Langston Hughes
Privacy Level: Open (White)

James Mercer Langston Hughes (1901 - 1967)

James Mercer Langston (Langston) Hughes
Born in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
[sibling(s) unknown]
Died at age 66 in New York City, New York County, New York, United Statesmap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: US Black Heritage Project WikiTree private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 27 Oct 2009
This page has been accessed 15,712 times.
US Black Heritage Project
Langston Hughes is a part of US Black history.
Join: US Black Heritage Project
Discuss: black_heritage

Biography

Notables Project
Langston Hughes is Notable.
US Black Heritage Project
Langston Hughes was awarded the Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American.

Langston Hughes was a poet, fiction writer, playwright, columnist, and a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.[1]

Langston Hughes was born on 1 February 1902 in Joplin, Missouri to parents James Hughes and Carrie Langston -- or so he believed, and so say the available records such as his passport application and the cosmogram at the Schomburg Center of the New York Public Library, where his ashes rest. Recently it was discovered that he was alive prior to that date,[2] which has now been revised by a year to 1 February 1901.[3]

He was the son of writer-activist actress Caroline "Carrie" Mercer Langston (c1872-1938) and James Nathaniel Hughes (1871-1934). His father left the family, divorced Carrie, and moved to Cuba and then to Mexico to escape the racism prevalent in the United States.[4]

Langston Hughes grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, Lincoln, Illinois and Cleveland, Ohio, often living with his maternal grandmother. Despite racial prejudices, poverty, and an absentee father, he discovered early in life that he wanted to write poetry, andheld on to that dream. He wanted to attend Columbia University in New York, so with some difficulty, he visited his father in Mexico and was able to convince him to pay for his education.[4]

He fell in love with Harlem, New York, but was not as happy with Columbia, so eventually left without finishing his degree. He worked many jobs that allowed him the time to write. He spent some time working on ships that carried cargo, and so was able to visit Africa and Europe, and spent time in Paris, France.[5]

He returned to the United States and lived some time in Washington, D.C. During these early years many of his works were published, but in 1925, a collection of his poetry was being published by a major publisher (Alfred Knopf). At the time he was working as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel. Slipping three poems onto the dining table of Vachel Lindsay, a well-known American poet, was a ploy by Langston to get publicity for his new book. Lindsay took the bait, read the poems at his own poetry reading and "discovered" Langston Hughes.[5]

In 1929 Langston earned a B.A. degree from Lincoln University, in Chester County, Pennsylvania.[4] Langston never married, and he considered home to be "a tenement neighborhood in the heart of Harlem." [6]

Langston drew his inspiration from the street sounds of Harlem. He created a "lifelong flow of warm and sensitive novels, poems, stories and plays" about African American life.[6]

Langston Hughes died on 22 May 1967 at the Polyclinic Hospital in New York, where he had undergone surgery a few days before.[6] [7]

Ancestry

Both of Langston's paternal and maternal great-grandmothers were African-American; his maternal great-grandfather was white and of Scottish descent. A paternal great-grandfather was of European Jewish descent. Langston's maternal grandmother, Mary Patterson, was of African-American, French, English and Native American descent. One of the first women to attend Oberlin College, she first married Lewis Sheridan Leary, also of mixed race. Lewis Sheridan Leary subsequently joined John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 and died from his wounds.

In 1869, the widow Mary Patterson Leary married again, into the elite, politically-active Langston family. Her second husband was Charles Henry Langston, of African American, Native American, and Euro-American ancestry. [4]

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Langston Hughes
  2. Topeka Plain Dealer newspaper with short newsy articles of 20 Dec 1901; 17 May 1901; 17 Jan 1902; the first announced he had been ill but was recovering; the last two were that he and his mother were visiting friends.
  3. Jennifer Schuessler, "Langston Hughes just Got a Year Older," The New York Times, 09 Aug 2018.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Biography of Langston Hughes.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Maurice Orlando Wallace, Langston Hughes: The Harlem Renaissance, pp. 37-38.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Associated Press, "Langston Hughes, Novelist, Depicted Negro Life in U.S.," Boston Herald, 24 May 1967, p.16.
  7. Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6166005 : accessed 02 February 2020), memorial page for Langston Hughes (1 Feb 1902–22 May 1967), Find A Grave Memorial no. 6166005, ; Maintained by Find A Grave Cremated, Other, who reports a Ashes located under the floor, beneath an engraving of one of his famed poems within the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York.
  • 1880 USA Census of Charlestown, Clark County, Indiana; index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHMN-T5V ) citing National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC; NARA#T9; roll#0269; FHL#1,254,269; ed#24, sheet#51A; which included ...
KY 50 Hughes James
KY 43 Hughes Emma (wife)
IN 23 Hughes Maggie (daughter)
IN 13 Hughes Mary (daughter)
IN 11 Hughes Mattie (daughter)
IN 09 Hughes James M. (son)
IN 06 Hughes Sallie (daughter)
IN 02 Hughes John (son)
IN 69 Fields Kittie (mother).
  • 1880 USA Census of Wakarusa, Douglas County, Kansas; index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MFPY-GHB) citing National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC; NARA#T9; roll#0380; FHL#1,254,380; ed#75, sheet#209A; which included ...
VA 63 Langston C. H.
NC 43 Langston Mary S. (wife)
KS 10 Langston Nathaniel T. (son)
KS 08 Langston Caroline H. (daughter)
NC 60 Simpson Joanna (mother-in-law).
  • 1900 USA Census of Ward#2, Joplin City, Galena Twp, Jasper County, Missouri; index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M3ZW-151) citing National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC; NARA#T623; FHL#1,240,865; sheet#7B, family#153; which included ...
30 Hughes James M., b: Jul 1870 IN; m: 1yr
28 Hughes Carrie M., b: Feb 1872 KS VA/NC (wife).
  • 1910 USA Census of Ward#1, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA; index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M2C7-3YD) citing National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC; NARA#T624; FHL#1,374,451; ed#64, sheet#9B, family#223;
NC 73 Langston, Mary S. (head)
MO 09 Hughes, Langston (grandson).
  • 1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census"
    United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 5876; Sheet Number: 36; Enumeration District: 31-1566
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #293614124 (accessed 16 March 2023)
    Longston Hughes (48), single, Song Wrighter, head of household in New York, New York, New York, USA. Born in Missouri.
  • Kansas State Census Collection 1855-1925 on ancestry.com
  • U.S. Passport Applications 1795-1925 on ancestry.com
  • United States Passport Applications 1795-1925 index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV5B-273P) citing National Archives and Records Administration in Washington DC; NARA#M1490 & M1372; Passport Application, Ohio, USA; Passport Applications (02 Jan 1906-31 Mar 1925) #1285; certificate #63271 on June 1920 for James Langston Hughes, b: 01 Feb 1902 Joplin, MO; res: Cleveland, OH (student) [father: James N. Hughes, b: Charlestown, Indiana; res: Toluca, Mexico]
  • "New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924" index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J62J-8TG) citing National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC; NARA#T715 & M237; Passenger List - ship: Monterey; departure: Vera Cruz, Mexico; arrival: 04 Sep 1921 New York; for James L. Hughes @19; res: Cleveland, OH;
  • New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957" index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/242X-H21) citing National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC; NARA#T715; FHL#1,757,957; Immigration, New York, New York, USA; for Langston Hughes, immig: 1938.
  • California, Biographical Index Cards 1781-1990 on ancestry.com

See also:





Is Langston your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon contact private message the profile manager, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of Langston's ancestors' DNA have taken a DNA test. Have you taken a test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.


Comments: 10

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
Langston Hughes and Lynden Castle Rodríguez are 14th cousins three times removed are both descendants of William FitzHugh (abt.1399-1452)
Hello,

This month's WikiTree News showed Connections from 10 Harlem Rennaissance greats but allowed me to find out that not only do i have 22 degree of connection from Langston Hughes that my cousins and i are likely 13th cousins 4x removed.

This part of the family obviously goes back a long way to England with some very interesting British noble families involved. I am hoping to do some personal research on this new branch of the family. anyone with info or who just want to share anything, contact me anytime! I do know that some of my ancestors allow me to join the Daughters of the American Revolution and Colonial Dames and perhaps would help you with this too should you want to.

it is really nice to have family KNOWN that traces so far back in History.

Thank You. Janet

posted by Janet (Wyland) Malloy
Hi there profile managers! We plan on featuring Langston alongside Romare Bearden and other participants in the Harlem Renaissance in the Connection finder on September 2. Between now and then is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. A Team member will check on the profile closer to the week we'll feature it and make changes as necessary.

Thanks! Abby

posted by Abby (Brown) Glann
He should be listed under the LGBT category.
Nice job, y'all, thanks for taking this on!
posted by Robin Kabrich
Langston was writing poems and having success publishing them before he went to Washington, DC. His first book, by a major publisher (Alfred Knopf), was being published soon. Slipping three poems onto the dining table of Vachel Lindsay, a well known American poet, was a ploy by Langston to get publicity for his new book. Lindsay took the bait, read the poems at his own poetry reading and "discovered" Langston Hughes. Src: p 37 and 38 "Langston Hughes: The Harlem Renaissance."
posted by Anne B
This "Busboy and Poet" allegedly got his start (discovered by passing 3 of his poems to a poet on whose table he was waiting) in Washington, DC on U Street, NW before moving up to Harlem (much like Duke Ellington's Sycopators). Is there a hard source on this information (I am am bit biased, being from the Black Community in DC)?

Thank you all for your hard work here, Global Family!

-edit: Aha!! Thank you Anne B. -is there a nice way to work your comment into the profile? In DC I'd gotten the impression that he spent quite a bit of time there (on U Street...)


February, 12015 HE (Holocene/Human Era) ShiraDestinie

Mary Jane Patterson graduated from Oberlin College in 1862, and Oberlin had women enrolled from the beginning in 1833, therefore, it would not be entirely correct to call her one of the first women to attend Oberlin College. However, she was "probably the first African Negro woman in the world" to attain the distinction of receving an A.B. degree (Fletcher, A History of Oberlin College -- From its Foundation through the Civil War , Volume II, Oberlin, Ohio: Oberlin College, 1943, 534-535).

Addendum: This is unfortunately the result of a mix up between Langston Hughes's grandmother Mary Sampson Patterson and Mary Jane Patterson, both attending Oberlin College at roughly the same time. Mary Sampson was the ward of James Patterson of Fayetteville, NC, Mary Jane the daughter of Henry Irving Patterson of Raleigh, NC.

posted by Helmut Jungschaffer

This week's connection theme is Saints. Langston is 18 degrees from Marguerite D'Youville, 26 degrees from Birgitta Birgersdotter, 22 degrees from Marguerite Bourgeois, 17 degrees from Katherine Drexel, 23 degrees from Philippine Duchesne, 26 degrees from Isaac Jogues, 21 degrees from Mary MacKillop, 39 degrees from Zélie Martin, 24 degrees from John Newman, 25 degrees from Lorcán Ua Tuathail, 17 degrees from Elizabeth Ann Seton and 31 degrees from Edith Stein on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.