- Written by
- Hughes, Langston, American, 1902 - 1967
- Subject of
- Robeson, Paul, American, 1898 - 1976
- Date
- 1944
- Medium
- ink on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (2019.28.30a): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30b): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30c): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30d): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30e): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30f): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30g): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30h): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30i): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30j): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30k): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30l): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30m): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30n): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30o): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30p): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30q): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30r): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30s): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30t): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30u): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- H x W (2019.28.30v): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
- Description
- A radio play titled “The Man Who Went to War” by Langston Hughes. The play is typed on twenty-two off-white pages in black ink. The first page has [“THE MAN WHO WENT TO WAR” / by / Langston Hughes] typed at the top. Typed below the title is an introduction to be read by Paul Robeson. It begins [Hello, Britain. This is Paul Robeson speaking to you / from New York. Tonight we are bringing you a new / play by one of our leading poets, Langston Hughes. / It is called, “The Man Who Went to War”, and it is / acted and sung for you by an all-Negro cast, - just / a few of your thirteen million Negro allies in the / United States. We, too, are a part of this great / global war against fascism. Many of us are on the / Allied fighting fronts all around the world from New / Guinea to Italy, Fighting side by side with the / soldiers of all the United Nations…] The play begins at the bottom of the first page. It is about an African American soldier named Johnny who decides to join the war and his family that stays behind. Several songs are included in the play. The other twenty-one pages of the play are numbered at the top. The backs of the pages are blank.
- Place depicted
- United States, North and Central America
- Place used
- England, Europe
- Classification
- Documents and Manuscripts
- Type
- plays
- Topic
- Actors
- Drama (Theatre)
- Literature
- Race relations
- Radio
- Singers (Musicians)
- World War II
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2019.28.30a-v
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Estate of Langston Hughes
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




