Common Threads: Langston Hughes in the American West

Common Threads presents
Langston Hughes in the American West

Speaker:
Carmen Beals
Associate Curator and Outreach Director, Las Vegas
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno

Carmen Beals, Associate Curator and Outreach Director at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, will present archival documentation and reproduced ephemera related to Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes and his time in the American West. The discussion begins in 1932, when Hughes visited the Hoover Dam in Nevada to advocate for the rights of African Americans seeking employment on the dam, and extends to his time in California, considering the broader impact of his experiences across the West Coast.

This presentation is informed by Carmen’s recent curatorial work on Langston Hughes, including When Langston Hughes Came to Town (which concluded in February 2026) and A New Song: Langston Hughes in the West, currently on view at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles through September 13.