Located at 2266 East 86th Street, in the Fairfax neighborhood of Cleveland, writer, poet and playwright Langston Hughes lived alone in an attic apartment here from 1917-1919, during his junior and senior years at Central High School.
Hughes' stepfather and mother had left for Chicago, in search of work, leaving him behind. During his residence here, he met Russell and Rowena Jelliffe, founders of Karamu House, a settlement house where Hughes taught art to children, and where some of his plays would later premiere.