A Short Biography of Zora Neal Hurston -- written by Agneya Dutta Pooleery; edited by Haimonti Dutta.

 

Image obtained from: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/19/zora-neale-hurston-study-of-last-survivor-of-us-slave-trade-to-be-published

Biography

Zora Neal Hurston was born on January 4, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama. When she was three, she and her family moved to Eatonville, Florida. Hurston studied at the Howard University in 1918, a historically black college in Washington, D.C. She left Howard in 1924 and won a scholarship to Barnard College and Columbia University where she studied anthropology under Franz Boas.

Hurston was a reputed writer and anthropologist. Her books include -- Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”, Mules and Men, Their Eyes were Watching God, Joanah’s Gourd Vine, and others. Barracoon, a non-fiction work, is based on her interviews in 1927 with Cudjoe Lewis, the last living survivor of transatlantic slave trade. Mules and Men, published in 1935, discusses African American folklore collected in Florida and New Orleans. It has a preface by her academic advisor Franz Boas and Zora mentions that her choice of Florida was guided by the fact that it drew both white and black men from the North and West of the US. Their Eyes Were Watching God, considered to be one of Hurston’s best works and a classic of the Harlem Renaissance, explores the character of Janie Crawford, an African American woman in her forties, who loves her independence and through two marriages and several sexual encounters establishes her way of the world. Joanah’s Gourd Vine was Hurston’s debut novel which recounts the story of migration of African American people (from Alabama to Eatonville, FL). In 1930, Hurston collaborated with Langston Huges on a play called Mule Bone: A Comedy Of Negro Life in Three Acts, which was never finished. Hurston’s books portray the lifestyle of African American people and their folklore and celebrates the African American Culture of the South.

Hurston was contacted by the editor of the Pittsburg Courier, to cover the murder trial of Ruby McCollum. Ruby was convicted and later sentenced to death by an all white, all male jury and Hurston and the editor’s stand on the matter was that the case was one about ``paramour rights” -- wherein white men were allowed to have black women as sexual partners and often forced them to bear children. A serialized account of The Life Story of Ruby McCollum appeared over three months in the 1953 paper, whence her part was abruptly ended due to a disagreement between Hurston and the editor. About ten other plays, including Cold Keener: A Revue, de Turkey and de Law: A Comedy in Three Acts, Forty Yards, Lawing and Jawing, Poker, Woofing and Spunk were submitted with the US Copyright Office between 1925 -- 1944 only to be rediscovered in 1997 at which point, the Library of Congress acquired the collection and now has it digitized. 

Hurston’s works are known to use African American dialect and slurs. Her contemporaries criticized this, suggesting that it was a caricature of the African American lifestyle and was rooted in white supermacist traditions that developed post Civil War. This lead some of her reviewers to question whether her works were rooted in African American culture or aimed to satisfy the white audience. She received posthumous recognition for several works including an article in the Ms magazine (Mar. 1975) by Alice Walker entitled In Search of Zora Neal Hurston, and a conference in Barnard College dedicated to her. In 2015, she was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. 

 Zora Neal Hurston died on January 28, 1960 at age 69 in Fort Pierce, Florida after a period of medical and financial difficulties. 

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston#Research_and_representation

https://www.loc.gov/collections/zora-neale-hurston-plays/about-this-collection/

Original Illustration (Charcoal work) : A scene from Zora Neal Hurston's play "Woofing" 1931 set in Negro Street, Waycross, GA. 

All Rights Reserved, Haimonti Dutta, Jan 18th, 2021.

Here is an excerpt from the play

ACTION: Thru the open window of 'one' of the shacks a WOMAN is discovered ironing. A MAN is sitting on the floor of the porch asleep. She hums a bar or two, then comes to the window and calls to the man.

Woman: Good Black, why don't you git up from dere and carry dese white folks clothes home? You always want money but you wouldn't hit a lick at a snake! 

Man: Aw, shut up woman. I'm tired of hearin' bout dem white folks clothes. I don't keer if dey never git 'em. 

Woman: You better keer! Dese very clothes took and brought you out de crack. 'Cause de first time I saw you you was so hungry till you was walkin' lap-legged. Man, you had de white-mouf, you was so hungry.