Kansas State College
The poet CLAUDE MCKAY transferred from
TUSKEGEE INSTITUTEto Kansas State College in
order to pursue his study of literature and poetry. He
enrolled in the fall of 1912 and attended through
the spring of 1914. Despite his efforts to immerse
himself in literature, McKay wrote no poetry during
his time in Manhattan, Kansas. It was in this Kansas
college town that McKay’s interest in radical Amer-
ican politics began to deepen. It also was during his
time at Kansas State that McKay gained exposure to
the powerful work of W. E. B. DUBOIS, specifically
SOULS OFBLACKFOLK(1903).
Bibliography
Cooper, Wayne. Claude McKay: Rebel Sojourner in the
Harlem Renaissance.New York: Schocken Books,
1987.
Karamu House
The CLEVELAND,OHIO, settlement house and
neighborhood resource center established in 1915
by ROWENAJELLIFFEand her husband RUSSELL
JELLIFFE. Originally called the Neighborhood Asso-
ciation Settlement, the institution was renamed the
Karamu House in 1940. The new name of the orga-
nization was taken from the Swahili language. The
word Karamu,which means “place of joyful gather-
ing” and “center of the community,” underscored
the inspiring cultural activities and central role that
the organization aspired to play in Cleveland.
The Jelliffes and the Karamu House had a con-
nection to the Harlem Renaissance. LANGSTON
HUGHESattended events at the house during his
Cleveland childhood years and later returned to
teach at the center. The Jelliffes, in collaboration
with the Gilpin Players, the troupe established at
the Karamu House, also produced several Hughes
plays at the center during the Harlem Renaissance.Bibliography
Berry, Faith, ed. Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond
Harlem.Westport, Conn.: Lawrence Hill & Com-
pany, 1983.
France, Monroe. The Karamu House and Its Impact on So-
cial Change and the Community. Available online.
URL: http://www.coe.ohio-state.edu/EDPL/Gordon/
courses/863/france/france.html
Karamu House Web site. Available online. URL: http://
http://www.karamu.com.
Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes: I, Too,
Sing America.Vol. 1: 1902–1941.New York: Oxford
University Press, 1986.
———. The Life of Langston Hughes: I Dream a World.
Vol. 2: 1941–1967.New York: Oxford University
Press, 1988.Karamu Players
The troupe that was based in the KARAMUHOUSE,
the oldest African-American theater company in
the United States. The group was established in the
Neighborhood Association Settlement, or as it
came to be called in 1940, the Karamu House. Dur-
ing the tenure of founders ROWENAJELLIFFEand
RUSSELLJELLIFFE, the group was founded first as
the Dumas Drama Club. It was renamed the Gilpin296