917 North Wildwood
Kankakee, Illinois

January 29, 1948

Dr. Langston Hughes
634 St. Nicholas
New York, New York

My dear Mr. Hughes:

For many years, in fact as long as the city of Kankakee has
existed, the colored children of this community have been faced
with the situation of having nothing worth-while to do with their
unused time.

When I came to Kankakee, I noticed this tyranny and started
immediately to do something about it. Recently, together with
a few girls, I started a club which I thought would prove very
beneficial to our community. We named this club in honor of
Mrs. Mary Bethune and the membership consists of approximately
twenty girls.

It is the purpose of our club to build a Y. W. C. A. and
Youth Center and already we have proceeded to purchase a lot.
So far we have been very successful with it. Our town is
segregated and we are not permitted to use the Y. W. C. A. of
this town. We have, however, been helped by a few of the
white people. Mrs. Ralph Francis (white) has been wonderful
in helping us.

We have heard that you will be in Chicago in March and as
we would like to give a big program, the proceeds of which to
be turned over for the building fund of the colored Y. W. C. A.,
we would consider it an extraordinary honor to have you speak
for us. Of course we know your time must be limited but any amount
of time that you could give to speak at our program will be
so deeply appreciated.

February 2, 1948.

Mrs. Queenie Nailon
917 North Wildwood
Kankakee, Illinois.

Dear Mrs. Nailon:

Thank you very much for your letter of January 29th. I would be happy indeed to come to Kankakee and I notice that there are three open dates on my coming mid-western tour in March, providing connections can be made between your city and the places where I speak the nights before. They are: Friday, March 12, Sunday, March 14, and Tuesday, March 16. On the 21st I speak in Salt Lake City and will be then lecturing on the West Coast for the rest of the season until May.

I am enclosing a W. COLSTON LEIGH folder and you may write or phone their Chicago office to arrange an engagement and ascertain the terms since I am booked exclusively through this lecture bureau.

I am sending you some of my music for the use of your club. And if I should appear for you, you may have musical numbers at the beginning and end of my portion of your program if you so desire, but these need not be my own numbers.

All my good wishes to you in the interesting work which you are doing.

Sincerely yours,

720 North Evergreen

Kankakee, Illinois

March 4, 1943

Mr. Langston Hughes
634 St. Nicholas
New York, N. Y.

My Dear Mr. Hughes:
634 St. Nicholas

We really wish there were words to express our deep regret and sorrow in having to send the contents of this letter to you. There is no word in the English language that can interpret our lamentation.

There is rumors in our city that you are a sympathiser with the Communistic Party which, of course, we do not believe. This means that we will be unable to have you speak for us. We were doing wonderfully with the tickets and all arrangements were going along smoothly until the rumor started. I might add that this a Republican town.

We believe in you, Mr. Hughes, and we shall never forget the wonderful effort you put forth to help us. We want you to know that this is beyond our control and there is nothing we can do about it; our supervisor, Mrs. Nailon, together with Mrs. Ralph Francis and the white and colored ministers of this town, have left no stone unturned in trying to convince the city boards that they were wrong but it seems impossible to change their minds. We are hoping and praying that someday you may come and speak for us in our building and that day, for us, can't come too soon.

Thank you so much for those lovely songs. One of our girls played them and we enjoyed them so much. We shall be glad to receive the books and we are sure that we will be able to sell them.

So again we want to say thank you, Mr. Hughes,---thank you---and may the day come when all these charges will be thrown into the faces of the accusers and your name be cleared and immaculate. Sometime when you have time, write to us; don't forget us, please. Remember us as those who look upon Langston Hughes as one of the most gracious and honorable men in our Negro race. And consider us too as one of those our club thirteen against the odds.

KANKAKEE: ANS---Mrs. Francis
Miss Zollicoffer

Thanks & regres$. Not a C.P. member.

Return books to Knopf. Keep 40%.

Will send my portion of check to
Mrs. Nailor.

3/16/48

On tour,

March 16,

1948.

Dear Mrs. Nailon,

Your wonderful letter and those of Mrs. Francis
and Miss Zollicoffer came to me. You are right---if
it's not one thing to stop us, it's another.

Why the Chicago Tribune and Henry J. Taylor would
use up so much time on me, I do not know, except it be
that it is just a round about way of attacking any ad-
vance of the Negro people and of interracial relations,
since many groups I appear before are interracial in
nature such as the Akron Council of Race Relations. I
have written Mr. Taylor as well as the Tribune that I
have never been a member of the Communist Party, but
they do not have the courtesy even to answer letters.
I flew over to New York on the week-end to consult my
lawyer as to the possibility of a suit, but did not have
time to go into it very thoroughly.

As I wrote both Mrs. Francis and Miss Zollicoffer,
I shall return my portion of the check to you to go toward
your building fund. And if any books were sold, please
keep 40% as I indicated in a previous letter.

I am heading toward the Coast now. My address for
April will be: Clark Hotel, Washington & Central, Los
Angeles, California, during the month of April.

I very much hope to have the pleasure of meeting you
sometime, and you have all my good wishes and hopes for the
success of your project. (But I am afraid, for us all, it
is a hard way to go.)

This note was written in New York at the
end of March---but didn't get mailed
until now, Chicago, May 5, 1949, then I
am just finishing up my ten weeks at the
Lab School which has been lots of fun.

If you come to New York this summer

please let me know. I'd be happy
to meet you.

Dear Mrs. Nailon:

I was so sorry to have missed seeing you when you
were in town last summer, but I know how it is when
one is in town for only a few days and I am sure
that something prevented you from stopping by on
the evening I spoke to you on the phone.

I am sorry that I have been so long in sending you
this check but it seems like that every time I thought
about sending it I looked in the bank and there was
nothing there, so I am sending it right now, quick,
while I am temporarily solvent. I want those young
people in whom you are interested to at least have
some books for their library, or to make whatever
other use of this small sum you may think wise. This
is the amount of the fee, minus the commission, which
my agent deducted for itself.

I am post in residence at the University of Chicago
Laboratory School for the spring quarter, but had
to fly over to New York for a few days for the re-
hearsals of my opera, TROUBLED ISLAND, music by
William Grant Still. It opens at the City Center
on Thursday, March 31. At the rehearsals today I
saw Lawrence Winters who told me that he stayed at
your house when he was in Kankakee and described
what a delightful hostess you are. Certainly I hope
that I shall have the pleasure of meeting you sometime.

Please give all my best wishes to the members of the
Bethune Blue Triangle Club and to Mrs. Ralph Francis.
With all good wishes to you, I am

Enclosure Check No. 1046---$66.67
May 5, 1949
64 61
62 403M
Langston Hughes

LH:HHS

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NA049 PD=TDN JAMAICA NY 3 1256P

LANGSTON HUGHES=

20 EAST 127TH ST=

LEAVING TONIGHT . PLEASE CALL BEFORE SEVEN=

MRS QUEENIE NAILON=

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Mr Langston Hughes
20 East 127th St
New York 35 ny.