Later Years

After he left Lawrence, Langston Hughes lived for a time with his mother and stepfather. They moved around a lot, and his stepfather was often away for long periods. Hughes' mother pressured him to work and help the family financially, but he was determined to finish school. He remained in Cleveland, Ohio, on his own and graduated from Central High School in 1920. He attended Columbia University for a while and eventually graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1929. He also spent time with his father in Mexico and traveled extensively throughout the southern United States as well as to Europe, Africa, the Soviet Union, the Caribbean, and China.

Hughes lived mostly in New York when he was in the United States. He was a major contributor to the African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s known as the Harlem Renaissance. His first published poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," appeared in the Crisis in 1921. His first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published in 1926. It was Followed by Fine Clothes to the Jew in 1927, and Not Without Laughter in 1929. Best known as a poet, Langston Hughes wrote in a variety of genres. He produced short stories, plays, a musical, an opera, histories, biographies, and a newspaper column. He wrote two autobiographies, The Big Sea in 1940 and I Wonder as I Wander in 1956.

Hughes returned to Lawrence three times. In March 1932, he visited Mary Reed. He also appeared at a poetry reading at the University of Kansas sponsored by Alpha Kappa Alpha, a black sorority. On October 7, 1958, accompanied by a jazz band, he gave a poetry reading at the Kansas Union attended by nearly 1,000 KU students. His last appearance in Lawrence was on April 28, 1965 when he again read his poems in the Kansas Union. Langston Hughes died in New York on May 22, 1967.