Hughes, Langston. event ephemera, circa 1930s to 1950s, documents the public literary, musical, and educational activities of one of the central figures of twentieth century African American literature and provides direct evidence of his role as a lecturer, performer, and cultural organizer beyond the printed page. These materials record Hughes’s.....
[African American][Literature] Hughes, Langston. Five Plays by Langston Hughes. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1968. First Midland Book edition. 258 pages. Original wrappers in brown, orange, and white with bold title typography. 8vo. A powerful collection by one of the foremost literary figures of the Harlem Renaissance, Five Plays by Langston.....
Hughes, Langston. Signed contract authorizing Spanish-language publication of I Wonder As I Wander, 1957, documents the international circulation of African American autobiography during the Cold War era. First published in 1934, I Wonder As I Wander recounts Hughes’s travels through the Soviet Union, Haiti, Asia, and Latin America during the.....
African American poet and author. Silver gelatin original Press photograph of Langston Hughes. Black and white 6" x 8" inches. Date stamp "May 1, 1965" on verso, from when photo was developed. Hughes in his library with bookcases in the background and African art bust in foreground. Hughes is smiling.....
[African American][Poetry][Harlem Renaissance] Hughes, Langston. Fields of Wonder (1947), a scarce signed copy of Hughes’ major postwar poetry collection. The collection reflects Hughes’ sharpened political consciousness, shaped by travel in Mexico, Spain, Russia, and the American South. In this volume, Hughes returns decisively to lyric poetry after years devoted largely.....
[African American][Literature] Hughes, Langston. Simple Stakes a Claim. New York: Rinehart & Company, 1957. First edition. 8vo. 190 pages. Beige cloth board in green pictorial dust jacket. First edition of Hughes’s third installment in his “Simple” series, centering beloved Harlem every-man Jesse B. Semple, a Black working-class urban philosopher. Building.....
[Literature] [Philosophy] [Civil Rights] [African American]. The American Negro Writer and his Roots: Selected Papers from The First Conference of Negro Writers, March, 1959. New York: American Society of African Culture, 1960. First edition signed in original wrappers. Octavo. 70 pages. The selection of essays presented in this book are.....
[African American][Literature] Hughes, Langston. Simple Stakes a Claim (1957) is the author’s fourth work rendering midcentury Black life through the voice of Jesse B. Semple, known as “Simple,” a working class Harlem everyman whose humor and indignation frame questions of race, labor, housing discrimination, and democracy in the early Cold.....
[African American] [Literature] Hughes, Langston. Not Without Laughter. This 1930 novel established Hughes as a major prose writer of the Harlem Renaissance. The novel explores Black working-class life in Kansas during the early twentieth century. Published at a moment when African American writers were reaching greater national visibility through institutions.....
Hughes, Langston. Signed broadside for lecture readings at Lincoln University, circa 1940s–early 1950s, documents his role as a leading African American poet and public intellectual returning to his alma mater for a formal campus appearance. The printed announcement lists Hughes as presenting “Lecture-Readings” as part of Lincoln University’s Lecture-Recital Series.....
[Civil Rights] [Black Periodical] Johnson, John H. Negro Digest, 1943–1945, documents the emergence of a nationally circulated forum for African American political thought, cultural criticism, and civil rights debate during the Jim Crow era and World War II. Established in 1942, the magazine created a widely accessible platform for Black.....
