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Zora Neale Hurston
- 2. Contents Who was Zora Neale Hurston? Early Life Early Life(cont.) Education Education (cont.) Harlem Renaissance Life as an Author Life as an Anthropologist Beginning of the End Quote References
- 3. Who was Zora Neale Hurston? An anthropologist A writer A poet A folklorist Main influencer during the Harlem Renaissance Civil Rights Activist
- 4. Early Life Zora Neale Hurston was born January 7, 1891 to parents Lucy and John Hurston. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama. Her father chose the first incorporated, all-black city of Eatonville, FL and moved the family there when Zora was an infant. Eatonville had many opportunities for African American men. John started as a carpenter. He bought some land and built an 8-room home. He was charismatic and handsome. Eventually John became a minister of two churches and much later the mayor of Eatonville. Zoras mother, Lucy, took care of their eight children. Throughout their marriage she struggled with her husbands infidelity. She was well-liked in their community of Eatonville.
- 5. Early Life (cont.) Zora was her mothers favorite and her fathers least favorite. He much preferred her older sister, Sarah. Zora was inquisitive and a tomboy. John wanted her to be more ladylike. He did not like that Zora told enjoyed telling stories or that she was outspoken. Lucy, however, allowed Zora to be herself. Zora enjoyed reading and geography. She loved listening to and telling stories. One of her favorite activities was listening to stories told on the steps of the general store. Lucy died of an illness in Sept. 1904. Her death was heartbreaking to all of the Hurston children. Her father did not know how to comfort Zora and they grew further apart.
- 6. Education Zora was first educated at home by her mother and then went to the Robert Hungerford Normal and Industrial School. After her mother died, her father sent Zora away to Florida Baptist Academy. He later stopped paying her tuition, so she was unable to finish school. She left home and ended up as a maid and bounced from home to home for a few years. At the age of 24, she worked with a traveling acting troupe, Gilbert and Sullivan. Working with other races demystified white people to her and made her realize that people were the same regardless of race. Some were good, some were bad, and most were normal. She kept this opinion throughout her life.
- 7. Education (cont.) At the age of 26, Zora lied about her age by claiming she was 16. She was able to enroll in a night high school in Baltimore while she worked during the day. She then enrolled in college preparatory classes at Morgan Academy in Sept. 1917. Zora finished high school and was able to get into Howard University. It was called the Harvard for African Americans. Zora worked at a white barbershop and attended school. She also joined the Zeta Phi Beta in 1920 which was for women with brains. She still had trouble fitting in. Her grades dropped and she left Howard in 1923. Annie Nathan Meyer, founder of Barnard College took a special interest in Zora. Meyer helped her get funds to be able to attend. In Sept. 1925 at the age of 34, Zora enrolled as the first African American at Barnard College. She studied under Frank Boas. She finally graduated from Barnard in 1928 with a BA in anthropology. She did a two-year fellowship under Frank Boas at Columbia University. This was where she was awarded the $3,000.00 Rosenwald fellowship.
- 8. Harlem Renaissance After searching for her place, Zora finally felt at home in Harlem. She was considered a progressive literary force during this time. She was able to exist here and be herself. It opened the doors for her and was where she met Anne Nathan Meyer.
- 9. Life as an Author By the time she graduated college, Zoras essays, poems, and short stories had been published in numerous publications. Hurston published her first novel, Jonahs Gourd Vine, in 1934. This novel, like many of her stories, gave a glimpse of things from an African American point of view. In 1937 she published, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This was her most popular novel.
- 10. Life as an Anthropologist Frank Boas encouraged her to follow her interests in documenting African American folklore. After graduation, she began traveling and doing fieldwork in the American South and the Caribbean, which she was able to accomplish with backing from Rosenwald and Guggenheim fellowships and private funding. In 1935, she published, Mules and Men, the first collection of black folklore by an African American. In 1938, she published Tell My Horse, a collection about Voodoo. The information from this second book was done with her Fellowship from Guggenheim when she was able to do an ethnographic study in Haiti and Jamaica.
- 11. Beginning of the End In 1948, while Zora was studying in Puerto Cortes, Honduras an allegation had been brought against her from a previous landlord. She was accused of molesting the landlords mentally challenged ten-year-old son. When she got the plane in New York City, Zora was arrested. The charges were dropped as she had been out of the country at the time, but the damage was done. No one wanted to publish her work anymore. She ended up being a maid at a hotel in her final years. She died from poor health, January 28, 1960. She was poor and ended up being buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Pierce, FL. After her death, Alice Walker found her grave and brought attention to her once again. She has received awards since then and has had work published post-death.
- 12. There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Zora Neale Hurston
- 13. References Boyd, Valerie. Wrapped in Rainbows. New York, Ny. Scribner, (2004). Association for feminist Anthropology, Zora Neale Thurston, retrieved 25 Nov 2019 from http://afa.americananthro.org/zora-neale-hurston/ Biography.com, Zora Neale Hurston Biography, retrieved 26 Nov. 2019. https://www.biography.com/writer/zora- neale-hurston Graham, Regina. How Zora Neale Hurston became best- selling author 87 years after death.(July 2018) retrevied 20 Nov 2019 from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5942349/How- Zora-Neale-Hurston-best-selling-author-87-years-dying- broke-alone.html