About
Zora Neale Hurston was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Alabama, she grew up in Eatonville, Florida, the first all-Black municipality in the United States. She studied anthropology at Columbia University under Franz Boas, then conducted fieldwork in the American South and the Caribbean, collecting folklore, music, and oral traditions. Her most celebrated novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), was praised for its portrayal of Black American life. She also wrote plays, essays, and an autobiography. Her work, long forgotten, was rediscovered thanks to Alice Walker in the 1970s.
* 1891-01-07 — † 1960-01-28
Major works
- Jonah's Gourd Vine (1934)novel
- Mules and Men (1935)folklore collection
- Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)novel
- Tell My Horse (1938)anthropological study
- Dust Tracks on a Road (1942)autobiography
Key milestones
- 1928First African American to graduate from Barnard College.
- 1937Publication of her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
- 1973Alice Walker places a headstone on her unmarked grave.
Themes
African American identityfolklore and oral traditionsBlack women's livesSouthern regionalismcultural anthropology
Sources: id.loc.gov · blogs.loc.gov · wams.nyhistory.org