Nick PillaMrs. WelkerEnglishApril 7. 2014The 1920s were a time of great change for America. The 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties” and the “Harlem Renaissance,” became the decade of exciting social change. New styles, attitudes, and literature were introduced to America during the Roaring Twenties. One of the greatest poets of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s was Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902, and was the second child of James Hughes and Carrie Langston. Shortly after his birth, his mother and father divorced. Hughes' childhood was difficult. His mother and father never came to spend time with him. His mother was looking for a job and his father was trying to get away from segregation. They moved to many Midwestern towns, in Missouri and Illinois, until his parents divorced. His father moved to Cuba and then Mexico to escape the segregation that persisted. Hughes went to live with his grandmother Mary in Lawrence, Kansas, until he was thirteen. She instilled in Hughes a racial pride that would last his entire life. Her mother continued to move from place to place and eventually remarried. After Hughes' grandmother died, his mother came and took him to live with her and her husband in Lincoln, Illinois. Hughes attended many different schools, but most of his high school was attended in Lincoln. It was while living in Lincoln that he began writing poetry. His teacher encourages him and tells him about two writers, Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman. He enjoyed their poetry so much that he began writing poetry like them and later wrote about how they influenced his writing. They didn't live there very long before finally moving...... middle of paper ......of a spoken tribute. His ashes were placed under the entrance to the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture in Harlem with the inscription "My soul has become as deep as rivers." “Langston Hughes.” 2014. The Biography Channel website. April 4, 2014, 2:40 a.m. http://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-9346313. Since his death, six books and poems have been published and further volumes of his work have been translated into English as well as throughout Europe and Asia. Hughes' writings were numerous, and today his home is listed as a New York City Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Places. In the Langston Hughes era, people were against black people doing a lot of things. After all he wrote, Langston became one of the most renowned writers and poets in the world. He started at the bottom and followed his love of writing to the top..