Literature

Langston Hughes

Born February 1, 1901 · Joplin, Missouri · Joined the Ancestors May 22, 1967

The poet laureate of Black America — Langston Hughes gave voice to the beauty, struggle, and dreams of a people through jazz-inflected poetry that changed literature forever.

Known For

Harlem Renaissance leader

Key Poem

A Dream Deferred

Legacy

Jazz poetry pioneer

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri and raised primarily by his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. His loneliness as a child drove him to books and writing, and by high school he was already publishing poetry.

Hughes became the central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, the flowering of Black art and literature in 1920s New York. His poetry fused the rhythms of jazz and blues with the everyday language of Black Americans, creating a style that was revolutionary in its accessibility and power.

Over four decades, he wrote poetry, novels, plays, short stories, and newspaper columns that chronicled Black life in America with humor, tenderness, and unflinching honesty. His poem "A Dream Deferred" became a touchstone for the civil rights movement and continues to resonate today.