| AAASM Black History Research Project |
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AAASM.ORG
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH
AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH
AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
| Zora Neale Hurston January 7, 1903 - January 28, 1960 |
Born in Notasulga, Alabama, Zora Neale Hurston grew up in Florida. Hurston
later attended Howard University while working as a manicurist. In 1925 she
went to New York City, drawn by the circle of creative black artists (now known
as the Harlem Renaissance), and she began writing fiction.Annie Nathan
Meyer, founder of Barnard College, found a scholarship for Zora Neale
Hurston. Hurston began her study of anthropology at Barnard under Franz
Boaz, studying also with Ruth Benedict and Gladys Reichard. With the help of
Boaz and Elsie Clews Parsons, Zora Neale Hurston was able to win a six-month
grant she used to collect African American folklore.
While studying at Barnard, Zora Neale Hurston also worked as a secretary (an
amanuensis) for Fannie Hurst, a novelist. (Hurst, a Jewish woman, later -- 1933
-- wrote Imitation of Life, about a black woman passing as white. Claudette
Colbert starred in the 1934 film version of the story. "Passing" was a theme of
many of the Harlem Renaissance women writers.)
After college, when Zora Neale Hurston began working as an ethnologist, she
combined fiction and her knowledge of culture. Her early patron, Mrs. Rufus
Osgood Mason, supported her work on the condition that Hurston not publish
anything. It was only after Zora Neale Hurston cut herself off from Mrs. Mason's
financial patronage that she began publishing her poetry and fiction.
later attended Howard University while working as a manicurist. In 1925 she
went to New York City, drawn by the circle of creative black artists (now known
as the Harlem Renaissance), and she began writing fiction.Annie Nathan
Meyer, founder of Barnard College, found a scholarship for Zora Neale
Hurston. Hurston began her study of anthropology at Barnard under Franz
Boaz, studying also with Ruth Benedict and Gladys Reichard. With the help of
Boaz and Elsie Clews Parsons, Zora Neale Hurston was able to win a six-month
grant she used to collect African American folklore.
While studying at Barnard, Zora Neale Hurston also worked as a secretary (an
amanuensis) for Fannie Hurst, a novelist. (Hurst, a Jewish woman, later -- 1933
-- wrote Imitation of Life, about a black woman passing as white. Claudette
Colbert starred in the 1934 film version of the story. "Passing" was a theme of
many of the Harlem Renaissance women writers.)
After college, when Zora Neale Hurston began working as an ethnologist, she
combined fiction and her knowledge of culture. Her early patron, Mrs. Rufus
Osgood Mason, supported her work on the condition that Hurston not publish
anything. It was only after Zora Neale Hurston cut herself off from Mrs. Mason's
financial patronage that she began publishing her poetry and fiction.
Zora Neale Hurston's best-known work was published in 1937: Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel which was
controversial because it didn't fit easily into stereotypes of black stories. She was criticized within the black community
for taking funds from whites to support her writing; she wrote about themes "too black" to appeal to many whites.
Zora Neale Hurston's popularity waned. Her last book was published in 1948. She worked for a time on the faculty of
North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham, she wrote for Warner Brothers motion pictures, and for some time
worked on staff at the Library of Congress.
Eventually, Zora Neale Hurston went back to Florida and in 1960 died there in poverty, her work nearly forgotten and
thus lost to most readers.
Alice Walker in the 1970s helped revive interest in Zora Neale Hurston's writings, and today Hurston's novels and
poetry are studied in literature classes, women's studies and black studies courses, and have become again popular
with the general reading public.
controversial because it didn't fit easily into stereotypes of black stories. She was criticized within the black community
for taking funds from whites to support her writing; she wrote about themes "too black" to appeal to many whites.
Zora Neale Hurston's popularity waned. Her last book was published in 1948. She worked for a time on the faculty of
North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham, she wrote for Warner Brothers motion pictures, and for some time
worked on staff at the Library of Congress.
Eventually, Zora Neale Hurston went back to Florida and in 1960 died there in poverty, her work nearly forgotten and
thus lost to most readers.
Alice Walker in the 1970s helped revive interest in Zora Neale Hurston's writings, and today Hurston's novels and
poetry are studied in literature classes, women's studies and black studies courses, and have become again popular
with the general reading public.
| Hear is a compilation of all of the known Zora Neale Hurston sound recordings created while she worked for the WPA in the 1930s. PLAY NOW |