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James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was the second child of Caroline Mercer Langston, who was a school teacher, and James Nathaniel Hughes, who was a shopkeeper. His parents divorced while Hughes was a young boy. His father moved to Mexico and his mother traveled to find a job. Hughes was left to be raised by his maternal grandmother Mary Patterson Langston. Hughes spent most of his childhood in Lawrence, Kansas but after his grandmother died he went to live with friends of the family James and Mary Reed.

Hughes was later reunited with his mother in Lincoln, Kansas who had remarried during his adolescence. They later moved to Cleveland, Ohio where Hughes attended Central High School. While in middle school in Lincoln, Kansas Hughes was nominated Class Poet during his eight grade year. He thought it was because of a stereotype due to the fact that his English teacher would always stressed rhythm in poetry and Hughes was one of the only two African Americans in class. During his high school career, Hughes edited the yearbook, wrote for the school newspaper and began to write short stories, dramatic plays and poetry. He later graduated from Central High School in June 1920.

After graduation Hughes went to live with his father in Mexico. He was hoping that his father would pay for him to attend Columbia University. His father did not approve of Hughes writing for a living and wanted him to major in Engineering. Hughes went to Columbia University to study Engineering and after a year he dropped out with a B+ average due to racial prejudice within the institution. Hughes held a variety of jobs such as crewman for the S.S. Malone. In 1924, Hughes went to live with his mother in Washington. There he got a job as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel.

One day Hughes was at work and noticed poet Vachel Lindsay dining. He worked up the courage and grabbed some of his work and stuffed it next to Lindsay's plate. After Lindsay read the poem titled The Weary Blues he called Hughes back over to the table and asked who wrote the poem. Hughes answered that he did. Lindsay introduce Hughes to publishers that later published some of his titles such as The Weary Blues, Shakespeare in Harlem, The Dream Keeper, Not Without Laughter and The Ways of White Folks.

In 1929, Hughes earned a Bachelor of Arts from Lincoln University, a Historically Black College. He later moved to Harlem where he spent the majority of the rest of his life. Hughes died on May 22, 1967 of complications from an abdominal surgery; he had prostate cancer. He was cremated and his remains are at the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. His ashes were interred under the floor of the foyer leading to the auditorium named for him. There is an African cosmogram titled Rivers designed on the floor directly above his remains that reads "My soul has grown deep like the rivers."

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