ests and is talented in many areas. Jazz and blues were key elements of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, a time when African Americans in a section of New York City started a movement to celebrate their culture
One of his favorite pastimes whether abroad or in Washington D.C. or Harlem, New York was sitting in the clubs listening to blues, jazz, and writing poetryHughes said this music was sung by "black, beaten but unbeatable throats." In 1958, Hughes recorded his poetry to the accompaniment of the music of jazz and blues artists such as Charles MingusThe famous Henry "Red" Allen Band accompanied Hughes in a 1958 poetry recording. The rhythms of jazz also influenced his 1951 Montage of a Dream Deferred. This was a book-length poem in five sections depicting the African American urban experience using music, poetry, and history.. Hughes wrote his first play, Mule Bone, with ZoraNeale Hurston in 1930 and kept writing for the stage the rest of his lifeIn the 1940s Hughes established a theatre troupe in Los Angles and wrote several screenplays. Hughes in 1943 gave creative birth to Jesse B. Semple an everyday black man in Harlem who offered his thoughts on different topics or issues of the day.
Honorary Literature Degree from Lincoln UniversityHonorary Doctorate from Howard UniversityGuggenheim Fellowship in 1935Awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission took over his Harlem Home
His residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation commission. His block of East 127th Street was renamed “Langston Hughes Place”Hughes died on May 22, 1967 from complications from abdominal surgery. His ashes lay in Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (in Harlem).
LANGSTON HUGHES<br />
Early Years <br />Born: Joplin Missouri 1902<br />Parents separated<br />Early childhood spent in Lawrence Kansas with maternal grandmother<br />Attended Central High School in Cleveland Ohio<br />Columbia University – 1 year <br />
Travel<br />Bad relationship with father.<br />Worked in Paris and Washington D.C.<br />Traveled abroad on a freight and shipped out as a merchant seaman.<br />Attended Lincoln University<br />Was supported by patrons in NYC <br />
Great Depression & Politics<br />Great Depression<br />Visit to Soviet Union<br />Communism<br />Spanish Civil War<br />Senator Joseph McCarthy<br />FBI Security Risk<br />
Poetry<br />Stanza forms<br />“Low-Down folks”<br />Write about what you know<br />Renaissance Man<br />The Weary Blues<br />
Plays and Music<br />Poetry Accompanying Music<br />Henry “Red” Allen Band<br />First Play - Mule Bone<br />Harlem Suitcase Theatre<br />