Dictionary of Literary Biography • Volume Three Hundred Fifteen

Langston Hughes:A Documentary Volume

Edited byChristopher C. De Santis

Elinois State University

A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book

THOMSON

GALE

Detroit • New York • San Francisco • San Diego • New Haven, Conn. • Waterville, Maine • London • Munich

Contents

Plan of the Series xxi

Introduction xxiii

Acknowledgments xxvii

Permissions xxix

Works by Langston Hughes 3

Chronology 9

A Poet of the People: 1902-1929 18

Living with Mary Langston-from Hughes, The Big Sea: An Autobiography

New Arrangements—from The Big Sea

Hughes on Central High School—from The Big Sea

Facsimile: First page of Hughes's short story in the Central High School Monthly

Living the Blues 25

I've Known Rivers—from The Big Sea

Facsimile: A copy of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

Facsimile: Hughes letter to James Nathaniel Hughes Jr., 19 December 1921

Facsimile: Hughes letter to R. J. M. Danley, 14 May 1922

A Letter from Africa-Hughes letter to Carrie Clark, 21 July 1923

Remembering a Paris Romance—from Anne Marie Coussey letter to Hughes, 3 June 1926

Our Wonderful Society: Washington—Hughes, Opportunity, August 1927

An Award-Winning Poem—Hughes, "The Weary Blues"

AFirstBook 34

Hughes letter to Carl Van Vechten, 17 May 1925

Facsimile: Blanche Knopf letter to Hughes, 18 May 1925

Facsimile: Hughes letter to Claude McKay, 25 July 1925

Facsimile: W. E. B. Du Bois letter to Hughes, 6 August 1925

On Being Discovered—from The Big Sea

Introducing Langston Hughes to the Reader-Van Vechten, preface for The Weary Blues

Poet on Poet: Review of The Weary Blues-Coxxntee Cullen, Opportunity, February 1926

Euterpe Learns the Charleston: Review of The Weary £/a«-Theophilus Lewis, The Messenger, March 1926

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Contents DLB 315

To Midnight Nan at Leroy's-from The Weary Blues

The Jazz Band's Sob: Review of The Weary Blues—DuBose Heyward, New York Herald Tribune Books,1 August 1926

Off with the Black-Face!: Review of The Weary Blues—James Rorty, Mew Masses, October 1926

An Argument of Art and Race '. 49

The Negro-Art Hokum-George S. Schuyler, The Nation, 16 June 1926

The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain-Hughes, The Nation, 23 June 1926

An Absurd Contention-Hughes, letter to the editor, The Nation, 18 August 1926

Facsimile: Hughes letter to Wallace Thurman, circa 1926

Reviews of Fine Clothes to the Jew 56

Songs of the Lowly—Dewey R.Jones, Chicago Defender, 5 February 1927

The Growth of a Poet-Walter F. White, New York World, 6 February 1927

Langston Hughes: The Sewer Dweller—William M. Kelley, New York Amsterdam News, 9 February 1927

A Poet for the People-Margaret Larkin, Opportunity, March 1927

On Critics 62

These Bad New Negroes: A Critique on Critics—essay by Hughes, 22 March 1927

Only the Best-Hughes letter to W. E. B. Du Bois, 11 February 1928

A Man of Letters 66

Hughes letter to Claude McKay, 5 March 1928

Hughes letter to McKay,-13 September 1928

Hughes letter to Wallace Thurman, circa 1929

Hughes letter to Thurman, 29July 1929

Facsimile: Page from Hughes's journal, 15 July 1929

Turning to the World: 1930 - 1939 73

Laughin'Just to Keep from Cryin' 75

Patron and Friend—from The Big Sea

Facsimile: Page from the second draft of Not Without Laughter

"Next Thing to Camelot": Introduction to Not WithoutLaughter-Arna. Bontemps, 1969

Guitar—from Hughes, Not Without Laughter

The Break with Mason—from The Big Sea

A Little Colored Boy Grows Up: Review of Not Without Laughter—Mary Ross, New York Herald TribuneBooks, 27 July 1930

Facsimile: Hughes letter to James Weldon Johnson, 12 July 1930

"An Enviable First Performance": Review of Not Without Laughter—Wallace Thurman, New York EveningPost, 28 July 1930

Facsimile: Knopf publicity department letter to Hughes, 28 July 1930

"The Simplicity of Great Art": Review of Not Without Laughter-Sterling A. Brown, Opportunity,September 1930

Greetings to Soviet Workers—Hughes, New Masses, December 1930

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DLB315 Contents

The Story of Mule Bone 97

A Tragedy of Negro Life—Henry Louis Gates Jr., in Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Facsimile: Title page for the typescript of Mule Bone

"Flinging a Final Mule Bone"-Hughes letter to Carl Van Vechten, 4 February 1931

Facsimile: First page of the Mule Bone typescript

Haiti and the South ._. 107

Hughes letter to Amy Spingarn, 14 May 1931

People without Shoes—Hughes, New Masses, October 1931

Facsimile: Hughes letter to James Nathaniel Hughes Jr., 30 June 1931

Reading at Coulter Academy-from Hughes, / Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey

Financing a Reading Tour—Hughes letter to James Weldon Johnson,14 August 1931

Hughes on Negro Art-Hughes, "Negro Art and-Its Audience" The New Sign, 26 September 1931, and"Negro Art and-Publicity Value," The New Sign, 3 October 1931

Sterling A. Brown letter to Hughes, 7 December 1931

Hughes letter to Mary McLeod Bethune, 15 February 1932

Facsimile: Hughes tribute to Vachel Lindsay, 18 January 1932

Brown America in Jail: Kilby—Hughes, Opportunity, June 1932

Facsimile: Hughes cable to Wallace Thurman, 12 March 1932

Writing for Children .., 'V v 123

Sandburg of Negro Verse: Review of The Dream Keeper-H.ora.ce Gregory, New York Evening Post,2 August 1932

By the Sea—from Hughes and Arna Bontemps, Popo andFifina, 1932

Books and the Negro Child—Hughes, Children's Library Yearbook, 1932

The Soviet Union and Asia 129

Hughes letter to Amy Spingarn, 20 March 1933

Facsimile: Press release, 31 August 1932

Moscow and Me—Hughes, International Literature, July 1933

Swords over Asia—Hughes, Fight against War and Fascism, June 1934

Facsimile: Hughes speech in Japan, 30 June 1933

Facsimile: Hughes letter to Jean Toomer, 17 November 1933, and Toomer's reply

A First Collection of Stories 142

Red-Headed Baby-from Hughes, The Ways of White Folks

Langston Hughes Produces a Remarkably Fine Book of Short Stories: Review of The Ways of White Folks—Herschel Brickell, New York Post, 28 June 1934

Change the World!: Review of The Ways of White Folks-Edwin Rolfe, Daily Worker,10 July 1934

Jazz-Consciousness: Review of The Ways of White Folks-Vernon Loggins, The Saturday Review of Literature,14 July 1934 ''

The Uses of Words .v 149

To Negro Writers—essay by Hughes, American Writers' Congress, April 1935

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An Appeal for Jacques Roumain-Hughes, letter to the editor, The New Republic, 12 December 1934

Settling Matters in Mexico-Hughes letter to Carrie Clark, 14 December 1934

Soul Gone Home: A One-Act Play-Hughes, One-Act Play, July 1937

Facsimile: Page from draft of speech for the Second International Writers Congress, 16 July 1937

Hughes Bombed in Spain-Hughes, Baltimore Afro-American, 23 October 1937

Facsimile: Pages with Hughes annotations from One Act Play, October 1938

Writers, Words and the World-speech by Hughes, 25 July 1938

Facsimile: Hughes letter to Dorothy Peterson, 25 July 1939

Adventures as a Social Writer: 1940 - 1949 162

Facsimile: Hughes's application to the Julius Rosenwald Fund, 5 January 1941

Ellison and Wright on The Big Sea 164

Stormy Weather-Ralph Ellison, The New Masses, 24 September 1940

Facsimile: Hughes letter to Richard Wright, 29 February 1940

Forerunner and Ambassador—Wright, The New Republic, 28 October 1940

Wright Wins the Spingarn Medal-Hughes letter to Wright, 15 February 1941

The "Goodbye Christ" Controversy .170

Concerning "Goodbye, Christ"—Hughes statement, 1 January 1941

Hughes letter to Malcolm Cowley, 2 January 1941

The Third Collection of Poems 174

To Croon, Shout, Recite or Sing: Review of Shakespeare in Harlem-Ruth Lechlitner, New York Herald TribuneBooks, 3 May 1942

"Unworthy of the Author": Review of Shakespeare in Harlem-Owen Dodson, Phylon, Third Quarter ,1942

Writing for the Chicago Defender 176

Negro Writers and the War-Hughes draft of article for the Chicago Defender, 24 August 1942

Facsimile: Slogans for war bonds, circa 1942

Why and Wherefore-Hughes, Chicago Defender, 21 November 1942

Conversation at Midnight—Hughes, Chicago Defender, 13 February 1943

On America's Democracy 182

Democracy, Negroes, and Writers-Hughes statement, 13 May 1941

Facsimile: First page from Hughes's song "Freedom Road," 1942

My America—Hughes, in What the Negro Wants, 1944

Down Under in Harlem-Hughes, The New Republic, 27 March 1944

From JOT Crow's Last Stand to One-Way Ticket 192

"Fearlessly Presenting His Case": Review of Jim Crow's Last Stand-Carter G. Woodson, Journal of NegroHistory, October 1943

A Proposal for an Anthology-Hughes letter to Countee Cullen, 23 July 1943 i

Facsimile: Drafts of poem "Trumpet Player: 52nd Street," June 1945

Hughes letter to Arna Bontemps, 2 May 1946

Facsimile: Pearl S. Buck cable to Hughes, 29 May 1946

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The Ceaseless Rings of Walt Whitman-Hughes, preface, / Hear the People Singing: Selected Poems of WaltWhitman, 1946

Langston Hughes Fulfills Promise of Great Destiny in New Book: Review of Fields of Wonder— Russelland Rowenajelliffe, Cleveland News Week-End Review, 29 March 1947

My Adventures as a Social Poet-Hughes, Phylon, Third Quarter 1947

Facsimile: "Freedom Train," in the October 1947 issue of Our World

Facsimile: Draft of part of Montage of a Dream Deferred, 7 August 1948

Old Forms, Old Rhythms, Old Words: Review of One-Way Ticket—J. Saunders Redding, The Saturday Reviewof Literature, 22 January 1949

'One Way Ticket,' New Book of Poems by Langston Hughes—Abner W. Berry, Daily Worker, 13 February1949

Facsimile: Knopf announcement of publication of One-Way Ticket

A Citizen of Harlem: 1950 - 1959 213

The McCarthy Hearings and Right-Wing Critics 215

Testimony before the Executive Session, 24 March 1953—record of the Eighty-Third Congress, FirstSession, 1953

Am I Excused Now?-record of the Eighty-Third Congress, First Session, 26 March 1953

Langston Hughes: Malevolent Force—Elizabeth Staples, American Mercury, January 1959

Critic, Translator, and Teacher 222

Some Practical Observations: A Colloquy—Hughes interview, Phylon, Winter 1950

Facsimile: Edward H. Doddjr. letter to Hughes, 25 June 1952

The Famous Negro Books-Hughes letter to Dodd, 28 June 1952 \

Introduction to Uncle Tom's Cabin—Hughes, 1952

Hughes letter to Arna Bontemps, 18 February 1953

Facsimile: Page from a draft of Hughes's Famous American Negroes

Facsimile: Carl Murphy letter to Hughes, 18 September 1953

From Harlem to Paris-Hughes, New York Times Book Review, 26 February 1956

Introduction to Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral, 1957

"Even the Simplicity Defeats Him"—Edwin Honig, "Poet of Womanhood," The Saturday Review of Literature,22 March 1958

Introduction to Pudd'nhead PFzZson-Hughes, 1959

The Simple Story 241

Not So Simple: Review of Simple Speaks His Mind-AAoyd L. Brown, Masses and Mainstream,June 1950

"A Brilliant and Shockingly Accurate Expose": Review of Simple Speaks His Mind-John W. Parker, Journalof Negro History, January 1951

That Not So Simple Sage, Mr. Simple: Review of Simple Takes a Wife—Arna. Bontemps, New York HeraldTribune Book Review, 14 June 1953

Not So Simple: Review of Simple Takes a Wife-Ahner Berry, Masses and Mainstream, September 1953

Simple is Back—Martha MacGregor, New York Post, 15 September 1957

Scenes from Simply Heavenly-from Langston Hughes and David Martin, Simply Heavenly, 1958

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Poetry and Prose 254

"A Sensitive and Fascinating Work": Review of Montage of a Dream Deferred-Arthur P. Davis, Journal ofNegro History, April 1951

Poetry of Harlem in Transition: Review of Montage of a Dream Deferred—John W. Parker, Phylon, SecondQuarter, 1951

Professor-from Hughes, Laughing to Keep from Crying, 1952

Books and Things: Review of Laughing to Keep from Crying-Lewis Gannett, New York Herald Tribune,26 March 1952

Facsimile: Draft of a poem Hughes published in Beloit Poetry Journal Chapbook

Black & Bubbling: Review of Laughing to Keep from Crying-Arna Bontemps, The Saturday Review ofLiterature, 5 April 1952 N-=, , , ' v

"The Why and Wherefore": Review of The Sweet Flypaper of Life—Almena Lomax, Los Angeles Tribune, ~"~'"'11 November 1955

Hughes' / Wonder as I Wander: Reveries of an Itinerant Poet-Jonathan F. Beecher, Harvard Crimson,13 December 1956

"A Personality Without Pretense": Review of / Wonder As I Wander-J. Saunders Redding, BaltimoreAfro-American, 12January 1957

Odyssey of a Literary Man: Review of / Wonder As I Wander-Nick Aaron Ford, Phylon, First Quarter, 1957

Facsimile: Telegram exchange between bandleader Duke Ellington and Hughes, September 1958

Another Revealing Facet of the Harlem Scene: Review of Tambourines to Glory-John W. Parker, Phylon,Spring 1959

Langston Hughes' Tambourines to Glory—LeRoi Jones, Jazz Review, June 1959

Facsimile: First page of Hughes's reader's report for Simon and Schuster

Sermons and Blues: Review of Selected Poems of Langston Hughes—James Baldwin, The New York Times BookReview, 29 March 1959

Facsimile: Hughes postcard to Baldwin, 29 March 1959

"Enduring Poems": Review of Selected Poems of Langston Hughes-John Henrik Clarke, Chicago Defender,4 July 1959

Manhattan Arts Theatre Citation to Langston Hughes, 3 May 1959

Searching for a Star-Hughes letter to Pearl Bailey, 6 December 1959

The Last Years: 1960 - 22 May 1967 279

A-Climbin' On 280

Remarks in Acceptance of 45th Spingarn Medal-Hughes, 26 June 1960

No Crystal Stair-Hughes, "Mother to Son," The Crisis, December 1922

Facsimile: Draft for Hughes's short piece on Miles Davis

Jazz Is a Marching Jubilee: Review of Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz-Rudi Blesh, New York HeraldTribune Books, 26 November 1961

"A Book of Social Protest": Review of Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz-John Henrik Clarke,

Freedomways, Winter 1962 ,

Foreword: Who Is Simple?—Hughes, The Best of Simple, 1961

"A Later Day Aesop": Review of The Best of Simple-Clarke, Freedomways, Winter 1962 x--

Foreword to Poems from Black Africa—Hughes, 1963

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Mr. Hughes' Shadings: Review of Something in Common and Other Stories-W'Aliam Kirtz, Quincy (Mass.) Patriot-Ledger, 17 April 1963

Reachin' Landings 293

Introduction to Five Plays by Langston Hughes-Webster Smalley, 1963

A Writer's Responsibility-Hughes, "The Task of the Negro Writer as Artist," Negro Digest, April 1965

Facsimile: First page of an essay Hughes wrote on sexual stereotypes, 4 May 1963

"It'll Be Me": The Voice of Langston Hughes: Review of Five Plays by Langston Hughes-Doris E. Abramson,Massachusetts Review, Autumn 1963

Continued Controversy-"4 Churches Hit Poet's WSU Visit," The Wichita Eagle, 26 April 1965

Still Climbin' . , . . „ .,;. 309

The Twenties: Harlem and Its Negritude—Hughes, African Forum, 1966

"Too Serious to Laugh . . . Too Philosophical to Cry": Review of Simple's Uncle Sam—W. Edward Farrison,College Language Association Journal, March 1966

Taos in Harlem: An Interview with Langston Hughes-Richard Rive, Contrast, 1967

Introduction to The Best Short Stories by Negro Writers: An Anthology from 1899 to the Present-Hughes, 1967

Facsimile: Instructions Hughes prepared for his memorial service

Langston Hughes Dies—The Poet of Harlem—Joseph Mancini, New York Post, 23 May 1967

"Bright Before Us": The Legacy of Langston Hughes 324

Views from the Sixties . . . . . . 325

The Legacy of Langston Hughes—Ted Poston, New York Post Magazine, 27 May 1967

The Man Who Created 'Simple'-Keneth Kinnamon, The Nation, 4 December 1967

"A Vital Contribution": Review of The Panther and the Lash—W. Edward Farrison, College Language AssociationJournal, March 1968

Langston Hughes' Last Volume of Verse: Review of The Panther and the Lash—Theodore R. Hudson,College Language Association Journal, June 1968

Langston Hughes: He Spoke of Rivers—Arna Bontemps, Freedomways, Spring 1968

Langston Hughes-An Inspirer of Young Writers-Lindsay Patterson, Freedomways, Spring 1968

Looking Back 335

A Chat with Langston Hughes: Spring, 1960-Richard K. Barksdale, Langston Hughes Review, Fall 1983

Langston/Blues Griot-Jerry W. Ward Jr., Langston Hughes Review, Fall 1993

Amiri Baraka on Langston Hughes—17 October 1985 interview, Langston Hughes Review, Winter 1997

James Baldwin on Langston Hughes—14 February 1986 interview, Langston Hughes Review, Winter 1997

Langston Hughes and Haiti-Maurice A. Lubin, Langston Hughes Review, Spring 1987

Hughes's Literary Reputation in France—Michel Fabre, Langston Hughes Review, Spring 1987

Gathering Up Every Word of the Prolific Langston Hughes-Jo Thomas, The New York Times, 31 July 2001

For Further Reading and Reference 367

Index 371

xix