Sometimes the story of how we acquire an object is just as fascinating as the object itself. So is the case of a plain shawl donated in 1943.
 
Langston Hughes
James Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes was from a prominent African-American family with Ohio connections.  In 1835, his grandfather was the first African-American to attend Oberlin College. Hughes lived with his grandmother until he was 13.  After moving back in with his mother and her husband, the family eventually resided in Cleveland, Ohio. Hughes began writing poetry while attending Cleveland’s Central High School.  He published poems in The Belfry Owl, a school magazine. In 1920, Hughes left for Mexico, returning to the states a year later to attend Columbia University in New York City. He left Columbia in 1922 due to increasing racial prejudices. Hughes continued to be active writing poetry in the Harlem area. After spending time in England, Hughes moved to Washington D.C. in 1924. He was working as a busboy at hotel restaurant when he met poet Vachel Lindsay. Hughes showed Lindsay some of his poetry, who ultimately used his connections to promote Hughes poetry.
 
Cover of A Pictorial History of the Negro in America by Langston Hughes from the Society’s library.
After receiving a scholarship, Hughes graduate from Lincoln University in 1929. He published his first book, Not Without Laughter, shortly after. For years, he frequently toured the US, Europe, and the USSR reading his poetry and short stories. Hughes became one of the best known poets in the United States, publishing countless volumes of poetry, short stories, and plays. On May 22, 1967, Langston Hughes died from complications of prostate cancer. In addition to once calling Ohio home, Hughes made a lasting contribution to Ohio History.  On April 30, 1943, Langston Hughes donated this shawl (H 6806) used by Sheridan Leary to the Ohio Historical Society.  Sheridan Leary was an African-American harnesses maker from Oberlin, Ohio who was killed during John Browns Raid on Harpers Ferry. Leary was the first husband of Hughes grandmother, Mary Patterson.
 
Shawl, call number H 6806, donated to the Ohio Historical Society by poet Langston Hughes.
In his note to the society, Hughes explained, It (the shawl) was worn at John Browns Raid where Sheridan Leary was killed and since his widow, who was my grandmother, states that it had been handed down in the Leary family from Sheridans grandfather, I think we would be safe in dating the shawl at thirty to forty years preceding John Browns raid, certainly in the first quarter of the 1800s. The shawl was reportedly found in the mud after the raid and returned to Learys grieving widow.
 
Closeup of shawl. 
The shawl demonstrates the need for good documentation of an object; without a provenance, it would appear to be very ordinary.  With its connection to the raid on Harpers Ferry and Langston Hughes the shawl is one of the most treasured objects in our collection. Have you ever come across an object with a fascinating story of how it got to where it is?

References:
A&E Networks Television. “Langston Hughes Biography.” Bio.com. http://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-9346313 (accessed February 10, 2014).
Hughes, Langston, Arnold Rampersad, David E. Roessel, and Benny Andrews. Langston Hughes. New York: Sterling Pub., 20061994. The Poetry Foundation. “Langston Hughes.”
The Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langston-hughes (accessed February 12, 2014).