jjjjjjjjjOne of the
core of young writers during the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 in Eatonville, Florida.
In 1917, she enrolled at Morgan Academy in Baltimore, later attending Howard Prep School and University, and Barnard
College. Shortly thereafter, Hurston studied anthropology at Columbia University with Frank Boaz. She had an fearless
character, and was known to have stopped New York pedestrians to measure the sizes of their craniums.
hhhhhIn New York, Hurston became part of the Harlem literati, becoming friends with Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman, and Jessie Fauset. Outspoken in word and dress, she termed the group of writers the "niggerati." Hurston was a story writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and autobiographer. She is especially known for her anthropological folklore. Unlike some of her contemporaries, Hurston focused on poor uneducated blacks, drawing on her experiences growing up in the rural South. Her best known work is Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel also dealing with the strength of a woman looking for identity in a male-dominated world.
hhhhhHurston was often criticized for her temper and outspokenness. Though she collaborated with Langston Hughes on the play Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life in Three Acts, they argued extensively and it was not released until much later. Hurston is also known for her works Tell My Horse, Jonah's Gourd Vine, and Mules and Men.