Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 in Alabama. She grew up in Florida. She became a famous writer and also a scientist who studied people. Hurston wrote stories about African Americans in the South. Her most famous book is called Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Her Work

Hurston wrote books, plays, and essays. She also traveled to collect old folk stories and songs. She wrote down the way people really talked in small towns. This is called folklore. Her work helped save many African American stories.

A color photograph of the writer Zora Neale Hurston.
A color photograph of the writer Zora Neale Hurston. (Carl Van Vechten / Wikimedia Commons)

Her Life

Hurston went to college and studied people and their cultures. She was part of a group of Black artists in New York called the Harlem Renaissance. She worked as a maid and in many other jobs to pay her bills. She was almost forgotten after she died in 1960. Later, a writer named Alice Walker helped make her famous again.

Fun Facts

  • Hurston traveled to Haiti and Jamaica to study their cultures.
  • She wrote her most famous novel in just seven weeks.
  • Her hometown of Eatonville was one of the first all-Black towns in America.

Did You Know?

Zora Neale Hurston's grave was lost for years until Alice Walker found it and put up a marker in 1973.