Both of Hughes' paternal great-grandmothers were enslaved Africans, and both of his paternal great-grandfathers were white slave owners in Kentucky. Like many African-Americans, Hughes had a complex ancestry. From 1942 to 1962, as the civil rights movement was gaining traction, he wrote an in-depth weekly column in a leading black newspaper, The Chicago Defender. He also published several nonfiction works. In addition to poetry, Hughes wrote plays and short stories. He eventually graduated from Lincoln University. Although he dropped out, he gained notice from New York publishers, first in The Crisis magazine and then from book publishers, and became known in the creative community in Harlem. He graduated from high school in Cleveland, Ohio, and soon began studies at Columbia University in New York City. He moved to New York City as a young man, where he made his career. Growing up in a series of Midwestern towns, Hughes became a prolific writer at an early age. He famously wrote about the period that "the Negro was in vogue", which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue." One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. James Mercer Langston Hughes (Febru – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri.
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