Portrait of Zora Neale Hurston
Carl Van Vechten, Portrait of Zora Neale Hurston, April 3, 1938. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, Van Vechten Collection, Washington, D.C.
Unidentified Woman With Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston
Unidentified Woman With Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, 1927. Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Zora Neale Hurston
James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, 1927. Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville was one of the first towns in the United States founded by Black citizens. Zora’s father was a minister who served three terms as Eatonville’s mayor. Zora attended the town’s school, where she studied the teachings of Booker T. Washington. She was greatly influenced by the philosophy that education, hard work, and perseverance could improve the lives of Black Americans.
Zora’s mother died in 1904. Her father remarried and sent her to live with relatives. Frustrated by her situation, Zora took a job as a maid for a musical theater troupe in 1916. She traveled the country, learned about theater, and continued her studies by borrowing books from the performers.
After eighteen months of life on the road, Zora quit her job to finish high school in Baltimore. She then enrolled at Howard University, one of the most famous Black colleges in the country. Life at Howard was about more than attending class. Zora was an active participant in campus life. She helped publish the inaugural issue of the school newspaper in 1924 and joined the Howard literary club. Her first two short stories were published in the club’s magazine, The Stylus. Money was a frequent concern for Zora, who paid for school by working as a manicurist at night.
Zora’s big break came in 1925. Opportunity, a Harlem-based magazine, presented her with a literary award for her short story “Spunk.” Zora was thrown into the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. She left Howard University and moved to Harlem. She quickly built a network of colleagues and supporters who recognized her name from Opportunity. That network helped her earn a scholarship to study English and Anthropology at women-only Barnard College. At Barnard, Zora studied under famous anthropologist Franz Boas. Boas encouraged Zora to pursue her interest in African American culture and folklore. Her early fieldwork in Harlem opened doors to travel.
Zora’s creative efforts mirrored her academic studies. She embodied the Harlem Renaissance. She was creative, educated, energetic, and committed to celebrating Black culture. In 1926, she collaborated with other writers to start a magazine called Fire! Some people criticized the magazine for downplaying white supremacy. But Zora and her colleagues felt that there needed to be a place for Black Americans to celebrate their culture without fear.
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