(1902-1967)
James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the most celebrated African American poets of the first half of the 20th century, was among the few black writers to present serious dramas on Broadway. Raised by a grandmother who had lost her first husband in John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid at the start of the Civil War, Hughes grew to love literature through her encouragement. Although his first published play, The Gold Piece, appeared in 1921, the first Broadway staging of one of his plays, Mulatto,* did not appear until 1935. Hughes struggled to get works produced until the late 1940s, when his contributions, including the book and lyrics for the musical Street Scene (1947), were well-received. His 1930 play, Mule Bone,* coauthored with Zora Neale Hurston, premiered in 1991 at Lincoln Center.*
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.