Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale HUrston

By: Josh Eby Tyson Smith Malachai Powery

Early LIFe

• Born on January 7th, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, but moved to Eatonville, Florida at a young age.​

• Attended the town’s School, where she would

study the teachings of Booker T Washington- Greatly influenced by teachings and philosophy of the School.​

• Her mother would die 1904. Afterwards her father would remarry and send Zora off to live with relatives.​

• She finished her secondary schooling in Baltimore and enrolled in Howard University.​

• While there, she joined the Howard Literacy Club

and would publish her first two short stories that were published in the club’s magazine.​

HomeTown

• Eatonville is the childhood hometown

of Hurston​

• It is famous for being the oldest all-

Black town in America​

• Founded in 1887 by newly freed slaves​
• It was seen as a haven for African-

Americans that provided them with opportunities for education, self- government, and economic development

Eatonville FL, 1887

CAREER

• Hurston’s Career was fully dedicated to

studying black culture.​

• Travelled to both Haiti and Jamaica to

study African diaspora​.

• She began to implement her findings into

fictional writing​

• In 1934, she established a school of

dramatic arts at Bethune-Cookman College​

• She gained a following in the African

American community in 1935, when she published “Mules and Men”​

• Throughout her career, she was often

underpaid for her work resulting in her living in constant debt and poverty.​

"Their Eyes Were Watching God​"

• "Their Eyes Were Watching God", is a novel produced by

Zora Neale Hurston, in the year of 1937.​

• It was originally known as controversial, due to its

unconventional display of Black southern life, andracial protest fiction.​

• Through time it became a classic within African

American Literature.​

• Themes such as autonomy, complexities of race and

gender, and identity are all expressed through the novel​

Time Period

The Great Depression created an extreme amount of Economic Hardship, effecting black communities greatly.Their struggles during this time has been portrayed in a multitude of works including "Their Eyes Were Watching God"​

The Harlem Renaissance was the beginning of the flourishment of African Art, Literature, and music​

Sources

https://allthatsinteresting.com/great-depression-photos-african-americans

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zora-Neale-Hurston

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Their-Eyes-Were-Watching-God

https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/jazz-age/zora-neale-hurston/

https://www.britannica.com/event/Harlem-Renaissance-American-literature-and-art/Black-heritage-and-American-culture

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/zora-hurston