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James Langston Hughes

            James Langston Hughes, an American writer, was born into an abolitionist family on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was the grandson of James Mercer Langston, the first black American to be elected into a public office in 1855. Hughes's parents divorced when he was a small child because of a mutual agreement dealing with too much arguing between them. His wealthy father ended up moving to Mexico and his mother moved around constantly looking for work. Langston was no stranger to poverty since he made some of the journeys to different areas with his mother and there wasn't always enough money to support them wherever they lived. He had already lived in 6 different cities by the age of 12. The majority of the time though he was raised by his grandmother until the age of 13 so that he wouldn't have to live in the poor environment with his mother. His grandmother took very good care of him and told him stories about heroic ancestors who had fought slavery and racism. She instilled a lasting sense of pride in his heritage and culture. Langston regarded her as the most important person in his life and gave a lot of the credit from his achievements to her wonderful upraising of him. After age 13, he moved to Illinois to live with his now settled mother and her new husband after she got a job and got her life back on track financially. Langston attended Central High School in Cleveland, and began writing poetry in 8th grade where he was selected as the Class Poet. When Hughes was 19, his father offered to send him to college in Europe so that he could escape from the racism and segregation that affected every part of American life. But Langston refused to go to Europe because he didn't want to escape the African American ways. He wasn't ashamed of his heritage and would take any criticism that came along with it. So his father sent him to Columbia University on the grounds that he would study engineering.


Essays Related to James Langston Hughes

1. Langston Hughes

... the others was that of Langston Hughes. James Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri to a family of abolitionists. His father, James Nathaniel Hughes, was a storekeeper and his mother was a school teacher who also enjoyed writing poetry. The brother of Langston's grandfather, John Mercer Langston, was the first Black American ... poems traveled across the country and he became the extremely talented, well known writer/poet that we know today. On May 22, of 1967, James Langston Hughes died in his beloved town of Harlem. I believe he wanted his life to end in such...

  • Word Count: 1840
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Langston Hughes

... focused on the issues of racism and the failure of African Americans to realize the American Dream. These were best presented in his most clear-cut and candid short stories. James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902. His father deserted his family and he was subsequently raised by his grandmother. His grandfather died during the insurrection at Harpers Ferry ... about him being colored. As a result, after school classmates would grab stones and tin cans from the ally and chase him home. Langston also had other negative experiences. James Presley notes "one s...

  • Word Count: 1559
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Langston Hughes

... the inequities it created for blacks and other minorities, Hughes called for cooperation among all races. With one ear tuned in to the voices he heard on the street and the other to the music he heard in nightclubs, Hughes created poems that made him one of the stars of the Harlem Renaissance. James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902, the ... only child of James and Carrie Hughes to survive infancy. Another son born two years earlier had died. Carrie Hughes came from a family that had been prominent in the abolitionist ... few new poems at this time. In 1...

  • Word Count: 1295
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Langston hughes

... in contact with as he was growing and developing were influential to his writing style as well as the characters he created. Langston had a difficult childhood and adolescence. He was born to James Nathaniel Hughes, a law student, and Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes, a stenographer and newspaper woman (Haskins 1). Even his parents" educated status couldn't save their family from poverty, as blacks were still looked upon as ... of how much education they had received. As economics in their home grew worse, so did the relationship between James and Carrie. When Langston Hughes was almost tw...

  • Word Count: 1438
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

5. hughes

... the United States lay awakening the artistic and sociocultural of their community. The Harlem Renaissance was provoked by different movements such as literature, with Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen or Zora Neale Hurston, music, dance, painting, church, even the Harlem population itself directed its way of life and ... student to the instructor, and what a black could share with a white and a white with a black. For James Baldwin a great writer of the beginning of the twentieth century Langston Hughes is always making "sermons, blues and prayers" (216) at the same time like in the poems...

  • Word Count: 1971
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Life of Langston Hughes

... determined nature. Through these next few pages, the history of Hughes" younger years will be explained, and how they influenced his poetry. Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His childhood could be characterized as being very difficult and troublesome for someone so young. His parents, James Hughes and Carolina Mercer Langston, separated when he was a very young boy in 1903. ... He spent most of his youth moving around to different households, by either living with his mother or grandmother. When Langston turned ... was notorious for telling him to "hurr...

  • Word Count: 1483
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Life and Times of Langton Hughes

... Harlem, New York. His literary works helped shape American literature and politics. Hughes, like others active in the Harlem Renaissance, had a strong sense of racial pride. Through his poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children's books, he promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and celebrated African American culture, humor, and spirituality. James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri into an abolitionist family ... . He was the grandson of James Mercer Langston, the first African American to be elected to public office in 1855. His parents divorced...

  • Word Count: 2112
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Langston Hughes& The Harlem Renaissance

... great writers came during that period; one of them was Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was a great writer, and with his works he influenced and inspired the people of Harlem. Langston Hughes was born in February 1, 1902 in Joplin Missouri, with the name of James Langston Hughes. (Haskins 14) He grew up without a stable family ... environment. His father moved to Mexico, and he never really spent time with his son. After Hughes graduation from high school ... living from poetry, he encouraged many young poets to achieve their interest. Langston Hughes "died in March 22, 1967 at the ag...

  • Word Count: 1984
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Many Faces of Langston Hughes

... as oppression and liberation in his work (Evans 2010). As alluded to earlier Langston Hughes was a voice for his people (African Americans). However, that was not his overall goal and there are those authors who believe that Hughes appealed to a couple of different cultures or groups. One of those such men was James Smethurst with his writings titled, "The Adventures of a Social Poet ... : Langston Hughes from the Popular Front to Black Power." I agree with James Smethurst that Langston was exactly that a man with an agenda, his writings were not ... just to raise awareness of social in...

  • Word Count: 1762
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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