The Mystery Recordings of Langston Hughes: A Poet Visits the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

A Special Presentation by
Jameatris Rimkus
Archives Program Officer

The University Archives is a repository whose mission is to preserve and document the institution’s story. One never knows what they will find within the boxes of the archives. Each box, each folder, each item is a mystery waiting to be solved and a story to be told. One mystery is a recording of Langston Hughes reading his work to a live audience. The recording contained no documentation other than it was created by WILL Radio. Why was Mr. Hughes at the University of Illinois sharing his work and telling his story? So many questions and very little clues. Sam Spade isn’t available to solve the case, but an archivist can.