Langston Hughes: An African-American Poet for All People

On a chill February day in 1902 a baby was born in the mining boomtown of Joplin, Missouri, a city then billed as "The Lead And Zinc Capital of the World." Located on the western edge of Missouri and bordering both Oklahoma and Kansas, Joplin had few African-American residents in the early 20th century but the child born on February 1, 1902 would prove to be one of the city's most famous natives. Langston Hughes is one of the noted modern poets and well known for his part in the "Harlem Renaissance" that brought African-American artists a national spotlight.

James Mercer Langston Hughes, best known as poet Langston Hughes, could trace a long line of Abolitionists on his maternal side of the family. In Joplin, his parents were involved with mining. His mother, Carrie Langston Hughes, was a schoolteacher and his father, James Nathaniel Hughes, had hoped to become a lawyer. After completing law studies in Oklahoma, he had not been allowed to test for the Bar nor was he allowed to practice law in Missouri. On the day of his son's birth, Hughes was angry because a law that prohibited blacks from becoming lawyers had just been passed. He left Missouri for Mexico soon after his son was born and divorced his wife, Carrie.

Young Langston grew up with his maternal grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas and in several other cities. His mother had remarried and with stepfather Homer Clark, the small family traveled from city to city in search of a better life. After the death of his grandmother in 1915, Langston Hughes accompanied his parents but was often left in the care of other relatives or friends. An essay, Ten Thousand Beds, describes his nomadic childhood.