An African American Experience: Langston Hughes Understanding the Man, His Works, and His Legacy In literary circles it is often said that to appreciate an author's writings, you must study and decipher his/her achievements and life experiences. James Mercer Langston Hughes' life and writings can also be understood using the same benchmark. At an early age, Langston Hughes was exposed to the Arts, including the writings and expressions of other literary authors. His talent for writing was consistent with his life experiences and zeal to harness those moments in his own words. From the 1920's through the end of the late 1960's, he completed a journey which took him around the world and to major cities in the West, the North, and to Southern America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Langston Hughes wanted to capture the true essence of the common man. His specialty later became connected to the way he depicted the daily existence and circumstance around the lives of African Americans. For over forty-six years, he exhausted every conceivable medium in print to convey and translate his observations into creative literary expressions. He wrote poetry, prose, plays, short stories, fiction and nonfiction books, juvenile and children books, lyrics for jazz, blues, and operatic productions, translations of works in Spanish, French, German, and Creole, and news reports and weekly columns for newspapers. He also co- authored and edited multiple works with his colleagues in the Arts. He published his own autobiographies and several anthologies. Langston Hughes did what no other literary figure of his day had done. He watched and internalized the dreams, anger, pain, happiness, laughter, sadness, and pride, including the dialects and expressions used in black churches, in secular music, and dance. Out of his personal experiences he produced:     16 Books of Poetry 2 Novels 7 Collections of Short Stories 2 Autobiographies 9 Children Books 2 Picture Books for juvenile readers 5 Non-Fiction Books 2 Pictorial Histories of African American Life 30 Plays 2 Opera Librettos Numerous Translations and Scripts for radio, films, and television programs Long before the term "life experiences" was used in American idiomatic expressions, Langston Hughes became the term's best-known American experimentalist. The entire text of this exhibit has been written in an effort to peel away the layers of his life, year by year. It is a story of an American literary icon! Most people have heard of the name Langston Hughes, but very few have taken the time to understand the genius behind the man, his works and his legacy. C.W. Post Exhibit press release Professor Melvin Sylvester Black History Month, February 2005 B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library

Poetry/Spoken Word Live! - Celebrating Langston! Featuring lecturer, actor, artist, and curator, Charles Reese (Off-Broadway's James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire) with drummer/percussionist, Ricky Gordon and DJ Ian Friday. In this interactive poetry/spoken word performance, Mr. Reese explored Langston Hughes' poems and short stories with music and live drumming. This special tribute to Mr. Hughes culminated with Mr. Reese guiding students and faculty into an open-mike forum. Members of the C.W. Post Campus community were encouraged to participate. Facilitated by Adjunct Professor Carolyn Grimstead of the English Department. (C.W. Post Celebrating Langston press release)

C.W. Post Provost, Dr. Joseph Shenker, addresses the audience.

Dr. Donald L. Ungarelli, Dean of University Libraries, addresses the audience

Librarian Melvin Sylvester, curator of the exhibit, gives a welcoming address to the audience.

Actor and celebration guide Charles Reese begins the readings...

...accompanied by drummer / percussionist Ricky Gordon...

...and DJ Ian Friday.

Adjunct English Professor Carolyn Grimstead reads as Mr. Reese looks on.

Professor Cheryl Halliburton-Beatty from the Department of Theatre, Film & Dance reads.

Associate Provost for Student Affairs Dr. Sherri Coe-Perkins reads.

Kendall Johnson, Director of the Center for Professional Development, reads.

Cheryl Baldwin, Executive Director of Continuing Education and Professional Studies, reads.

George Wallace, Poet Laureate of Suffolk County, reads.

Library Assistant Elizabeth Horton reads.

Librarian Jean O'Neill-Uhl reads as Professor Grimstead looks on.

Librarian Amrita Madray reads.

Librarian Martha Cooney reads as Professor Sylvester looks on.

Young people from the DreamCatchers Theatre read as Professor Grimstead and Mr. Reese look on.

More of the DreamCatchers.

Robin Marshall from the English Department, Professor Emeritus Dan Levin, and student Aaron Guenther read a short play by Hughes.

Melvin Sylvester, Carolyn Grimstead, Charles Reese, and Joseph Shenker.

Yale University Library's "Langston Hughes at 100" Online Exhibit

Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes (1902-1967) lived, worked and came in contact with a host of luminaries and notables during his lifetime. Many of his poems were inspired by those contacts. Other poems were inspired by the cultural and social conditions he observed in the lives of ordinary people as they worked, prayed, and moved about in their daily existence. From about 1919 to the end of 1929, Harlem, New York blossomed into what was called the Harlem Renaissance and it too became a part of what Langston Hughes called his reason for writing. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri but his roots were deeply imbedded in New York. He eventually was given the title of "Poet Laureate Of Harlem". The richness of living in Harlem persuaded Langston to later buy a permanent residence in Harlem. Langston Hughes' life was about recording the feelings and emotions, of people. This was not an easy job -- but to read his writings and poetry one can easily discern what he wanted so desperately to capture. Langston Hughes became a part of a moment in history when African Americans were expressing themselves in the Arts, Music, Education, and Politics. Here are a few of those luminaries and notables that helped to season the spirits of Langston Hughes as he created his prolific legacy of written works in the Arts: W.E.B. Dubois (1868-1963) - Education, Literature Claude Mckay (1889-1948) - Literature Jean Toomer (1894-1967) - Literature Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1887-1968) - Art Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) - Music Duke Ellington (1899-1974) - Music Ethal Waters (1900-1977) - Theatre Noble Sissle (1889-1975) - Music Eubie Blake (1883-1983) - Music Paul Robeson (1898-1976) - Theatre Marian Anderson (1897-1933) - Music Bessie Smith (1894-1937) - Music Roland Hayes (1887-1977) - Music Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) - Literature James Van Der Zee (1886-1983) - Art Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) - Art Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) - Education, History Nella Larsen (1891-1964) - Literature Chester Himes (1909-1984) - Literature Ella Fitzgerald (1918-1996) - Music   Sterling Brown (1901-1989) - Literature Aaron Douglas (1899-1979) - Art Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) - Activism, Education Palmer Hayden (1893-1973) - Art Countee Cullen (1903-1946) - Literature Fats Waller (1904-1937) - Music Richmond Barthe (1901-1989) - Art Dorothy West (1907-1998) - Literature Wallace Thurman (1902-1934) - Literature Archibald Motley, Jr. (1891-1981) - Art William H. Johnson (1901-1970) - Art Hale Woodruff (1900-1980) - Art Sargent C. Johnson (1888-1967) - Art James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) - Education, Literature, Activism W.C. Handy (1873-1958) - Music Malvin Gray Johnson (1896-1934) - Art Madame C.J. Walker (1867-1919) - Business And foremost among them: Dr. Alain Leroy Locke (1886-1954) - Education, Philosophy

For Further Information From the personal collection of Melvin Sylvester and the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library Works Written by Langston Hughes The best of Simple / Langston Hughes ; Bernhard Nast, illustrator. New York : Hill and Wang, 1961. PS3515.U274B4 The best short stories by Negro writers : an anthology from 1899 to the present / Langston Hughes, editor. Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1967. The big sea : an autobiography / Langston Hughes ; Arnold Rampersad, introduction. New York : Hill and Wang, 1963, c1940. PS3515.U274 Z5 1963 The collected poems of Langston Hughes / Langston Hughes ; Arnold Rampersad, editor. New York : Alfred A Knopf, 1995. PS3515.U274A17 1994 Don't you turn back : poems / Langston Hughes ; Lee Bennett Hopkins, editor ; Ann Grifalconi, woodcuts. New York : Knopf, 1969. PS3515.U274 D6 1969 Fire!! a quarterly devoted to the younger Negro artists / Wallace Thurman, Langston Hughes... [et al.], editors. Westport, CT : Negro Universities Press, 1970. Periodicals Department Facsimile reprint of a periodical originally published in New York in 1926, which ceased after one issue. Published the early poems by Langston Hughes, "Elevator boy" and "Railroad Avenue", in "Flame from the dark tower, a section of poetry" (p. 20-21). Five plays / Langston Hughes ; Webster Smalley, editor. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1963. PS3515.U274A19 1963 Includes: Tambourines to glory -- Soul gone home -- Little Ham -- Mulatto -- Simply heavenly. Good morning revolution : uncollected writings of social protest / Langston Hughes ; Faith Berry, editor ; Saunders Redding, foreword. Seacaucus, NJ : Carol Publishing Group, 1992. PS3515.U274G6 1992 Harlem Quarterly. no.1-4 1949-1950. Westport, CT : Negro Universities Press, 1970. Periodicals Department Langston Hughes and the Chicago Defender : essays on race, politics, and culture, 1942-62 / Langston Hughes ; Christopher C. DeSantis, editor. Urbana, IL : University of Illinios Press, 1995. PS3515.U274.A6 1995 Langston Hughes in the Hispanic world and Haiti / Langston Hughes ; Edward J. Mullen, editor. Hamden, CT : Archon Books, 1977. PS3515.U274A6 1977 Writings by and about Hughes in English and Spanish. The Langston Hughes Reader / Langston Hughes. New York : George Braziller, Inc., 1958. PS3515.U274A6 1958 Modern and contemporary Afro-American poetry / Bernard W. Bell, editor. Boston : Allyn and Bacon, 1972. PS591.N4B4 "A collection of the most well known poems and poets: Bontemps, Brooks, Cullen, Giovanni, Hughes, McKay, Sanchez, Toomer, Walker, etc." Mule bone : a comedy of Negro life / Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston ; George Housten Bass and Henry Gates, Jr., editors. New York : Harper Perennial, 1991, c1931. PS3515.U274M85 1991 The Norton anthology of African American literature / Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay, general editors. New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. PS508.N3N67 1997 Not without laughter / Langston Hughes. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1969. PS3515.U274N6x The panther and the lash : poems of our times / Langston Hughes. New York : Vintage Books, 1992. PS3515.U274P3 1992 Remember me to Harlem : the letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, 1925-1964 / Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten ; Emily Bernard, editor. New York : Alfred A. Knopf ; Distributed by Random House, 2001. PS3515.U274Z598 2001 Short stories [of] Langston Hughes / Langston Hughes ; Akiba Sullivan Harper, editor ; Arnold Rampersad, introduction. New York : Hill and Wang, 1996. PS3515.U274A6 1996 Works about Langston Hughes The big sea : an autobiography / Langston Hughes ; Arnold Rampersad, introduction. New York : Hill and Wang, 1963, c1940. PS3515.U274 Z5 1963 Black troubadour : Langston Hughes / Charlemae Hill Rollins. Chicago : Rand McNally, 1970. IMC B H874R Black writers : a selection of sketches from Contemporary Authors / Linda Metzger, senior editor ; Hal May, Deborah A. Straub, and Susan M. Trosky, editors. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, 1989. Coming home : from the life of Langston Hughes / Floyd Cooper. New York : Philomel Books, 1994. IMC B H874C Free to dream : the making of a poet : Langston Hughes / Audrey Osofsky. New York : Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1996. IMC B H874O Langston Hughes / S.L. Berry. Mankato, MN. : Creative Education (Voices in Poetry Series), 1994. IMC B H874B Langston Hughes / Philip S. Bryant. Chicago : Raintree Publishers, 2003. IMC B H874Br Langston Hughes / Jack Rummel ; Coretta Scott King, introductory essay. New York : Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. IMC B H874R Langston Hughes : a biography / Laurie F. Leach. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2004. PS3515.U274Z676 2004 Langston Hughes : a documentary volume / Christopher C. De Santis, editor. (Dictionary of Literary Biography, volume 315). Detroit : Gale, 2005. Reference PS3515.U274Z6694 2005 Shelved with literature reference books. Langston Hughes : a study of the short fiction / Hans Ostrom. New York : Twayne Publishers, 1993. PS3515.U274Z689 1993 Langston Hughes : critical perspectives past and present / Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K.A. Appiah, editors. New York : Amistad Press ; Distributed by Penguin USA, 1993. PS3515.U274Z672 1993 Langston Hughes : great American poet / Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack ; Michael David Biegel, illustrator. Hillside, NJ : Enslow Publishers, 1992. IMC B H874Ma Langston Hughes in the Hispanic world and Haiti / Langston Hughes ; Edward J. Mullen, editor. Hamden, CT : Archon Books, 1977. PS3515.U274A6 1977 Writings by and about Hughes in English and Spanish. Langston Hughes : poet of his people / Elisabeth P. Myers. Champaign, IL : Garrard Publushing Company, 1970. IMC B H874ME Langston Hughes : the dream keeper [videorecording] / New York Center for Visual History ; St. Clair Bourne, director ; Robert Chapman, producer ; Leslie Lee, writer (Voices & Visions, program 6). Santa Barbara, CA : Intellimation [distributor], 1988. IMC Video PS3515.U274 Z67325 1988bx "Explores the life and work of American writer Langston Hughes. Examines the role of race in his poetry, the influence of jazz and blues on development of his poetic vision, and his efforts to fulfill the writer's duties to his society. Includes appearances by Hughes and performances of his poetry, combined with discussions by Arnold Rampersad and James Baldwin." 60 minutes. The life of Langston Hughes / Arnold Rampersad. New York : Oxford University Press, 1986-1988. PS3515.U274Z698 1986 v. 1: 1902-1941, I, too, sing America ; v. 2: 1941-1967, I dream a world. Harlem and the Harlem Rennaissance Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, black bibliophile and collector : a biography / Elinor Des Verney Sinnette. New York : New York Public Library ; Detroit, MI : Wayne State University Press, 1989. Pioneer and founder of the famed Schomberg Library in New York. A valuable mentor, historian, and archivist during the Harlem Renaissance for countless artists and writers, including Langston Hughes. The Black New Yorkers : the Schomburg illustrated chronology / Howard Dodson, Christopher Moore, Roberta Yancy, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. New York : John Wiley, 2000. F128.9.N4D63 2000 Black stars of the Harlem Renaissance / James Haskins, general editor. New York : John Wiley and Sons, 2002. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance / Aberjhani and Sandra L West ; Clement Alexander Price, foreward. New York : Checkmark Books, 2003. Fire!! a quarterly devoted to the younger Negro artists / Wallace Thurman, Langston Hughes... [et al.], editors. Westport, CT : Negro Universities Press, 1970. Periodicals Department Facsimile reprint of a periodical originally published in New York in 1926, which ceased after one issue. Published the early poems by Langston Hughes, "Elevator boy" and "Railroad Avenue", in "Flame from the dark tower, a section of poetry" (p. 20-21). Harlem, mecca of the new Negro. / Survey Graphic. Baltimore, MD : Black Classic Press, 1980. Reprinted from: Survey Graphic, v.6(no.6), March 1925. Harlem renaissance / Nathan Irvin Huggins. New York, Oxford University Press, 1971. NX512.3.N5H8 Harlem Renaissance : art of Black America / Mary Schmidt Campbell, introduction ; David Driskell, David Levering Lewis, and Deborah Willis Ryan, essays. New York : Studio Museum in Harlem ; Abradale Press, 1994, c1987. N6538.N5H286 1994 OVSZ Harlem's glory : Black women writing, 1900-1950 / Lorraine Elena Roses and Ruth Elizabeth, editors. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1996. PS508.N3H37 1996 A renaissance in Harlem : lost voices of an American community / Lionel C. Bascom, editor. New York : Bard, 1999. The spirit of Harlem : a portrait of America's most exciting neighborhood / Craig Marberry and Michael Cunningham ; Gordon Parks, foreword. New York : Doubleday, 2003. "Magnificent black and white photographs of Harlem residents and why they love their community." Voices from the Harlem renaissance / Nathan Irvin Huggins, editor. New York : Oxford University Press, 1976. PS509.N4V6 "Featuring over 120 selections from the political writings and arts of the period." A walk through Harlem with David Hartman and historian Barry Lewis / Thirteen/WNET ; in association with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture ; James Nicoloro, producer. New York : Thirteen/WNET, 1999. "David Hartman and architectural historian Barry Lewis discover a vibrant tapestry of American culture, politics, religion, and society - all within a three-mile radius of upper Manhattan known as Harlem." 90 minutes. African American Studies America's first Negro poet : the complete works of Jupiter Hammon of Long Island / Jupiter Hammon ; edited with an introduction by Stanley Austin Ransom, Jr. Port Washington, NY : I.J. Friedman Division of Kennikat Press, 1970. PS767.H15 1970 Includes a biographical sketch by Oscar Wegelin and critical analysis. The best short stories by Negro writers : an anthology from 1899 to the present / Langston Hughes, editor. Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1967. The Black 100 : a ranking of the most influential African-Americans, past and present / Columbus Salley. Secaucus, NJ : Carol Publishing Group, 1999. The black librarian in America revisited / E.J. Josey, editor. Metuchen, NJ : Scarecrow Press, 1994. Library Science Z682.4.A37B58 1994 Includes: "As curator of a black heritage collection" / Rodney Lee (p. 224-241), about the role of Mr. Lee as curator of the Black Heritage Reference Center of the Langston Hughes Community Library of the Queens Borough Public Library. The Black New Yorkers : the Schomburg illustrated chronology / Howard Dodson, Christopher Moore, Roberta Yancy, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. New York : John Wiley, 2000. F128.9.N4D63 2000 Black writers : a selection of sketches from Contemporary Authors / Linda Metzger, senior editor ; Hal May, Deborah A. Straub, and Susan M. Trosky, editors. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, 1989. Harlem Quarterly. no.1-4 1949-1950. Westport, CT : Negro Universities Press, 1970. Periodicals Department Lift every voice and sing : a celebration of the Negro national anthem / Julian Bond and Sondra Kathryn Wilson, editors. New York : Random House, 2000. Publisher's description and sample text. Modern and contemporary Afro-American poetry / Bernard W. Bell, editor. Boston : Allyn and Bacon, 1972. PS591.N4B4 "A collection of the most well known poems and poets: Bontemps, Brooks, Cullen, Giovanni, Hughes, McKay, Sanchez, Toomer, Walker, etc." The new negro / Alain Locke, editor ; Robert Hayden, preface. New york : Atheneum, 1968. First copyrighted by Albert and Charles Boni, Inc., 1925. The Norton anthology of African American literature / Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay, general editors. New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. PS508.N3N67 1997 One more river to cross : an African American photograph album / Walter Dean Myers. New York : Harcourt Brace, 1995. The origins of African American literature, 1680-1865 / Dickson D. Bruce, Jr. Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 2001. PS153.N5B78 2001 Tony Medina takes a deep breath : poet, teacher, and activist walks the 'hood and tells BIBR about his latest work / Jane E. Alberdeston Coralin. Black Issues Book Review, 5(4):32-33, July/August 2003. "Medina talks about his works and creative craft in writing, including his children's books and poetry."

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