class and color lines within the race against Negroes who worked with their hands, or who were dark in complexion and had no college degrees.’ In January 1926, his poem, ‘The Weary Blues,’ won first prize in a competition offered by the National Urban League’s organ, Opportunity. This led the white writer Carl Van Vechten to ask him if he had enough poems for a book. Ultimately, Alfred A. Knopf published Hughes’ first collection of poetry, The Weary Blues. On one occasion, for an admission fee of $1.
00, he read from it at the Playhouse, located at 1814 N Street, NW. Although Hughes would move to Harlem in late January 1926, black life on Washington’s 7 th Street provided him with a rich cast of characters and indelible experiences. They not only flavored his first two books, The Weary Blues (1926) and Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927), but also influenced his writings for decades to come.
The Essay on Langston Hughes Mother To Son & The Negro Mother Comparison
Americans in the early 20th century have been through a series of pivotal events that has affected the country greatly such as the Women Suffrage Movement, The Depression, and two World Wars. However, in my opinion the Harlem Renaissance is the most critical moment in our nation's history especially for African-Americans. The Harlem Renaissance is during the 1920s and 30s when in the upper ...
