Zora+Neale+Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston v Zora Neale Hurston was born around the years 1891-1901 v Throughout her whole entire life she was dishonest about her age; so no one knew what her age was v Zora Neale Hurston never had experience with racism ‘ because everyone was the same race in her town v She was raised in Eatonville, Florida which was 5 miles from Orlando v She was very poor; therefore she couldn’t afford education v Rejected by her father’ she moved to Baltimore( she had her education there at Morgan Academy) v She graduated college, but kept studying there until 1924 v Zora lived in New York for a long time ; when she joined the Harlem Renaissance v She was one of the ‘shapers’ in black literature and culture v She was known for the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God”(1937) v New York’s population doubled when southern blacks came pouring in (1910-1920) v She became famous for her Harlem Renaissance’s Literati; where she won an award v Zora became friends with Langston Hughes v Zora and Langston collaborated on a play{ Zora wrote the play while Langston wrote the plot} v Zora was unwilling to share the credit for the play and sent the copyright with only her name on it v Langston threatened to sue her and called their friendship off v Because of the break-up between Langston and Zora; some people thought that that was it for the Harlem Renaissance ; it wasn’t over yet v Zora Neale’s book, “their Eyes Were Watching God” was about a girl in search for happiness. It was based on her love for a man that she met in the West Indies. v Richard Wright distasted the thought of black people looking as “common folks working the bean field”. He wrote a book talking about the horrors of racism. v After her little critique on the story; she got blasted on by more critics talking now about her autobiography. v Harold Peece called it the “tragedy of a gifted mind” v In the late 1500s; Zora began to publish less and less stories ,and was rejected frequently v She even worked as a maid for a while v She continued to write, but her health and finances failed v She suffered a stroke, and was taken to St.Lucie County Welfare Home in 1959 v Zora died penniless on January 28,1960 v She was buried in an unmarked grave in a segregated cemetery in Florida