LINCOLN - Poet Langston Hughes, who lived in Lincoln during his youth and is said to have written his first poem here, is commemorated with a marker. But money still is needed to pay for landscaping.

Organizer Margaret Peifer worked from 1993 to 1998 to get the marker placed at the corner of Broadway and Union streets.

"Historian Paul Gleason started this all when he talked about Hughes and how he wrote his first poem in Lincoln," said Peifer. "He had a lot of historical significance in Lincoln. I couldn't believe it and thought, 'Not Langston Hughes of the Harlem Renaissance.'"

Peifer said much of the work has been completed around the marker, which was placed in 1998 by the Illinois State Historical Society.

The new brick and shrub landscaping will be recognized Feb. 1 at a birthday party for Hughes, scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Lincoln's Central School. Students will recite poems and Peifer plans to have birthday cake available.

"This is Hughes' birthday and also the start of Black History Month," said Peifer. "We want to keep Langston alive in Lincoln."

Wayne Alberts of Bonnie Brae Nursery in Atlanta will do the work for about $500. Peifer hopes to raise $400 for the landscaping.

Alberts already donated $400 in labor; Peifer donated $100 to jump-start the project.

Donations may be sent to State Bank of Lincoln or dropped off with Richard Sumrall at Lincoln Public Library. Checks should be made out to the "Langston Hughes Memorial Fund."

Any remaining money will be used to buy books about Hughes and his work.

According to www.americaslibrary.gov, Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, which was the black artistic movement in the 1920s that celebrated black life and culture.

The site said Hughes's creative genius was influenced by his life in New York City's Harlem. Through his poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children's books, he promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and celebrated black culture, humor, and spirituality.

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GO!

What: Birthday celebration for Langston Hughes and dedication of landscaping around his marker

Where: Central Elementary School, 101 Eighth St., Lincoln

When: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 1