by Yuval Taylor
130hem me up Ibid.
130That is nothing! Ibid., 689.
130There she was sitting Ibid.
131seven hours that went Langston Hughes, diary, October 22, 1927, Hughes Papers.
131a golden star Mason to Hughes, September 9, 1928, Hughes Papers.
131I loved her Langston Hughes, The Big Sea: An Autobiography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940), 315–16.
131Concerning Negroes Ibid., 316.
132collect all information Agreement between Charlotte L. Mason and Zora Hurston, December 1, 1927, Alain Locke Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.
133new suits of dinner clothes Hughes, Big Sea, 316–17.
7. THIS IS GOING TO BE BIG
135intellectually dishonest Hurston to Hughes, n.d., Langston Hughes Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven.
135Why can’t our triangle Hurston to Locke, October 11, 1927, in Carla Kaplan, ed., Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters (New York: Doubleday, 2002), 109.
135I am truly dedicated Hurston to Hughes, March 8, 1928, Hughes Papers.
136all of the songs Hurston to Hughes [n.d.], Hughes Papers.
136Langston, Langston Hurston to Hughes, March 8, 1928, Hughes Papers.
136Are you planning to join Hurston to Hughes, April 12, 1928, Hughes Papers.
136To create a Negro culture Langston Hughes, diary, August 1, 1929, Hughes Papers.
137I began to hate Hughes to McKay, September 13, 1928, in The Selected Letters of Langston Hughes, ed. Arnold Rampersad and David Roessel with Christa Fratantoro (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015), 77–81.
137I’ve never felt Hughes to McKay, June 27, 1929, in Selected Letters, 88.
137It is almost useless Zora Neale Hurston, application for Rosenwald Foundation Fellowship, December 14, 1934, quoted in Robert E. Hemenway, Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1977), 207.
138Of course, you know Hurston to Hughes, May 1, 1928, Hughes Papers.
138Without flattery Hurston to Hughes, July 10, 1928, Hughes Papers.
138She was very anxious Hurston to Locke, December 16, 1927, in Kaplan, Letters, 134.
138I accepted the money Hurston to Boas, December 27, 1928, in Kaplan, Letters, 135.
139I’m heartbroken over Hurston to West, December 5, 1928, in Kaplan, Letters, 134.
139They got the point and enjoyed it Hurston to Hughes, March 8, 1928, Hughes Papers.
139Two men came over Hurston to Hughes, July 10, 1928, Hughes Papers.
139How gloriously primitive! Mason to Hughes, July 28, 1928, Hughes Papers.
139Oh, honey . . . you ought Hurston to Hughes, November 22, 1928, Hughes Papers.
139My they liked it Hurston to Hughes, April 3, 1929, Hughes Papers.
139could admire his ability Bruce Nugent, interview by Robert E. Hemenway, n.d., Robert E. Hemenway Personal Papers, PP487, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries.
140I discover therein Hughes to Locke, February 27, 1928, in Selected Letters, 73.
140That sounded reasonable Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men, in Folklore, Memoirs, & Other Writings, ed. Cheryl A. Wall (New York: Library of America, 1995), 63.
142I had five psychic Ibid., 190.
142On the third night Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, in Folklore, Memoirs, 699.
142transform[ed] her from Hemenway, Zora Neale Hurston, 123.
142make plenty of suggestions Hurston to Hughes, May 31, 1929, Hughes Papers.
143precious Brown Boy Leonard Harris and Charles Molesworth, Alain L. Locke: Biography of a Philosopher (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008), 240.
143I’ll be even more Hurston to Hughes [n.d.], Hughes Papers.
143Such a pity Mason to Locke, May 21, 1930, quoted in Jeffrey C. Stewart, The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), 621.
144a neat little colony Hurston to Hughes, May 31, 1929, Hughes Papers.
144Langston, really, MULATTO Hurston to Hughes [n.d.], Hughes Papers.
145Gee, I felt forlorn Hurston to Hughes [October 15, 1919], Hughes Papers.
145Your last letter Hurston to Hughes, December 10, 1929, Hughes Papers.
145Dearest Godmother, All the week Hughes to Mason, draft, February 23, 1929, Hughes Papers.
146Because I love you Hughes to Mason, additional draft, February 23, 1929, Hughes Papers.
146better Negro Mason to McKay, draft, October 19, 1929, Alain Locke Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, quoted in Carla Kaplan, Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance (New York: HarperCollins, 2013), 230.
147I am a Black God Mason to Locke, draft, April 1, 1928, Locke papers, quoted in Kaplan, Miss Anne, 230.
147simply exploded Hurston to Hughes [n.d.], Hughes Papers.
147that white people could not be trusted Hurston to Locke, June 14, 1928, in Kaplan, Letters, 121.
148destroys my self-respect Hurston to Hughes [n.d.], Hughes Papers.
148that a certain influential Hurston, Mules and Men, 212.
148stating that she would Ibid.
150Suddenly, just like manna Louise Thompson Patterson, autobiography, Louise Thompson Patterson papers, 1909–1999, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
151She has walked with God Ibid.
151There is a spontaneity Ibid.
152When she talked about Ibid.
152dropped a spoon or something Ibid.
152This is a lovely table Ibid.
153The quiet informal way Locke to Mason, April 16, 1929, Locke Papers.
153In the primitive world Langston Hughes, The Big Sea: An Autobiography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940), 311.
154awfully bad Hughes to McKay, June 27, 1929, in Selected Letters, 88.
155broken hearted—not even Hughes to Thurman, July 29, 1929, in Selected Letters, 89.
155who must have done Hughes, Big Sea, 305.
155probably due to overwork M. E. Stites, [medical report], Life Extension Institute, November 7, 1929, Hughes Papers.
156Everyone . . . wanted to be introduced Arnold Rampersad, The Life of Langston Hughes, Vol. 1: 1902–1941, I, Too, Sing America, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 178.
8: THE BONE OF CONTENTION
158She used to talk about Zora Louise Thompson Patterson, autobiography, Louise Thompson Patterson papers, 1909–1999, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
158How do you like that one? Louise Thompson Patterson, interview by Robert E. Hemenway, June 22, 1976, Robert E. Hemenway Personal Papers, PP487, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries.
159I am her friend Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, in Folklore, Memoirs, & Other Writings, ed. Cheryl A. Wall (New York: The Library of America, 1995), 739–40.
159fell in love with Ibid., 798.
160folk material, stacks Langston Hughes, The Big Sea: An Autobiography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940), 320.
160This breath from the spiritual Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men (draft), Langston Hughes Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven.
160Dear Boy, What is Mason to Hughes, March 24, 1928, Hughes Papers.
160It was immensely cheering Hughes to Mason, draft [n.d.], Hughes Papers.
161thinks it would be a mistake Locke to Hurston, April 28, 1930, Alain Locke Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, quoted in Valerie Boyd, Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston (New York: Scribner, 2003), 194.
162it was the regular thing Charlotte Mason, diary, January 29, 1931, Locke Papers.
164I would do the construction Hughes to Spingarn, January 21, 1931, in Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life, ed. George Houston Bass and Henry Louis Gates Jr. (New York: HarperCollins, 1991), 230.
165I plotted out and typed Hughes, Big Sea, 320.
165Zora, a very gay Ibid.
166Some of my friends Hurston to Lawrence Jordan, May 31, 1930, in Carla Kaplan, ed., Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters (New York: Doubleday, 2002), 190.
166Pay me, Langston! Hurston to Hughes, January 18, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 202.
167That struck me as merely Ibid.
167not to go on with Charlotte Mason, diary, January 29, 1931, Locke Papers.
167I knew that my friend Hughes, Big Sea, 325.
168The way she talked to Langston Arnold Rampersad, The Life of Langston Hughes, Vol. 1: 1902–1941, I, Too, Sing America, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 185.
168That beautiful room Hughes, Big Sea, 325–26.
169There were other guests Ibid., 326.
169cried like a baby Louise Thompson Patterson, autobiography, Louise Thompson Patterson papers, 1909–1999, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
169My voice seemed far away Hughes, Big Sea, 327.
170Dine with some of the men Langston Hughes, “Advertisement for the Waldorf Astoria,” in The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, ed. Arnold Rampersad (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), 144.
170the cause was an escalating Carla Kaplan, Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance (New York: HarperCollins, 2013), 234.
171disenchanted with [Mason’s] ‘vision’ Ibid., 230, 231, 235.
171did not want Hurston distracted Ibid., 235.
172kind and sincere talks Hughes to Mason [draft], June 6, 1930, Hughes Papers.
172You have been more beautiful Hughes to Mason [draft], May 28, 1930, Hughes Papers.
172Washington is lovely Hughes to Mason [draft, n.d.], Hughes Papers.
173top vegetables Mason to Hughes, June 3, 1930, Hughes Papers.
173Your letter stating your desires Mason to Hughes, June 6, 1930, Hughes Papers.
174In all my life I have never Hughes to Mason [draft], June 6, 1930, Hughes Papers.
175done her in Patterson, autobiography.
175Louise, you’re so fond Ibid.
175Zora Neale Hurston’s here Ibid.
175Arna Bontemps always believed Ibid.
176the nearest person on earth Hurston to Hughes, January 18, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 203.
177Langston was not one Patterson, autobiography.
178I felt that I was among Hurston to Hughes, January 18, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 202.
178I love you, Godmother. Hughes to Mason [draft], June 15, 1930, Hughes Papers.
179UNDER PRESENT CONDITIONS Mason to Hughes, telegram, June 17, 1930, Hughes Papers.
179For the beauty of your eyes Hughes to Mason [draft, n.d.], Hughes Papers.
179As the sun sets Mason to Hughes, July 10, 1930, Hughes Papers.
180Since Toomer David Levering Lewis, When Harlem Was in Vogue (New York: Penguin, 1997), 251.
180I had wanted Hughes, Big Sea, 306.
180the novel both Hughes Angela Flournoy, “How Langston Hughes Brought His Radical Vision to the Novel,” New York Times, January 2, 2018.
181I ask you to help the gods Hughes to Mason [draft], August 15, 1930, Hughes Papers.
182Subdued and time-lost Langston Hughes, “Afro-American Fragment,” in Collected Poems, 129.
182The Communists are Nancy Cunard, Negro Anthology (London, Wishart & Co., 1934), 146.
183I send my greetings Langston Hughes, “Greetings to Soviet Workers,” New Masses 6, no. 7 (December, 1930), 23.
183Dreamed last night Hurston to Hughes [postcard, n.d., postmarked August 11, 1930], Hughes Papers.
184seemed to think Hughes to Van Vechten, January 16, 1931, Hughes Papers.
185see what a certain person Hurston to Mason, November 25, 1930, in Kaplan, Letters, 194.
185When I came back Hughes to Spingarn, January 21, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 231–32.
187curt note Patterson, autobiography.
187short but excruciating Thompson to Hughes, October 4, 1930, in Evelyn Louise Crawford and MaryLouise Patterson, eds., Letters from Langston: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Red Scare and Beyond (Oakland, University of California Press, 2016), 32.
187Well, what do you want Patterson, autobiography.
187I had never had such Ibid.
188especially about the acceptance Locke to Mason, January 12, 1930 [1931], Locke Papers.
188indulging her fantasies Patterson, autobiography.
188I am helping myself Mason to Locke, August 8, 1930, quoted in Rampersad, Life, 193.
188I am beginning to feel Hurston to Mason, November 11, 1930, in Kaplan, Letters, 192.
188first serious whack Hurston to Van Vechten, November 14, 1930, Hughes Papers.
188the play has great wit Charlotte Mason, diary, November 8, 1930, Alain Locke Papers.
189It was my hope Mason to Hughes, January 10, 1931, Hughes Papers.
9: A MIASMA OF UNTRUTH
190the most notorious literary Henry Louis Gates Jr., “A Tragedy of Negro Life,” in Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life, ed. George Houston Bass and Henry Louis Gates Jr. (New York: HarperCollins, 1991), 5.
191De dog and de cat Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men, in Folklore, Memoirs, & Other Writings, ed. Cheryl A. Wall (New York: Library of America, 1995), 154–55.
194Langston and I started Hurston to Van Vechten, November 14, 1930, in Carla Kaplan, ed. Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters (New York: Doubleday, 2002), 193.
194Is there something about Hughes to Van Vechten, January 16, 1931, Langston Hughes Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven.
195messed-up Hughes to Van Vechten, January 18, 1931, Hughes Papers.
195Now Langston, let us Hurston to Hughes, January 18, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 202–4.
197I’d also immensely like Hughes to Hurston, January 18, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 210.
199the first Negro folk-comedy Hughes to Hurston, January 19, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 214–215.
199How dare you use Hurston to Hughes, January 20, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 205.
199This morning I got Hughes to Van Vechten, January 19, 1931, Hughes Papers.
200Even if she has entirely Van Vechten to Hughes [n.d., January 19, 1931], in Hurston, Mule Bone, 216.
200cried and carried on Van Vechten to Hughes [n.d., January 20, 1931], in Hurston, Mule Bone, 223.
200She had a tantrum Van Vechten to Hughes, August 17, 1942, in Emily Bernard, ed., Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten (New York: Knopf, 2001), 209.
200A stock production will be Van Vechten to Hughes, January 20, 1931, in Bernard, Remember Me, 77.
201Have you heard from Charlotte Mason, diary, January 15, 1931, Alain Locke Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.
202If Langston had approached Arnold Rampersad, The Life of Langston Hughes, Vol. 1: 1902–1941, I, Too, Sing America, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford U. Press, 2002), 196.
202I am in fault in the end Hurston to Hughes, January 20, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 204–5.
202so exotic Hurston to Mason, January 20, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 209.
203Now get this straight Hurston to Hughes, January 20, 1931, quoted in Robert E. Hemenway, Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1977), 143, and Faith Berry, Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond Harlem, 2nd ed. (New York: Citadel, 1992), 112.
203Langston is weak. Hurston to Mason, January 20, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 208–9.
204What you say about Van Vechten to Hughes, January 20, 1931, in Bernard, Remember Me, 77.
204Louise has been paid Hughes to Hurston, January 20, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 221–22.
204Maybe she has lost Hughes to Spingarn, January 21, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 233.
205gave away his fear Charlotte Mason, diary, January 29, 1931, Locke Papers.
> 205threaten[ed] to have the law Ibid.
205if you make any further Hughes to Hurston, January 20, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 221.
206bitter cold Hughes to Van Vechten, January 22, 1931, Hughes Papers.
206Brazzle’s mule Hughes to Hurston, January 22, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 240–41.
206grossly exaggerated Spingarn to Hughes, January 24, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 244–45.
207I am sure that Spingarn to Hughes, January 27, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 250.
207The only thing I can say Thompson to Hughes, January 28, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 253.
207PLEASE PUT ME STRAIGHT Hughes to Locke, January 28, 1931, Locke Papers.
207CONGRATULATIONS ON THE HARMON AWARD Locke to Hughes, telegram [January 1931], quoted in Hughes to Spingarn, January 30, 1931, in The Selected Letters of Langston Hughes, ed. Arnold Rampersad and David Roessel with Christa Fratantoro (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015), 107.
208They are mostly working people Hughes to Hurston, January 27, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 248.
208Zo darling, whatever Hughes to Hurston, January 27, 1931, Locke Papers, quoted in Valerie Boyd, Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston (New York: Scribner, 2003), 213.
209consisted in her Charlotte Mason, diary, January 29, 1931, Locke Papers.
210Miss Hurston’s main grievance Hughes to Spingarn, February 3, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 259–60.
211She made such a scene Hughes to Van Vechten, February 4, 1931, Hughes Papers.
212DARLING GODMOTHER ARRIVED Hurston to Mason, telegram, February 3, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 209.
213There Zora, I understand Hughes to Thompson, February 7, 1931, in Selected Letters, 106–7.
213SLANT ON THINGS Hughes to Locke, telegram [February 1930], quoted in Locke to Mason, February 10, 1931, Locke Papers.
213never heard from Miss Hurston Langston Hughes, The Big Sea: An Autobiography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940), 334.
214Love and everything deep Hurston to Hughes, December 10, 1929, Hughes Papers.
214Lots of luck Hurston to Hughes, February 14, 1931, in Kaplan, Letters, 211.
214Dear Langston, What a sorrowful Mason to Hughes, February 12, 1931, Hughes Papers.
215I think it would be just Hughes to Spingarn, March 6, 1931, in Hurston, Mule Bone, 268.
215false egotism Locke to Mason, January 29, 1931, Locke Papers.