Founded in 1981, the Langston Hughes Society (LHS) was the first scholarly association named in honor of an African-American writer. The LHS is a national association of scholars, teachers, creative and performing artists, students, and lay persons who seek to increase awareness and appreciation of Langston Hughes (1 February 1902–22 May 1967), the first African American to make his living solely by his pen. Throughout his four decades of literary creativity that is virtually unrivalled in American letters, Hughes wrote fifty books, including poetry, drama, autobiography, history, fiction, prose comedy, juvenile literature, librettos, and black gospel song-plays.