Hurston herself lived in Eatonville until she was thirteen years old. As one biographer notes, "Black Americans had founded Eatonville because they were denied the opportunity to live as free and equal citizens in white communities" (Witcover, p. 22). The town, incorporated in 1877, went on to become the first black community to win the right of selfgovernment. Unlike other areas of the South, Eatonville did not pass laws to legalize segregation. The widespread Jim Crow laws, which required blacks to use separate schools, hotels, restaurants, theaters, drinking fountains, and other public facilities, did not exist in Eatonville.
Lake Okeechobee. In the novel, a hurricane devastates the Everglades. The incident is based on an actual storm that ravaged the area in September of 1928. Entirely destroyed by this storm was the town of Belle Glade; only six buildings remained standing. The storm's winds blew as strong as 160 miles an hour, causing a tidal wave that swept great torrents of water onto land. Located only twenty miles from the ocean, Lake Okeechobee filled to capacity, and its dikes collapsed, which led to the flooding of nearby homes. People ran for higher ground, only to place themselves in harm's way near deadly reptiles.
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