The Man Who Went to War: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

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.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1944
• Written by: Langston Hughes, American, 1902 - 1967
• Subject of: Paul Robeson, American, 1898 - 1976
• Type: plays
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (2019.28.30a): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2019.28.30b): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2019.28.30c): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2019.28.30d): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2019.28.30e): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2019.28.30f): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2019.28.30g): 13 3/4 × 8 1/4 in. (35 × 21 cm)
• Place depicted: United States, North and Central America
• Place used: England, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Drama (Theatre)
• Topic: Literature
• Topic: Race relations
• Topic: Radio
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: World War II
• Object number: 2019.28.30a-v
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Estate of Langston Hughes Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.