Zora Neale HurstonJanuary 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960

Zora Neale Hurston

• Born in Alabama in 1891• Moved to Florida to the first black township

where her father became the mayor• Her mom died when she was 13 and she

began to follow a different path to discover herself

Education

• After her mom died she quit school and started working various jobs

• At 26, she decided to return to school claiming she was only 16 to receive free schooling

• Graduated from Bernard College in 1928

Writings

• Wrote “Spunk” followed by “Color Struck”, a play

• Wrote many books, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is the most well known

• She had many articles published in magazines, Opportunity being one of them

End of Zora’s Life

• Stopped writing • Had a stroke in 1959• Died in 1960 from hypertensive heart disease• Buried in an unmarked grave in the Garden of

Heavenly Rest in Fort Pierce• Alice Walker discovered her grave and wrote a

book about it

Other Interesting Facts

• She practiced hoodoo and black magic and wrote about it

• Accused of molesting her landlady’s mentally disturbed 10 year old son, the case was dropped but the media portrayed her in a bad light