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Manuscript/Mixed Material Drafts of Langston Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker T.," 30 May-1 June 1941.

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About this Item

Title

  • Drafts of Langston Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker T.," 30 May-1 June 1941.

Created / Published

  • 30-31 May 1941 (first and second drafts); 1 June 1

Headings

  • -  African Americans
  • -  Poets
  • -  Education
  • -  Poems
  • -  Literature
  • -  Alabama
  • -  Hughes, Langston (1902-1967)
  • -  Tuskegee Institute
  • -  Manuscripts

Genre

  • Manuscripts

Notes

  • -  Reproduction number: A57 (color slide; first and second drafts); A58 (color slide; final draft)
  • -  Langston Hughes (1902-1967), known for his lyric poetry, often wrote insightful commentaries about African-American culture and race relations in the United States. In this 1941 poem he makes a case for the vindication of educator Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), the former slave and founder of Tuskegee Institute (1881) and the National Negro Business League (1900) who was harshly criticized by many people for emphasizing vocational education as the prerequisite for the political empowerment of black people. In his poem, Hughes stresses the fact that Washington wanted to train the head, the heart, and the hand. He focuses on Washington's practicality and explains the educator's strategy with the statement, "Sometimes he had / compromise in his talk-- / for a man must crawl / before he can walk / and in Alabama in '85 / a joker was lucky / to be alive."
  • -  Because the Library holds several dated drafts of the "Ballad of Booker T.," as well as the signed, finished version, researchers can learn how Hughes crafted his words so that the rhythm and the rhyme were syncopated, smooth, and flowing.

Source Collection

  • Langston Hughes Collection

Repository

  • Manuscript Division

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Drafts of Langston Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker T.," 30 May-1 June. 30-31 May first and second drafts; 1 June 1, 1941. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.024/.

APA citation style:

(1941) Drafts of Langston Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker T.," 30 May-1 June. 30-31 May first and second drafts; 1 June 1. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.024/.

MLA citation style:

Drafts of Langston Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker T.," 30 May-1 June. 30-31 May first and second drafts; 1 June 1, 1941. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/mcc.024/>.