Langston Hughes was an influential African American poet and writer born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902. He had a difficult childhood, moving between relatives' homes after his parents separated. Hughes graduated high school in 1920 and enrolled in college but dropped out to pursue writing. He traveled extensively in the 1920s before receiving his bachelor's degree in 1929. Hughes was a pivotal figure of the Harlem Renaissance and was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1960 for his achievements as an African American writer. He died in 1967 in New York.