Update your settings

ora Neale Hurston was a force of nature—bold, brilliant, and unapologetically herself. A writer, anthropologist, and folklorist, she carved out a powerful voice during the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. Her work celebrated the richness of Black culture, particularly in the rural South, and elevated the voices of everyday people through vibrant language and profound storytelling. Best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston defied expectations in both her personal and professional life, leaving a legacy that still resonates deeply in literature, anthropology, and Black cultural history.

Early Life and Education

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, but she grew up in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first all-Black towns in the United States. Eatonville would become a central setting in many of her stories. Her father was a preacher and mayor, and her mother encouraged Zora to “jump at the sun”—to aim high and be fearless.

Tragedy struck when her mother died in 1904, and Hurston’s life became unstable. She drifted through various jobs and schooling before finally finding her academic footing. In her thirties, she entered Howard University, and later received a scholarship to attend Barnard College, where she studied anthropology under Franz Boas, a pioneer in the field. She was the only Black student at Barnard at the time.

Anthropology and Folklore

Hurston’s work in anthropology profoundly influenced her writing. She conducted fieldwork throughout the American South and the Caribbean, documenting Black folklore, music, religious practices, and oral traditions. Unlike many of her white contemporaries, she approached her subjects not as an outsider or a scientist, but as someone preserving the sacred stories of her own culture.

She traveled to Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, studying voodoo practices and spiritual traditions. Her anthropological writings were compiled in works like Mules and Men (1935) and Tell My Horse (1938), which remain essential texts in both anthropology and African American studies.

Hurston believed that folklore was the soul of the Black community—a living, breathing testament to resilience and creativity. She once said:

“Folklore is the boiled-down juice of human living.”

Harlem Renaissance and Literary Breakthrough

During the 1920s, Hurston moved to Harlem, where she became an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that celebrated Black art, music, and literature. She formed friendships with key figures like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Alain Locke.

In 1925, she gained national attention after winning several literary awards, and she quickly became a rising star. However, Hurston’s relationship with the Harlem Renaissance was complex. While many writers of the time focused on protest literature—works that highlighted racial injustice—Hurston chose to center Black life as she knew it: full of love, conflict, humor, and complexity.

She wasn’t interested in writing stories to please white liberals or fit into a political mold. She wrote for Black readers, in the authentic dialects and voices of her people, even when it sparked criticism.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

In 1937, Hurston published her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The book follows the journey of Janie Crawford, a Black woman in the South who experiences love, heartbreak, and self-discovery through three marriages.

What set the novel apart was its use of Southern Black vernacular and its focus on a Black woman’s interior life and autonomy. Janie’s story was not defined by racism or victimhood—it was defined by her desire for love, voice, and freedom.

Though Their Eyes Were Watching God is now celebrated as a literary masterpiece, it was not widely embraced at the time of its release. Some Black male critics, including Richard Wright, felt Hurston’s focus on personal life rather than politics was frivolous or counterproductive. Wright accused her of writing a novel that catered to white audiences by ignoring racial struggle. But Hurston stood firm in her vision.

She wrote:

“I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a dirty deal... I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation.”

Other Works and Writings

Throughout her career, Hurston wrote novels, plays, essays, and short stories. Some of her notable works include:

• Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934) – A semi-autobiographical novel about a charismatic preacher whose ambition leads to both triumph and tragedy.

• Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939) – A retelling of the biblical Moses story, infused with African American folklore and Southern Black dialect.

• Dust Tracks on a Road (1942) – Her autobiography, which blends fact and fiction in a characteristically bold, humorous, and complex narrative.

She also worked as a drama teacher, librarian, and freelance writer, though she struggled financially for much of her life.

A Life of Independence and Controversy

Hurston’s independent spirit often put her at odds with both the literary elite and political activists of her day. She was fiercely individualistic, politically conservative, and resisted being boxed in ideologically. While many Black writers supported leftist movements, Hurston was skeptical of socialism and communism. She also opposed school desegregation in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case—not because she supported racism, but because she believed in the power of Black institutions and feared forced integration would dismantle them.

Her views made her increasingly unpopular during the rise of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s, and her work was largely forgotten by the time she died.

Death and Rediscovery

Hurston died in poverty on January 28, 1960, in Fort Pierce, Florida. She was buried in an unmarked grave. But her story didn’t end there.

In the 1970s, a young writer named Alice Walker—who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple—led a movement to revive interest in Hurston’s work. Walker located Hurston’s unmarked grave and installed a headstone that read:

“Zora Neale Hurston: A Genius of the South.”

Walker and others in the Black feminist and academic communities began to reexamine Hurston’s writings, not as apolitical or insignificant, but as radical, lyrical, and ahead of their time. Their Eyes Were Watching God was reissued in the late 1970s and quickly became a staple in literature courses across the country.

Legacy and Influence

Today, Zora Neale Hurston is celebrated as one of the greatest American writers—Black or otherwise. Her work has inspired countless artists, including Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward, and Beyoncé. Their Eyes Were Watching God is required reading in many high schools and colleges and has been adapted into a film starring Halle Berry.

In 2005, Oprah Winfrey produced the film adaptation and called Hurston’s novel "one of my all-time favorite love stories."

Hurston's influence also extends into cultural preservation. Her anthropological contributions helped legitimize the study of Black folklore and Southern traditions. Her fieldwork is still cited by scholars, and her recordings of spirituals and oral history are invaluable to cultural historians.

In 2018, her previously unpublished book Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" was released. Based on interviews Hurston conducted in the 1930s with Cudjo Lewis, one of the last known survivors of the transatlantic slave trade, the book became a bestseller and was praised for its raw, unfiltered storytelling.

Conclusion

Zora Neale Hurston lived boldly and wrote bravely. She captured the language, spirit, and complexity of Black life in a way no one else dared to do in her time. Though she faced criticism, neglect, and obscurity, she never compromised her voice or her vision.

Her legacy is now secure—as a pioneer, a poet of the people, a cultural guardian, and a literary genius.

Hurston once wrote,

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”

Thanks to Zora Neale Hurston, we have the words to do both.