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

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.