How Did Langston Hughes Life Impact His Work

Langston Hughes was born on February 2, 1902 in Joplin Missouri, and died on May 22, 1967 in New York, New York. Hughes' African American themes helped to contribute to the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, where he was a leader. He attended Columbia University and Lincoln University, published his first poem in 1921 and his first book in 1926. Hughes was a poet, playwright, novelist, and more.

Langston Hughes was someone who never gave up on his dream. He was an African-American born in Missouri in 1902. He received his education at Columbia University and later went on to go to Lincoln University. Although he is most well known for being a poet, he held a variety of other jobs ranging from a busboy to a columnist in his early years. In the 1920s America entered the Harlem Renaissance, a time of appreciation for black heritage. It was at this point in history that he became an important writer. The reason he was so important to this time in history is because his writing, “offers a transcription of urban life through a portrayals of the speech habits attitudes and feelings of an oppressed people. The poems do more, however, than

Hughes graduated from high school in 1920 and then lived with his father in Mexico. He decided to move to New York to attend Columbia University. By this time Hughes had already had some work published in newspapers as well as journals. Though, he eventually dropped out he went on to live in Paris where he continued to develop and write poetry. Langston showed his work to Lindsay and he was so impressed that he was

Langston Hughes' mother moved to Topeka in 1907, leaving the five-year-old with his grandmother. Langston came from a family of African-American activists. His mother's first husband had been killed at Harper's Ferry. Her second husband, Charles Langston (Langston Hughes' grandfather), had taken part in political activism on behalf of a slave. Charles Langston's brother, John Mercer

Foremost, Langston Hughes was born on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri to two black parents. They later divorced which caused Hughes to move around a lot and be raised by his grandmother. Through his friends and schoolmates, Hughes was “introduced to leftist literature and ideology” (Gale Group), as they associated with socialism. This marked the beginning of Hughes avid love of reading and literature. He was influenced by The Souls of Black Folk which which was a classic novel about racism that inspired his writing and poems about the “experiences, attitudes, and language of everyday black Americans” (Gale Group). Hughes experienced racism first hand through his father, as he considered all other races inferior to whites, further alienating Hughes from him. At 17, he wrote “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” which celebrated the voice and soul of the black community in a time of great hatred, helping to unite and inspire blacks during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of cultural rebirth and a movement during the 1920s and 1930s in America in which black artists, activists, musicians, and writers “found new ways to explore and celebrate the black experience” (Gale Group) in the midst of white oppression. Hughes’ poetry gave a voice and inspiration for many black people across America as he detailed their struggles and pain related to the racial prejudice shown against them. The way Hughes wrote, threading in “structures and rhythms of jazz music” (Gale Group), his

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902, to James Nathaniel Hughes, a lawyer and businessman, and Carrie Mercer (Langston) Hughes, a teacher. The couple separated shortly thereafter. James Hughes was, by his son’s account, a cold man who hated blacks (and hated himself for being one), feeling that most of them deserved their ill fortune because of what he considered their ignorance and laziness. Langston’s youthful visits to him there, although sometimes for extended periods, were strained and painful. He attended Columbia University in 1921-22, and when he died he, left everything to three elderly women who had cared for him in his last illness,

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri and was the second son of James Nathaniel Hughes and Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was the only child of his parent’s marriage, since two years before he was born his older sibling had died as an infant. His parent’s marriage was controversial for the time period since his mother was born to a politically powerful and educated African American family at

Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born on February 1, 1902 and died May 22, 1967. This was the African American artistic movement in the 1920’s that celebrated black life and culture. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri. "His mother was a schoolteacher, and she also wrote poetry." His father, James Nathaniel Hughes, was a storekeeper. He had wanted to become a lawyer, but he wasn’t able to take the bar exam. "Hughes' parents

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He was separated from his parents at a young age and spent majority of his childhood with his grandmother in Kansas. Once his grandmother passed away, he moved in with family friends. . This unstable early life shaped the mind of Langston into a poetic frame.

On February 1, 1902, Langston Hughes was born. He was born “James Langston Hughes.” (Rueben) He was born in Missouri. His parents divorced when he was a younger child. His dad left and went to Mexico. His grandmother had the task to raise him. “He stayed there until he was twelve.” (Hampson) Then his mother wanted him back. So he moved “to Lincoln, Illinois […] eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio.” (Anderson, 706) Langston began writing creative poetry in the eight grade. He went on to attend Central High School in Cleveland. “he was a coveted award winner as a teen.” (Reuben) “It was during his high school years that Hughes began to take poetry seriously.” (Reuben) Langston was becoming one of the most predominant writing figures of the time. “The most important early influence on Hughes’ poetry was Carl Sandburg […]”. (Anderson, 706) But “his father did not think he would be able to make a living as a writer.” (Jackson) He wanted him to pursue a career in engineering. So he came up with the idea to go to Columbia University, where he knew he could be close to Harlem. His passion for writing and desire to see Harlem led him to disobey his dad.

She moved Langston around often as a child in search for better work after her and Mr. Hughes divorced early in Langston’s childhood. James Nathaniel Hughes abandoned his family when Langston was very young. James Nathaniel Hughes was in search of leaving the United States in order to outrun the racism and civil rights issues occurring during the time period. Hughes’ father moved to Cuba at first, and then finally settled in Mexico City, Mexico. Hughes’ mother decided to move to Mexico City to reunite their family, but when they had arrived an earthquake had scared Hughes’ mother in wanting to move back to Kansas. Soon after being back in Kansas, Hughes’ mother decided to place Langston in the care of her mother. Langston then lived with his grandmother for a period of time. Langston’s grandmother, Mary, had a huge impact on Langston while he was growing up. Langston had resided with his grandmother for most of his childhood, and into his early teenage years. Langston wrote in his memoir that he remembered often sitting on his grandmother’s lap as a child and would listen to her tell him stories that would later be the fuel to his powerful vision over African Americans. Mary often told him stories of slaves who struggled for their freedom, and of abolitionists. These stories gave young Langston the vision for African Americans to be free and gave him a good outlook for his people that would become evident in his writings. Mary

“James Mercer Langston Hughes, known as Langston Hughes was born February 2, 1902 in Missouri, to Carrie Hughes and James Hughes.” Years later his parents separated. Langston’s father moved to Mexico and became very successful, as his for mother, she moved frequently to find better jobs. As a child growing up Langston spent most of his childhood living with his grandmother named Mary Langston in Lawrence, Kansas. Mary Langston was a learned women and a participant in the civil rights Movement. When Langston Hughes was 12 years old his grandmother passed away. Langston then moved in with his mother and stepfather Homer Clark. A few months later, Langston’s mother sent him to live with her mother’s friend “Auntie” and Mr. Reed. In 1915

The life of Langston Hughes was not an easy one. His mother and father separated some time soon after he was born. Mostly his mother in Kansas and his father who tried to discourage him from writing when Hughes went to Mexico some time later raised him.

Born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902 to a mixed-race parents, who divorced at an early stage of marriage, Langston Hughes grew up around the suburbs of Kansas then began to write poetry in high school. His father wanted him to be a mining engineer so he attended Columbia University however, he dropped out after his fresh man year to pursue his first love, poetry. His poetry had a feature combination of musical rhythms as well as cultural slang, and that lighted up the African American culture. In other words, he publicized the African American culture by using nontraditional rhythms

The Harlem Renaissance sought to revitalize African American culture with a focus on arts and literature and creating socioeconomic opportunities (Harlem Renaissance). This temporal setting, predominantly the influence of the Harlem Renaissance, of Hughes’s life explains the purpose of Hughes’s writing: to express the oppression of African Americans and the imperfections of Hughes’s America and to heighten African American morale during his life through his writing.