Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri. His first book of poetry, "The Weary Blues," was published in 1926, and his first novel, "Not Without Laughter," was released in 1930 and won the Harmon gold medal for literature. A key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes created the enormously popular fictional character Jesse B. Semple, and wrote plays, numerous works of prose, and an acclaimed memoir, "The Big Sea" (Knopf, 1940). He loved jazz, wrote about it extensively, and incorporated the rhythms and improvisatory quality of the music into his verse.

Headshot of Langston Hughes

Adrian Matejka is the Ruth Lilly Professor of Poetry at Indiana University Bloomington and is the author of six books, most recently "Standing on the Verge & Maggot Brain" (Third Man Books, 2021) a mixed-media collection inspired by Funkadelic; and the collection "Somebody Else Sold the World" (Penguin, 2021). His book "The Big Smoke" (Penguin, 2013) was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Among Matejka’s other honors are fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and a Simon Fellowship from United States Artists. He was poet laureate of the state of Indiana in 2018–19.

Headshot of Adrian Matejka

Hughes’s poems are timeless: They refused to make excuses for America’s legacy of oppression.

“Democracy” by Langston Hughes

Preview: “Democracy” by Langston Hughes

Video: Democracy Hero Image

Video: “Democracy”

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Civic Engagement

Civic engagement navigation image - A large crowd of people who are far away and anonymous

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

Expanding Public Knowledge Navigation Image

Monuments and Memory

A large statue of a confederate general is covered in markings and graffiti. 

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

University Everywhere

Two scholars dressed in all black face the camera.

Mission AdobeStock 420526748 1440x1800V

Mission

History iStock-1313300194 vert

History

Grantmaking areas

Grantmaking Areas

People iStock-1311055822 vert

People

Financials navigation image

Financials

News iStock-1406026883 vert

News

Events iStock-1323998165 vert

Events