A Universal Renaissance ManJames Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, to teacher Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes. Hughes' father left the family and later divorced Carrie moving to Cuba and then Mexico trying to escape racism in the United States. As his mother traveled looking for work, young Langston was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Patterson Langston in Lawrence, Kansas. He told him stories of abolitionist and courageous slaves who fought for their freedom, it was these stories that gave him a great sense of racial pride. After his grandmother's death in 1912, Langston lived with family friends for a while, but eventually ended up moving back in with Carrie who had remarried and was living in Lincoln, Illinois. It was during his school years that he discovered poetry and was elected poet of his eighth-grade class. After his grandmother's death, young Langston found solace in literature, and once reunited with his mother and new stepfather he soon found himself chosen. poet of his eighth grade class. He received this honor with uncertainty. He is quoted as saying: “I was the victim of a stereotype. We were only two black kids in the whole class, and our English teacher always emphasized the importance of rhythm in poetry. Well, everyone knows except us that all niggers have rhythm, so they made me a class poet. This seemed to be what started his literary career. Shortly after graduation the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio and Langston began high school. Langston continued to write throughout high school, he wrote for the school newspaper, edited the school yearbook, and began writing short stories, poems...... middle of paper...... then, Langston was a student at Lincoln University spend weekends and holidays in New York. Lincoln a theological college and seminary was primarily for black men, but allowed white students if they wanted to attend. Since there was no college for young Negroes in the North, John Miller Dickey, a Presbyterian minister, thought there should be one, so he founded Lincoln in 1854. As noted in the text, a race enlightened in the knowledge of God will ultimately be free. Although Langston really liked Lincoln, he found some things wrong. The all-white faculty was one of them. Works Cited Patterson, Lindsay. "Lanston Hughes: America's Most Abused Poet?" Nytimes, com. The New York Times Company, June 29, 1969. Web. April 15, 2014. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Langston Hughes: Childhood." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., November 11, 2008. Web. April 15. 2014.