Hughes, Carrie, 1873-1938

Carolina Mercer Langston February 22, 1873 – June 3, 1938; Daughter of Charles Langston and Mary Leary; at fifteen, Carrie Mercer Langston was a "belle of black society" in Lawrence, Kansas; at eighteen, she was reading papers and recited an original poem before the Inter-State Literary Society; she became central to Lawrence's St. Luke's Progressive Club and elected 'Critic' at a rival society at the Warren Street Second Baptist Church; In 1892, Carrie Langston and three others were pronounced by the American Citizen newspaper as "the most beautiful girls in Kansas."; wrote for The Achison Blade, a family-operated African-American newspaper published out of Achison, Kansas; in 1892, in The Achison Blade, Carrie Langston refuted what she termed, "the male notion," that females were content with their position in life; Her writing is clearly influenced by her father and his support of the 1867 women's suffrage movement in Kansas, boldly chastises in print any men who relegate women to inferior societal positions; she especially encourages the participation of Black women in politics; first marriage was to James Hughes, a descendant of two prominent white Kentucky grandfathers and African-descendant grandmothers, on April 30, 1899 in Guthrie, Oklahoma; moved to Joplin, Missouri; then moved to Buffalo, New York, Carrie Langston Hughes learned she was pregnant again and returned to Joplin, while James Hughes—seeking to escape segregation in the U.S.--moved to Mexico where he spent most of the rest of his life becoming fairly prosperous; gave birth on February 1, 1902 to James Mercer Langston Hughes in Joplin; returned to Lawrence, where Carrie Langston Hughes left her son to be cared for by her mother, now about seventy; She returned several months later take him to Topeka hoping to enroll him in the Harrison Street School. Harrison's principal, Eli S. Foster, demanded Langston must attend the more distant 'colored children's' Washington School. Carrie Langston Hughes claimed he could not walk so far being so young; when she still met resistance she took her case before the Topeka Board of Education and won, Amost fifty years later, in a federal lawsuit regarding the same school board, a Supreme Court decision would end school segregation in the United States, Before the end of the school year, Langston was back with his grandmother in Lawrence; also called Caroline Langston, Carolyn Hughes, Carolyn Hughes Clark or Clarke, and Carrie Clark or Clarke; Langston Hughes was raised largely by Carrie Langston's mother, Mary Leary, in Lawrence, Kansas; Carrie Langston's peripatetic life was driven by job searches and boredom; A stepson by second husband Homer Clark, Gwyn Shannon Clark (b. September 24, 1913), accompanied Carrie Langston through most of her adult life; In 1933, Carrie appears on Broadway as Sister Susie May Hunt in Hall Johnson's theatrical production, Run, Little Chillun;
James Nathaniel Hughes, Langston; on June 3, 1938, Carrie Langston died of breast cancer; friends with Zora Neale Hurston

Caroline Mercer “Carrie” Langston Clark; 18 Jan 1873 - 3 Jun 1938; Name Carolyne Langston Clark
Event Type Death
Event Date 03 Jun 1938
Event Place Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Address 66 St. Nicholas PL
Residence Place Man
Gender Female
Age 65
Marital Status Widowed
Race Black
Birth Year (Estimated) 1873
Birthplace Lake View, Kansas
Burial Date 06 Jun 1938
Cemetery Cypress Hills Cem.
Father's Name Chas. H. Langston
Father's Birthplace North Carolina, US
Mother's Name Mary Patterson
Mother's Birthplace North Carolina, US

1905 Lawrence Ward 1, Douglas, Ks
Mary A Longston 69 mulatto female NC came from Ohio
Langston Hughes 4 mulatto male MO came from Mo

1910 Lawrence Ward 1, Douglas, Kansas
Mary S Langston 73 mulatto NC widow
Langston Hughes 9 grandson mulatto MO

1915 Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas
Carrie Clark 39 black female Ks
Langston Hughes 14 black male MO
Gwin Clark 2 black male Ks

Caroline married Homer Clark, a steel mill worker in Lincoln, Illinois. The couple settled in Cleveland, Ohio with Langston and his younger brother, Gwyn.