James Langston Hughes was born Feb. 1, 1902, in Joplin, Mo. He was the descendant of the first black American to hold public office, Charles Henry Langston. He grew up in Lawrence, Kan., and went to high school in Cleveland, Ohio. He started writing poetry in eighth grade, although his father wanted him to be an engineer.
Langston Hughes came to New York to study at Columbia University. By that time, his poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," had been published after editing by W E. B. Du Bois. Although his father paid his tuition with the agreement he would become an engineer, Hughes was already dedicated to writing, especially about life as an African-American. Hughes was influenced in his writing by an extensive family history of activism.
Hughes left Columbia University in 1922 and spent several years in menial jobs and traveling. He was influenced by jazz music at this time and became known in African-American circles as a talented young poet. His first two books, published in 1926 and 1927, focused on lower-class black life. He returned to college in 1929 and earned a bachelor's degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
Langston Hughes' writing was prolific and important to the people who were instrumental in the Harlem Renaissance, a surge of creativity in music, poetry and literature among African-Americans in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. He founded the Harlem Suitcase Theater, which featured some of his plays and poetry. He traveled more after his graduation, including a year in the USSR that resulted in his most politically volatile work. As a result, Hughes was called to testify in front of Congress about his politics in the 1950s. He died in his Harlem apartment in 1967.