(LITERATURE) Langston Hughes Montage of a Dream Deferred

Sale 2598 - Lot 303

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(LITERATURE.) Langston Hughes. Montage of a Dream Deferred. [16], 75 pages. 8vo, publisher's cloth, minimal wear, a bit sunned on backstrip; hinges split; in original dust jacket with minor wear, browned on backstrip; warmly signed and inscribed on the front free endpaper to the far-left integrated National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards. New York: Henry Holt and Company, [1951]

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First edition of this important poem suite, best known for "Harlem": "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?" (page 71). However, in this copy, "Freedom Train" is highlighted--it is mentioned in the inscription, and underlined in the table of contents.

The inscription reads "To the National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards San Francisco Office, these poems of the Freedom Train, sincerely, Langston Hughes, New York, May 1, 1951."

The National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards represented workers on the west coast and in Hawaii. They were noteworthy on several fronts, and in 1951 had been recently in the news. An integrated union, its membership was thought to be about 50% Black and 25% Asian. They have also gained recognition for their involvement in the early LGBTQ movement, with many openly gay members and a sign in their union hall reading "No Race Baiting, Red-Baiting, or Queer Baiting." Their leadership and many of their members were leftists, and were expelled from the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1950 for their Communist ties. During a difficult time for this progressive union, Hughes apparently sent his new book as a message of support from across the country--making it a fascinating association copy.