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BIOGRAPHY
Zora Neale Hurston was born in Eatonville, Florida, a town founded by African Americans. Her mother died when she was young, and at 16 she joined a traveling theatrical company. She ended up in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance. She studied anthropology at Barnard and at Columbia under the noted anthropologist, Frank Boas. After graduating from college, she began collecting folklore in her hometown, the Florida Everglades, Georgia's sea islands, New Orleans, and Haiti. She published the folklore in the book, TELL MY HORSE. Hurston also published five novels, and she is best known for the novel, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD. Her work is known for its metaphorical language and story telling qualities. She won a Guggenheim fellowship in order to pursue her writing and wrote for Warner Brothers motion-picture studio. She taught at North Carolina Central University and was on staff at the Library of Congress for a period of time. She died in poverty in Florida, and her work was largely forgotten until the 1970s when her works were unearthed. This was in large part due to the efforts of novelist, Alice Walker. Hurston's work has been republished, and many previously unpublished writings have been published posthumously.
CHRONOLOGY
1903 She was born in Eatonville, Florida. (January 7)
1919 She joined a traveling theatrical company and ended up in New York City.
1923 She enrolled at Howard University.
1924 She transferred to Barnard College.
1928 She graduated from Barnard College.
1934 JONAH'S GOURD VINE - novel
1935 MULES AND MEN - collected tales
1937 THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD - novel
1938 TELL MY HORSE - folk customs
1939 MOSES, MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN - novel
1942 DUST TRACKS ON A ROAD - autobiography
1948 SERAPH ON THE SUWANEE - novel
1950 She returned to Florida to live.
1960 She died in Fort Pierce, Florida. (January 28)
1991 MULE BONE: A COMEDY OF NEGRO LIFE IN THREE ACTS - collaboration with Langston Hughes
1995 A two-volume set of her work was published.
1999 GO GATOR AND MUDDY THE WATER: WRITINGS BY ZORA NEALE HURSTON FROM THE FEDERAL WRITER'S PROJECT - collection of folklore of African American Floridians
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