Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston, celebrated author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," flourished during the Harlem Renaissance alongside other cherished black authors such as W.E.B. Dubois and Richard Wright. Hurston wrote many essays and stories incorporating black, American anthropology as well as social and cultural race themes. Her books also contained autobiographical information because Hurston primarily drew from her experiences while living in Florida.Born in 1903 in Eaton, Florida, not far from Orlando, Hurston was one of eight children. She studied at an early age reading American and Greek classics, and after her mother's death when Hurston was only 13, Hurston traveled taking on a variety of jobs to make ends meet. She later enrolled in Morgan College in Baltimore and Howard College in Washington, D.C. It was at Howard that a publisher recognized Hurston's writing and subsequently published her stories in major magazines. As a result, Hurston earned a scholarship to Columbia and Barnard, where she joined the circle of artists and writers that were to become a part of the Harlem Renaissance.

Despite her literary successes, Hurston lived much of her later years working as a teacher, librarian and maid. She died poor, and it was not until writer Alice Walker discovered her unmarked grave in the 1970s that Hurston got the attention she deserved. Today, scholars and teachers share Hurston's famous works with their peers and students everywhere.