Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called "Jazz poetry" and was a leader of the "Harlem Renaissance" in New York City. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (at Yale University Library) holds the Langston Hughes papers (1862–1980) and the Langston Hughes collection (1924–1969) containing letters, manuscripts, personal items, photographs, clippings, artworks, and objects that document the life of Hughes. The Langston Hughes Memorial Library on the campus of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) as well as at the James Weldon Johnson Collection within Yale University also hold archives of Hughes' work.