Zora Neale Hurston
Born January 7, 1891 (Eatonville, Florida)
Died January 28, 1960 (Fort Pierce, Florida)
Author and folklorist
Zora Neale Hurston was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most important cultural movements of the Roaring Twenties. This explosion of African American achievement in the written, visual, and performing arts was centered in the black community of Harlem in New York City. Hurston was part of a group of younger writers, whose members included Langston Hughes (1902–1967), Claude McKay (1890–1948), and Jean Toomer (1894–1967). This group's works helped to celebrate and explore African American life. Although Hurston is best known for works written in later decades (especially her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God), her vibrant personality and sense of humor made her a popular and vital participant in the Harlem Renaissance. The short stories that she published during this period revealed her knowledge and appreciation of the black folk tradition that she had enjoyed since childhood. She was among the first to make use of this rich resource, through both her fiction and her work as a folklorist.
A Lively and Curious Young Woman
Zora Neale Hurston was born in the central Florida town of Eatonville, which was one of the first in the United States to be incorporated as an all-black town.
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