THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
POETRY OFFICE
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
OFFICIAL BUSINESS

POSTAGE AND FEES PAID,
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Mr. Langston Hughes
c/o Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
383 Madison Avenue
New York 17, New York 20 East 127th

Sept. 25, 1958

Mrs. Phyllis E. Armstrong
Special Assistant for Poetry
The Library of Congress
Washington 25, D. C.

Dear Mrs. Armstrong:

Some years ago, The Library of Congress requested that I make a tape recording of my poems but in the interim there was a change in personnel and although I replied that I would be willing, I had no further communication until your letter yesterday.

I would be quite willing to put on tape some of my poems for the Library. At the moment I am about to leave on an extended lecture tour all the way to the West Coast and will be traveling almost continuously until just before the holidays. However, if Monday and/or Tuesday, January 13 and/or 14 would seem agreeable to you, since I have a lecture date around that time near Washington, I could come to the Library and make the recordings. If these dates are not suitable, let me know what days you would suggest in January or February.

With cordial regards, I am

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL REFERENCE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DIVISION

January 23, 1959

Dear Mr. Hughes:

In earlier correspondence with Miss Phyllis Armstrong, our Special Assistant for Poetry, you responded to her invitation to record some of your poetry for our Poetry Archive by mentioning the possibility of visiting the Library of Congress early in January of this year.

In writing to you now, I would like to express our continued desire to have a recording of your own reading in our archive. If it is not convenient for you to come to Washington to record, I feel sure that other and more convenient arrangements can be made. In a number of instances, individual poets have used the facilities of local commercial studios or universities to prepare the recording. We will be glad to supply the requisite tapes and to pay the usually modest fees that may be involved.

I would be very glad to hear from you as to what your preference or convenience may be, and to provide any additional information that you may find useful.

Mr. Langston Hughes
20 East 127th Street
New York 35, New York

January 30, 1959

Mr. Henry J. Dubester, Chief
General Reference Division
Library of Congress
Washington 25, D. C.

Dear Mr. Dubester:

Thank you for your letter of January 23rd reminding
me of my promise to put some of my poems on tape
for the Library of Congress.

A convenient time for me to do this would be
April 30, May 1 or 2 as I intend to be in Washington
on those dates when the Howard University Players
are presenting my musical comedy, SIMPLY HEAVENLY.
Perhaps Friday, May 1st would be the best day for
me, in the afternoon if possible, but either of
the others could be arranged if agreeable to you.
Then we could do the recording right in the Library.

Kindly let me know. On March 23rd, Alfred A. Knopf
will publish my SELECTED POEMS, so I could read
from this new volume.

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

February 3, 1959

Dear Mr. Hughes:

I will be very glad indeed to keep the afternoon
of Friday, May 1st, free so that you can record here.
If, for any reason, your own convenience should lead
you to prefer any of the other days mentioned in your
letter, do let me know. If you have no prior luncheon
engagement for that Friday, would you have lunch with
me and a colleague or two?

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

May 14, 1959

Dear Mr. Hughes:

Thank you for your letter of May 12th. All of us who saw you
during your visit to the Library found exceptional pleasure in your
company. It is difficult to express the full measure of our appre-
ciation for the generous way in which you gave your time to us for
the recording. It was a very good one. Your voice is good and
came over well. When circumstances become opportune again, we
would certainly want to tape some more.

Again, with thanks and best wishes, I am

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

March 29, 1962

Dear Langston Hughes:

I am writing you this letter as advance information about an event which I think will be of great interest to you, with the hope that you will keep open the dates October 22-24 next fall, until more definite plans can be formalized and communicated to you by the Librarian of Congress.

With the assistance of a grant from the Bollingen Foundation, the Library of Congress expects to hold a national Poetry Festival-Symposium next October 22-24, with the general theme, "Half a Century of American Poetry." To this festival-symposium it is proposed to invite a considerable number of the poets whose talent has most contributed to the making of poetry in our day.

Specific recognition will be given to the role of Poetry, a Magazine of Verse, since the occasion of the festival-symposium will coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Poetry by Harriet Monroe, but it is intended to plan the program in broad recognition of the flowering of poetry throughout the United States during this period. Your participation will be needed to make the occasion the success that it must be, and we hope you will not make conflicting commitments before hearing from us further.

Since public announcement will not be forthcoming for several weeks, I ask that you keep this communication confidential until you receive the letter which the Librarian will address to you at a later date.

Mr. Langston Hughes
c/o Alfred A. Knopf
501 Madison Avenue
New York, New York

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

June 21, 1962

Dear Mr. Hughes:

The Library is planning an exhibit in connection with the Poetry Festival though the exhibit will doubtless be open for a longer period than the Festival itself. For this, we should like to ask you to prepare for us a signed holograph of one of the short poems you will read at the Festival. We shall exhibit this or a photocopy of it (depending upon the manner in which it will be displayed). The holograph would be made a part of the Library's archival record of the Festival.

Would you please lend us a candid photograph of yourself, preferably taken alone and perhaps in the act of writing a poem or autographing a book. It would be helpful if it were not under copyright or otherwise restricted from use by the photographer. The photograph may be of any size up to 8 X 10 inches, and of any finish. In the event that we should need to make copies of this for exhibit or press requests, we should like your permission to make copy negatives.

In addition, we should be pleased to obtain from you or your publisher a dust wrapper of one of your published books of poetry.

We are enclosing an envelope with a government franked label for your use.

We hope that you will be willing to supply us with the foregoing items, since we believe that an exhibit featuring the participating poets and their work will add interest to the Festival.

May we hear from you at your earliest convenience.

Enclosure

August 25, 1962

Mr. Roy F. Basler,
Reference Department,
Library of Congress,
Washington 25, D. C.

Dear Mr. Basler:

I have just received (for my information) a copy
of the invitation for the National Poetry Festival
which the Library is sending out. Since I have a
number of fellow poets and literary friends living in
the Washington area who might like to attend the Fes-
tival, I am enclosing a list of them to whom, if it
is possible, I would appreciate invitations being sent.

With cordial regards,

October 17, 1962

Dear Mrs. Hamer: Since I formerly lived in Washington and have been through the White House, I believe I checked that I would NOT attend the tour of the White House on October 23. However, since I am now advised that we are invited to a reception there at that time, I would like to attend this, so kindly change my NO to YES, for noon on Tuesday. . . . . . . Three persons particularly interested in attending sessions of the Poetry Festival (but not on my list sent in) have written me they have not obtained cards of admission to the Festival. The first two are foreign teacher-students in this country for a few months, and the third a professor of English and American literature, so if anything can be done as to admittance for them, I am sure they will be deeply appreciative, especially since two of them write they are coming from the South especially for the Festival.

MISS ROSEY POOL, Department of Humanities,
Livingstone College, Salisbury, North
Carolina (Dutch).

Mr. Takao Kitamura, 1944 15th Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C. (Who did Masters Thesis
on my poetry in Japan. Now graduate
student at Howard University in Washington).

Dr. Leslie Collins, Department of English,
Fisk University, Nashville 8, Tennessee.

With my thanks to you for your attention to
these matters, I am

Sincerely yours,

WESTERN UNION
TELEGRAM

W. P. MARSHALL, PRESIDENT

The filing time shown in the date line on domestic telegrams is LOCAL TIME at point of origin. Time of receipt is LOCAL TIME at point of destination

1962 OCT 20 AM 12 33

CGA014 PA760 W SNA251 NL
PD FAX WASHINGTON DC 19
LANGSTON HUGHES
20 EAST 127 ST NYK

GLAD YOU CAN ATTEND WHITE HOUSE RECEPTION. POOL AND COLLINS, AS YOU PREVIOUSLY REQUESTED, WE SENT FESTIVAL TICKETS. REGRET NONE LEFT FOR KITAMURA. WILL SEND HIM PROGRAM AND INFORMATION BOUT ADMISSION OF PUBLIC WHEN THERE ARE VACANT SEATS ELIZABETH E HAMER ASSISTANT FOR LIBRARIAN FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS.