World-renowned author, anthropologist, and filmmaker Zora Neale Hurston was a fixture of New York City’s Harlem Renaissance and celebrated the African American culture of the rural South. Her most well-known publication is her novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” published in 1937. While not a true story, it was based on the hardships and complexities throughout her own personal life, and the novel's setting is her own hometown of Eatonville, Florida.
Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama, on January 7, 1891, but spent most of her childhood in Eatonville, which became the setting in many of her stories. It was the first incorporated all-black town in the country, and she attended school there until her mother's death when Hurston was 13. Her teen years became increasingly more difficult, and she eventually joined a traveling theatrical company, ending up in New York City.
While traveling, Hurston had claimed she was ten years younger than she actually was in order to obtain a high school education, then attended Howard University from 1921 to 1924. In 1925, she won a scholarship to Barnard College, where she studied anthropology under Franz Boas. She was the only Black student there and received her degree in anthropology in 1928 when she was 37. She then studied for two years as a graduate student in anthropology at Columbia University, conducting field studies in folklore among African Americans in the South.
Hurston began experiencing literary success in the late 1920s with her short story, “Sweat,” and her autobiographical essay, "How It Feels to be Colored Me." She published her first novel, “Jonah’s Gourd Vine,” in 1934 to critical acclaim, and she was praised for her spot-on portrayal of the African American experience. She followed this critical success with the books “Mules and Men,” “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” “Tell My Horse,” and “Moses, Man of the Mountain,” firmly establishing her as a major author.
Hurston was also a dedicated teacher. She established a school of dramatic arts at Bethune-Cookman College and worked for a number of years as a drama teacher at North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) in Durham. Hurston, unfortunately, spent much of her life in poverty, with her works widely unknown throughout her life. However, there was a resurgence of interest in her work in the late 20th century, and she is now widely regarded as one of the best writers of that time. Her work continues to influence writers and readers around the world.