TELEPHONE, RIVERSIDE 2287.
STATION, RAVENSCOURT PARK 31 MINUTES.

RIVER COURT,
HAMMERSMITH MALL,
LONDON.W.6.

May, 1938

Dear Langston Hughes,

This is to introduce Dr. Lauterbach, an economic journalist and research worker whom I knew in Vienna in 1934. He is, naturally, a Socialist, and had to leave Vienna last month.

He is hoping to get research work, teaching or journalism to do in America, and he is an expert on economic planning, the Labour Movement and Central European affairs. He speaks several languages.

I should be very grateful if you could do anything to help him. I don't think that Dr. and Mrs. Lauterbach particularly want to stay in New York, and I feel myself that perhaps New York is rather overcrowded with people in Dr. Lauterbach's position. But perhaps you could advise them (Mrs. Lauterbach is a very good dressmaker).

If you are ever in England, I do wish you would let me know; it would be so nice to see you again.

Langston Hughes,
Box 1582,
Carmel, Cal.
U.S.A.

H. H.

number of lovely girl students and discussed life; at Le Moine I found
myself taking two classes, and saw something of the students afterwards;
here particularly I had a long talk with a girl who told me how she
really *felt* about things - the sort of talk one could only have between
women. It was pretty horrible, one felt that if only it would have helped
them just to hit one for being white one would gladly have been hit.
I also felt that they were the main class of young people who weren't
spoiled by this filthy spirit of competition; they had the feeling for
public service which we find a good deal among the English "upper classes"
- my own kind of people - and singularly little in America.

However, I also moved in other circles; I was in one of the few
places in America where the colour bar doesn't exist any more, where
it has been wiped out of existence by something as bad as slavery. In
the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union, there isn't any nonsense about that.
Negro or white speakers are equally well received by a completely mixed
audience, equally clapped on the back and applauded. I spoke from the
same platform - or lorry - with both; once I was introduced by MacKinney,
the coloured chairman, with one arm over my shoulders, and I was damned
proud of it too. And now they're threatening to lynch him. And Mr Brook
-ins, the coloured preacher, who had been baten up and imprisoned for hav-
ing talked brotherhood in practice to a mixed audience, has had his house
shot into and has had to leave Arkansas. He gave me his blessing, which
was nice; one has to talk in the language they understand, and I, from
my Scottish upbringing, know the Bible pretty well and can quote texts from
it. You know, it's nonsense to say that's counter-revolutionary
down there; it's not pie in the sky, it's equality and brotherhood here
and now. And it's not peace but a sword.

I wish I knew what's been happening to the Union these last few days -
we've had the Scottsboro verdict on the ship's news, and that's good,
anyway. But it's only just formed, and it's hard to get into men's
heads the political moral of things in the course of a few months. It
has taken longer in Europe. So there may be shooting and nothing gained.
by it. You've gone left since we met, haven't you ? People say you're
in the C.P. I quite understand how one would feel like that in the States
though I was with revolutionary socialists most of the time, and thought
they were doing splendid work and were helped by being less doctrinaire
Marxists than the others.

Now things look a bit grim in Europe; I suppose we shall have an
Election in England this autumn, so I shall have to turn to. I've got
my first modern novel coming out this month - in fact it may be out, but
I can't so far get any New York publisher to be brave enough to take it.
I had a lot of difficulty in England, on political grounds.

When are you coming on? John

Nami Mitagu
[Naomi Mitchison]

P.S. No, I don't know any more people you know in England, they're
too "Bloomslurg" John

AMERICAN · MERCHANT · LINES

On Board S. S. American Merchant

April 5th

Dear Langston

I've used your name so much that I feel I
must write and tell you what I saw in America.
I didn't see any of your people in New York -
either they were away, or I got so tangled up
with people and things while I was there - I
didn't like it much, it was so tiring, and
didn't stay there long.

But we did go south; we had to choose, and
decided most English visits stay in the east or
else go to the prosperous mid-west and west - so
my friend (who is a very pretty, very yellow
haired English socialist and explorer) and I
bought an old Ford and set out, through Virginia
down to Tennessee, and on. Perhaps you will
have seen Mabel Luhan, and he'd how we finally
got to Taos. But it was before and after that
when we really saw things.

One couldn't have helped, I suppose, seeing
something of the colour bar, and it is simply
shocking to a west European - and I can understand
that your stories might well be true! I had some
introductions from Mr Wilkins of the NAACP, who
struck me as charming and rather in advance of his
organisation which must be rather held up by the
number of dear old ladies and earnest Christians
who seem to belong. But I didn't actually use them
much, as, again, the people were mostly away. How-
ever, I said firmly at various places that I was
a friend of your's, and it worked splendidly ;
you'd have liked the way it worked with the col-
oured housemaid at the Memphis hotel!

We saw something of three Universities, a Knox-
ville, Fiske and Le Moyne. At Fiske I had to
lecture, but afterwards sat on the floor with a