Author Biography - By Dustin Tiede

Zora Neale Hurston

January 7, 1891 - January 28, 1960

          Zora Neale Hurston, the author of “Their Eyes were Watching God”, was born on January 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama. Not much is known about Zora’s early-life. Historians do know that she was the fifth out of eight children born to John and Lucy Ann Potts Hurston. She was brought up by her father, who was a Baptist preacher. When Zora was three years old, her family moved to the first all-black community which was Eatonville, Florida. Her father later became the mayor of the town. The town of Eatonville was incorporated into many of her books, such as “Their Eyes were Watching God” as a great place for African Americans to live.

                At the age of 26, Zora was able to enroll at Morgan Academy to further her education with the help of an employer. After graduation in 1918, she then went onto Howard University. This is the place where she attained her inspirations to write about the black society.  Her works caught the attention of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, who were active in the Harlem Renaissance. She later transferred to Barnard College in New York City and became very active in the movement. She then traveled for many years promoting the movement and writing inspirational books along the way. She began to gain much support until her reputation was ruined.

                In the year 1948, Hurston was arrested for molesting a ten-year-old boy. Although the charges were later dropped, her reputation was engulfed in the incident. She then went on to write an article about the black-Americans voting in the South. She claimed that their votes were being bought and this furthermore hurt her reputation with her critics.

                In the years leading up to her death, she wrote but the works were never successful. She became very ill in 1959 after suffering a severe stroke, and she was put into the Saint Lucie County Welfare Home in Fort Pierce, Florida. She later died in this home from a hypertensive heart disease on January 28, 1960.            

               

                 Works Cited:  http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/index.html

                                                “Their Eyes were Watching God”