Zora Neale Hurston was an influential author, anthropologist, and figure of the Harlem Renaissance. She was born in 1891 in Alabama and raised in the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida. Hurston faced many obstacles in her education but eventually graduated from Barnard College. She published several novels that explored African American folklore and culture, such as Their Eyes Were Watching God. However, false accusations later derailed her career, and she died in poverty in 1960.

1. Zora Neale Hurston

2. Contents
 Who was Zora Neale Hurston?
 Early Life
 Early Life(cont.)
 Education
 Education (cont.)
 Harlem Renaissance
 Life as an Author
 Life as an Anthropologist
 Beginning of the End
 Quote
 References

3. Who was Zora Neale Hurston?
An anthropologist
A writer
A poet
A folklorist
Main influencer during the Harlem Renaissance
Civil Rights Activist

4. Early Life
 Zora Neale Hurston was born January 7, 1891 to
parents Lucy and John Hurston. She was born in
Notasulga, Alabama.
 Her father chose the first incorporated, all-black
city of Eatonville, FL and moved the family there
when Zora was an infant. Eatonville had many
opportunities for African American men. John
started as a carpenter. He bought some land and
built an 8-room home. He was charismatic and
handsome. Eventually John became a minister of
two churches and much later the mayor of
Eatonville.
 Zora’s mother, Lucy, took care of their eight
children. Throughout their marriage she
struggled with her husband’s infidelity. She was
well-liked in their community of Eatonville.

5. Early Life (cont.)
 Zora was her mother’s favorite and her father’s least favorite. He much
preferred her older sister, Sarah. Zora was inquisitive and a tomboy. John
wanted her to be more ladylike. He did not like that Zora told enjoyed telling
stories or that she was outspoken. Lucy, however, allowed Zora to be herself.
 Zora enjoyed reading and geography. She loved listening to and telling
stories. One of her favorite activities was listening to stories told on the steps
of the general store.
 Lucy died of an illness in Sept. 1904. Her death was heartbreaking to all of
the Hurston children. Her father did not know how to comfort Zora and they
grew further apart.

6. Education
 Zora was first educated at home by her mother and then
went to the Robert Hungerford Normal and Industrial
School.
 After her mother died, her father sent Zora away to Florida
Baptist Academy. He later stopped paying her tuition, so
she was unable to finish school.
 She left home and ended up as a maid and bounced from
home to home for a few years. At the age of 24, she
worked with a traveling acting troupe, Gilbert and Sullivan.
Working with other races demystified white people to her
and made her realize that people were the same
regardless of race. Some were good, some were bad, and
most were normal. She kept this opinion throughout her
life.

7. Education
(cont.)
 At the age of 26, Zora lied about her age by claiming she
was 16. She was able to enroll in a night high school in
Baltimore while she worked during the day. She then
enrolled in college preparatory classes at Morgan
Academy in Sept. 1917.
 Zora finished high school and was able to get into Howard
University. It was called the Harvard for African Americans.
Zora worked at a white barbershop and attended school.
She also joined the Zeta Phi Beta in 1920 which was for
“women with brains”. She still had trouble fitting in. Her
grades dropped and she left Howard in 1923.
 Annie Nathan Meyer, founder of Barnard College took a
special interest in Zora. Meyer helped her get funds to be
able to attend. In Sept. 1925 at the age of 34, Zora
enrolled as the first African American at Barnard College.
She studied under Frank Boas. She finally graduated from
Barnard in 1928 with a BA in anthropology.
 She did a two-year fellowship under Frank Boas at
Columbia University. This was where she was awarded the
$3,000.00 Rosenwald fellowship.

8. Harlem Renaissance
After searching for her place, Zora
finally felt at home in Harlem. She
was considered a progressive
literary force during this time. She
was able to exist here and be
herself. It opened the doors for
her and was where she met Anne
Nathan Meyer.

9. Life as an Author
 By the time she graduated college, Zora’s essays, poems, and short stories had
been published in numerous publications.
 Hurston published her first novel, Jonah’s Gourd Vine, in 1934. This novel, like
many of her stories, gave a glimpse of things from an African American point of
view.
 In 1937 she published, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This was her most popular
novel.

10. Life as an Anthropologist
 Frank Boas encouraged her to follow her interests in documenting African
American folklore. After graduation, she began traveling and doing fieldwork in
the American South and the Caribbean, which she was able to accomplish with
backing from Rosenwald and Guggenheim fellowships and private funding.
 In 1935, she published, Mules and Men, the first collection of black folklore by an
African American.
 In 1938, she published Tell My Horse, a collection about Voodoo. The information
from this second book was done with her Fellowship from Guggenheim when she
was able to do an ethnographic study in Haiti and Jamaica.

11. Beginning of the End
In 1948, while Zora was studying in Puerto Cortes, Honduras an allegation had
been brought against her from a previous landlord. She was accused of
molesting the landlord’s mentally challenged ten-year-old son. When she got
the plane in New York City, Zora was arrested. The charges were dropped as
she had been out of the country at the time, but the damage was done. No
one wanted to publish her work anymore.
She ended up being a maid at a hotel in her final years. She died from poor
health, January 28, 1960. She was poor and ended up being buried in an
unmarked grave in Fort Pierce, FL.
After her death, Alice Walker found her grave and brought attention to her
once again. She has received awards since then and has had work published
post-death.

12. “There are years
that ask
questions and
years that
answer.”
― Zora Neale
Hurston

13. References
Boyd, Valerie. Wrapped in Rainbows. New York, Ny.
Scribner, (2004).
Association for feminist Anthropology, “Zora Neale Thurston,”
retrieved 25 Nov 2019 from
http://afa.americananthro.org/zora-neale-hurston/
Biography.com, “ Zora Neale Hurston Biography,” retrieved
26 Nov. 2019. https://www.biography.com/writer/zora-
neale-hurston
Graham, Regina. “How Zora Neale Hurston became best-
selling author 87 years after death.”(July 2018) retrevied
20 Nov 2019 from
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5942349/How-
Zora-Neale-Hurston-best-selling-author-87-years-dying-
broke-alone.html