71-748: The Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards program in the United States honors published Black writers worldwide for literary achievement. Introduced in 2001, the Legacy Award was the first national award presented to Black writers by a national organization of Black writers. It is granted for fiction, nonfiction and poetry, selected in a juried competition. Each fall, writers and publishers are invited to submit fiction, nonfiction and poetry books published that year. Panels of acclaimed writers serve as judges to select nominees, finalists and winners. A number of merit awards are also presented. Nominees are honored at
142-518: A historically black college in Baltimore , Maryland . At this time, to qualify for a free high-school education, the 26-year-old Hurston began claiming 1901 as her year of birth. She graduated from the high school in 1918. In college, Hurston learned how to view life through an anthropological lens apart from Eatonville. One of her main goals was to show similarities between ethnicities. In 1918, Hurston began her studies at Howard University ,
213-666: A historically black college in Washington, DC. She was one of the first members of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, founded by and for black women. She was also the first in her family to attend college, meaning that she was a first-generation college student . While at Howard, Hurston co-founded The Hilltop , the university's student newspaper. She took courses in Spanish , English , Greek , and public speaking , and earned an associate degree in 1920. In 1921, she wrote
284-612: A Rollins College professor and long-time friend of Hurston. In 1979, Stetson Kennedy of Jacksonville, who knew Hurston through his work with the Federal Writers Project , added additional papers. (Zora Neale Hurston Papers, University of Florida Smathers Libraries, August 2008). When Hurston arrived in New York City in 1925, the Harlem Renaissance was at its zenith , and she soon became one of
355-679: A collection of folktales gathered in the 1920s, was published after being discovered in the Smithsonian archives. Her nonfiction book Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" (2018), about the life of Cudjoe Lewis (Kossola), one of the last survivors of slaves brought illegally to the US in 1860, was also published posthumously. Born in 1891, Hurston was the fifth of eight children of John Hurston and Lucy Ann Hurston ( née Potts). All four of her grandparents had been born into slavery. Her father
426-474: A collection of several hundred folk tales from her field studies in the South. She wanted to have them be as close to the original as possible but struggled to balance the expectations of her academic adviser, Franz Boas, and her patron, Charlotte Osgood Mason. This manuscript was not published at the time. A copy was later found at the Smithsonian archives among the papers of anthropologist William Duncan Strong ,
497-503: A freelance writer for magazines and newspapers. In the fall of 1952, she was contacted by Sam Nunn , editor of the Pittsburgh Courier , to go to Florida to cover the murder trial of Ruby McCollum . McCollum was charged with murdering the white Dr. C. Leroy Adams, who was also a state politician. McCollum said he had forced her to have sex and bear his child. Hurston recalled what she had seen of white male sexual dominance in
568-589: A friend of Boas. Hurston's Negro Folk-tales from the Gulf States was published posthumously in 2001 as Every Tongue Got to Confess. Eatonville, Florida Eatonville is a town in Orange County, Florida , United States, six miles north of Orlando . It is part of Greater Orlando . Incorporated on August 15, 1887, it was one of the first self-governing all-black municipalities in the United States. ( Brooklyn, Illinois , incorporated July 8, 1873,
639-545: A graduate student in anthropology, working with Boas at Columbia University. Living in Harlem in the 1920s, Hurston befriended writers including Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen . Her apartment, according to some accounts, was a popular spot for social gatherings. Around this time, Hurston had a few literary successes, placing in short-story and playwriting contests in Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life , published by
710-572: A graduate student. She also worked with Ruth Benedict and fellow anthropology student Margaret Mead . Hurston received her B.A. in anthropology in 1928. Alain Locke recommended Hurston to Charlotte Osgood Mason , a philanthropist and literary patron who had supported Locke and other African-American authors, such as Langston Hughes ; however, she also tried to direct their work. Mason became interested in Hurston's work and supported her travel in
781-447: A household in the town was $ 29,457, and the median income for a family was $ 31,042. Males had a median income of $ 21,719 versus $ 21,328 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 11,257. About 21.9% of families and 25.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 24.5% of those age 65 or over. The Town of Eatonville has a Mayor-Council government . Interstate 4 passes through
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#1732790206200852-505: A kind of "birth". As an adult, Hurston often used Eatonville as a setting in her stories—it was a place where African Americans could live as they desired, independent of white society. Hurston grew up in Eatonville and described the experience in her 1928 essay, " How It Feels To Be Colored Me ". Eatonville now holds an annual "Zora! Festival" in her honor. Hurston's mother died in 1904. Her father married Mattie Moge in 1905. This
923-588: A maid on Miami Beach's Rivo Alto Island . During a period of financial and medical difficulties, Hurston was forced to enter St. Lucie County Welfare Home, where she had a stroke . She died of hypertensive heart disease on January 28, 1960, and was buried at the Garden of Heavenly Rest in Fort Pierce, Florida. Her remains were in an unmarked grave until 1973. Novelist Alice Walker and fellow Hurston scholar Charlotte D. Hunt found an unmarked grave in 1997 in
994-569: A new book, Moses, Man of the Mountain . She also separated from her second husband, Albert Price, at this time, although their divorce would not be finalized until 1943 (see Marriages section). During her time in the Durham area, Hurston primarily participated in a variety of thespian activities, marking her lasting interest in Black folkloric theater and drama. On October 7, 1939, Hurston addressed
1065-727: A new fieldwork project in South Carolina. It is likely that her departure was partially due to her poor relationship with NCCU's president, James E. Shepard , to which she briefly alluded in her 1942 autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road . To Shepard, Hurston's attire and lifestyle choices were inappropriate for an unmarried woman, leading to many disagreements; her severance was rumored to be "the only thing that [they] could apparently agree upon." In 2015, UNC students called for Saunders Hall (named after former Ku Klux Klan leader William L. Saunders ) to be renamed "Hurston Hall" in recognition of Hurston's contributions to academic life in
1136-603: A podcast documenting Hurston's experiences in the Durham-Chapel Hill area (forthcoming). Hurston traveled extensively in the Caribbean and the American South and immersed herself in local cultural practices to conduct her anthropological research. Based on her work in the South, sponsored from 1928 to 1932 by Charlotte Osgood Mason , a wealthy philanthropist, Hurston wrote Mules and Men in 1935. She
1207-472: A short story, "John Redding Goes to Sea", that qualified her to become a member of Alain Locke 's literary club, The Stylus. Before leaving Howard in 1924, Hurston helped publish the inaugural issue of the school newspaper. She also joined the Howard literary club, where she published her first two short stories. Despite this success, Hurston paid for school by working as a manicurist in the evenings In 1925
1278-568: A small house constructed and instructed an agent to sell them. An article in the Tallahassee Weekly Floridian newspaper titled, "A Negro Colony in Florida" stated, A Negro settlement has been established at Maitland...which is divided into forty-eight lots, 50x50 feet, to be sold to Negroes at from $ 19 to $ 30 per lot. Mr. Lawrence has erected on this land a framed church 30x20 feet, a bell for which has been presented by
1349-403: A yardman, who had been told to clean the house, was burning Hurston's papers and belongings. A law officer and friend, Patrick DuVal, passing by the house where she had lived, stopped and put out the fire, thus saving an invaluable collection of literary documents for posterity. For two years, he stored them on his covered porch until he and a group of Hurston's friends could find an archive to take
1420-411: Is the oldest incorporated Black town in the U.S.) The Eatonville Historic District and Moseley House Museum are in Eatonville. Author Zora Neale Hurston grew up in Eatonville and the area features in many of her stories. The Robert Hungerford Normal and Industrial School was founded in 1897 to provide education for black students in grades 6-12 and taught children for over 100 years. In 1990,
1491-560: Is water. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild winters. According to the Köppen climate classification , the Town of Eatonville has a humid subtropical climate zone ( Cfa ). As of the 2020 United States census , there were 2,349 people, 849 households, and 437 families residing in the town. As of the 2010 United States census , there were 2,159 people, 709 households, and 514 families residing in
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#17327902062001562-700: The Florida Watchman newspaper. A Post Office opened at Eatonville in 1889, and closed in 1918. Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is set in the town and nearby communities, many of which have disappeared with the expansion of Greater Orlando. Before the days of racial integration, Club Eaton was a popular stop on the Chitlin' Circuit , hosting performers ranging from B.B. King to Aretha Franklin , Ray Charles , Sam Cooke , The Platters , Duke Ellington , Ella Fitzgerald , Billie Holiday and James Brown . The Eatonville Historic District
1633-762: The Guggenheim Foundation . She drew from this research for Tell My Horse (1938), a genre-defying book that mixes anthropology, folklore, and personal narrative. In 1938 and 1939, Hurston worked for the Federal Writer's Project (FWP) , part of the Works Progress Administration . Hired for her experience as a writer and folklorist, she gathered information to add to Florida's historical and cultural collection. From May 1947 to February 1948, Hurston lived in Honduras , in
1704-555: The National Urban League . In 1927, Hurston married Herbert Sheen, a jazz musician and a former teacher at Howard. He later went to medical school and became a physician. Their marriage ended in 1931. In 1935, Hurston was involved with Percy Punter, a graduate student at Columbia University. He inspired the character of Tea Cake in Their Eyes Were Watching God . In 1939, while Hurston
1775-502: The Pan American World Airways Technical Library at Patrick Air Force Base in 1956. She was fired in 1957 for being "too well-educated" for her job. She moved to Fort Pierce, Florida . Taking jobs where she could find them, Hurston worked occasionally as a substitute teacher. At age 60, Hurston had to fight "to make ends meet" with the help of public assistance. At one point she worked as
1846-600: The Transatlantic slave trade . The next year she published the article "Cudjoe's Own Story of the Last African Slaver" (1928). According to her biographer Robert E. Hemenway , this piece largely plagiarized the work of Emma Langdon Roche , an Alabama writer who wrote about Lewis in a 1914 book. Hurston did add new information about daily life in Lewis' home village of Bantè . Hurston intended to publish
1917-631: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paul Green . She was also mentored by Frederick H. Koch , another faculty member at UNC and the founder of the Carolina Playmakers . She initially met both writers at the inaugural 1934 National Folk Festival in St. Louis, Missouri . She was persuaded by them to move to North Carolina for the prospect of collaboration with UNC faculty and students, despite
1988-598: The citrus groves . J.E. Clark and several friends attempted to purchase a block of land to establish a "colony for colored people, but so great was the prejudice then existing against the Negro that no one would sell them land for such a purpose", according to Clark. Lewis Lawrence, originally from Utica, New York , agreed to help them in 1881. Lawrence convinced Captain Josiah Eaton, a neighbor and friend, to sell him 22 acres, which Lawrence subdivided. Upon each lot he had
2059-584: The African-American experience and racial division, were published in anthologies such as The New Negro and Fire!! After moving back to Florida, Hurston wrote and published her literary anthology on African-American folklore in North Florida, Mules and Men (1935), and her first three novels: Jonah's Gourd Vine (1934); Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937); and Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939). Also published during this time
2130-713: The Bethune-Cookman College Award for Education and Human Relations in recognition of her achievements. The English Department at Bethune-Cookman College remains dedicated to preserving her cultural legacy. For the 1939–1940 academic year, Hurston joined the Drama Department of the North Carolina College for Negroes (now known as North Carolina Central University ) in Durham . At the beginning of her tenure, Hurston published
2201-554: The Carolina Dramatic Association, remarking that "our drama must be like us or it doesn't exist... I want to build the drama of North Carolina out of ourselves." She noted that her students were largely supportive of this endeavor because many of the plays performed and viewed by them previously were not relatable to their own experiences and instead prioritized a "highbrow" view of society. She taught various courses at NCCU, but she also studied informally at
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2272-575: The Congregational Sabbath School of Chelsea, Connecticut . No liquor is ever to be sold or given away on the ground; no gambling or disreputable house of any kind will ever be allowed, under a forfeiture of the purchase. In 1884, the Orange County Reporter wrote about the “colored village at Maitland, sometimes known as Lawrence, the name of its worthy founder”. Mr. Lawrence requested that the settlement use
2343-562: The Durham-Chapel Hill area. UNC Trustees controversially voted to name the building Carolina Hall instead, but it is still known informally by many students as Hurston Hall. Despite the brief nature of her residency in North Carolina, Hurston is still honored at a variety of events in the area, including readings of her work. In 2024, Bree L. Davis received funding from the Southern Documentary Fund to produce
2414-584: The Eatonville Historic District: Eatonville is located at 28°37′7″N 81°23′0″W / 28.61861°N 81.38333°W / 28.61861; -81.38333 (28.618727, –81.383440). According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km ), of which 1.0 square mile (2.6 km ) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km ) (9.17%)
2485-543: The Great Race Problem by Securing a Home in Eatonville, Florida, a Negro City Governed by Negroes.” The article describes Eatonville as a "thriving community of 200-300 people — all colored, and NOT A WHITE FAMILY in the whole city.” The newspaper also recounts a near-lynching in Sanford , nineteen miles away. Rev. Columbus H. Boger Sr. (1857-1918) was Eatonville's first mayor, serving from 1887-1888. He edited
2556-742: The Legacy Awards ceremony, held the third Friday in October. The awards ceremony is hosted and organized by the Hurston/Wright Foundation . In addition to the Legacy Awards, the Hurston/Wright board of directors may present Merit awards during the annual Legacy Award ceremony. Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist , folklorist , and documentary filmmaker . She portrayed racial struggles in
2627-478: The South for research from 1927 to 1932 with a stipend of $ 200 per month. In return, she wanted Hurston to give her all the material she collected about Negro music , folklore , literature, hoodoo , and other forms of culture. At the same time, Hurston needed to satisfy Boas as her academic adviser. Boas was a cultural relativist who wanted to overturn ideas about ranking cultures in a hierarchy of values. After graduating from Barnard, Hurston spent two years as
2698-571: The Suwannee Jail (1956), which became a bestseller. Hurston celebrated that "McCollum's testimony in her own defense marked the first time that a woman of African-American descent was allowed to testify as to the paternity of her child by a white man. Hurston firmly believed that Ruby McCollum's testimony sounded the death toll of 'paramour rights' in the Segregationist South." Among other positions, Hurston later worked at
2769-506: The United States. Hurston said that Eatonville was "home" to her, as she was so young when she moved there. Sometimes she claimed it as her birthplace. A few years later in 1897, her father was elected as mayor of the town. In 1902 he was called to serve as minister of its largest church, Macedonia Missionary Baptist. In 1901, some northern school teachers visited Eatonville and gave Hurston several books that opened her mind to literature. She later described this personal literary awakening as
2840-407: The appeal and second trial, Hurston contacted journalist William Bradford Huie , with whom she had worked at The American Mercury , to try to interest him in the case. He covered the appeal and second trial, and also developed material from a background investigation. Hurston shared her material with him from the first trial, but he acknowledged her only briefly in his book, Ruby McCollum: Woman in
2911-495: The campus including jobs at the school's dairy, chicken coops, gardens and janitorial/maintenance of the institution's classrooms and buildings. The school had been privately funded until the Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) took control in 1950. The Hungerford School was closed in 2010. The Hungerford campus had grown to 300 acres (120 ha) in 1950, and was held in trust for the school. That land
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2982-457: The city limits, but there is no exit. The closest exits are Florida State Road 423 (to the south) and Florida State Road 414 (to the north). The Robert Hungerford Normal and Industrial School was founded in 1897 for vocational education for Black students by Professor and Mrs. Russell C. Calhoun, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute . At that time, segregation in the South provided few opportunities for non-whites. The 160 acres (65 ha) land
3053-479: The early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo and Caribbean Vodou . The most popular of her four novels is Their Eyes Were Watching God , published in 1937. She also wrote more than 50 short stories, plays, an autobiography, ethnographies, and many essays. Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama , and moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida in 1894. She later used Eatonville as
3124-489: The fact that UNC was still segregated and did not begin formally admitting Black students until 1951. Because her formal participation was limited, Hurston became a "secret student," participating in coursework and theater groups without enrolling in UNC., The Daily Tar Heel , UNC'S student newspaper, even named Hurston as a student in one such course, which focused on radio production. Hurston left NCCU after one year to pursue
3195-486: The fictional treatment she developed for her novels such as Jonah's Gourd Vine (1934). In 1935, Hurston traveled to Georgia and Florida with Alan Lomax and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle for research on African-American song traditions and their relationship to slave and African antecedent music. She was tasked with selecting the geographic areas and contacting the research subjects. In 1936 and 1937, Hurston traveled to Jamaica and Haiti for research, with support from
3266-477: The gambling operation of Ruby's husband Sam McCollum. Her articles were published by the newspaper during the trial. Ruby McCollum was convicted by an all-male, all-white jury , and sentenced to death. Hurston had a special assignment to write a serialized account, The Life Story of Ruby McCollum , over three months in 1953 in the newspaper. Her part was ended abruptly when she and Nunn disagreed about her pay, and she left. Unable to pay independently to return for
3337-409: The general area where Hurston had been buried; they decided to mark it as hers. Walker commissioned a gray marker inscribed with "ZORA NEALE HURSTON / A GENIUS OF THE SOUTH / NOVELIST FOLKLORIST / ANTHROPOLOGIST / 1901–1960." The line "a genius of the south" is from Jean Toomer 's poem, "Georgia Dusk", which appears in his book Cane . Hurston was born in 1891, not 1901. After Hurston's death,
3408-483: The lumber camps in North Florida, and discussed it with Nunn. They both thought the case might be about such "paramour rights", and wanted to "expose it to a national audience". Upon reaching Live Oak, Hurston was surprised not only by the gag order the judge in the trial placed on the defense but by her inability to get residents in town to talk about the case; both blacks and whites were silent. She believed that might have been related to Dr. Adams' alleged involvement in
3479-688: The material. The nucleus of this collection was given to the University of Florida libraries in 1961 by Mrs. Marjorie Silver, a friend, and neighbor of Hurston. Within the collection is a manuscript and photograph of Seraph on the Suwanee and an unpublished biography of Herod the Great . Luckily, she donated some of her manuscripts to the James Weldon Johnson Collection of Yale University . Other materials were donated in 1970 and 1971 by Frances Grover, daughter of E. O. Grover,
3550-404: The name Eatonville. The following year, Maitland incorporated using votes from Black people, and at least one Black man was elected as a town officer. A year after incorporation, there were "discussions of separation as a peaceful, progressive-minded, mutually beneficial solution to the so-called 'race problem'.” While sources seem to disagree on the exact date and year of the town's incorporation,
3621-612: The north coastal town of Puerto Cortés . She had some hopes of locating either Mayan ruins or vestiges of an undiscovered civilization. While in Puerto Cortés, she wrote much of Seraph on the Suwanee , set in Florida. Hurston expressed interest in the polyethnic nature of the population in the region (many, such as the Miskito Zambu and Garifuna , were of mixed African and indigenous ancestry and had developed creole cultures). During her last decade, Hurston worked as
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#17327902062003692-539: The patronage of philanthropist Charlotte Osgood Mason , a white literary patron. During the 1930s, Hurston was a resident of Westfield, New Jersey , a suburb of New York, where her friend Hughes was among her neighbors. In 1934, Hurston established a school of dramatic arts "based on pure Negro expression" at Bethune-Cookman University (at the time, Bethune-Cookman College), a historically black college in Daytona Beach, Florida . In 1956, Hurston received
3763-402: The population. In 2000, there were 761 households, out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.0% were married couples living together, 37.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
3834-576: The school. The school provided both vocational and college preparation, teaching English, Latin, history, general science, biology, algebra, geometry, industrial arts and home economics. Students could also learn bookkeeping and typing, physical education and agriculture. Programs for drafting and radio were added during the 1940s. The campus included girls & boys dormitories, a dining hall, library, chapel, laundry, industrial training shops, home economics laboratory, equipment barn and farmland. To keep expenses down, students were assigned various duties around
3905-453: The setting for many of her stories. In her early career, Hurston conducted anthropological and ethnographic research as a scholar at Barnard College and Columbia University . She had an interest in African-American and Caribbean folklore, and how these contributed to the community's identity. She also wrote about contemporary issues in the black community and became a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance . Her short satires, drawing from
3976-683: The town founded the Zora Neale Hurston Museum of Fine Arts . Every winter the town stages the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities. A library named for her opened in January 2004. The population was 2,349 at the 2020 census. The vast majority are Black or African American. Eatonville has no gas station, supermarket or pharmacy; only a Family Dollar . With a median household income of $ 27,000,
4047-681: The town is struggling to survive. Artist Jules Andre Smith has done a series of paintings depicting life in Eatonville during the 1930s and 1940s. Twelve of these works are at the Maitland Art Center in the adjacent town of Maitland . Eatonville is home to WESH and WKCF , two television stations serving the Orlando television market. Ten years after the Emancipation Proclamation , formerly enslaved people migrated to rural Central Florida , finding work in
4118-496: The town's official site provides a detailed account of the process and the dates. The Town of Eatonville was officially incorporated as a municipality on August 15, 1887. Jim Crow laws enforced segregation, violence and racial discrimination in the Southern United States in the late 19th century. The Eatonville Speaker newspaper printed an invitation in 1889: “Colored People of the United States! Solve
4189-511: The town. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,432 people, 761 households, and 548 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,469.5 inhabitants per square mile (953.5/km ). There were 858 housing units at an average density of 871.2 per square mile (336.4/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 89.31% African American , 7.5% White , 0.49% Native American , 0.29% Asian , 1.56% from other races , and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.54% of
4260-502: The writers at its center. Shortly before she entered Barnard, Hurston's short story "Spunk" was selected for The New Negro , a landmark anthology of fiction, poetry, and essays focusing on African and African-American art and literature. In 1926, a group of young black writers including Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Wallace Thurman , calling themselves the Niggerati , produced a literary magazine called Fire!! that featured many of
4331-541: The young artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1927, Hurston traveled to the Deep South to collect African-American folk tales. She also interviewed Cudjoe Kazzola Lewis , of Africatown, Alabama , who was the last known survivor of the enslaved Africans carried aboard Clotilda , an illegal slave ship that had entered the US in 1860, and thus the last known person to have been transported in
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#17327902062004402-750: Was Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica (1938), documenting her research on rituals in Jamaica and Haiti. Hurston's works concerned both the African-American experience and her struggles as an African-American woman. Her novels went relatively unrecognized by the literary world for decades. In 1975, fifteen years after Hurston's death, interest in her work was revived after author Alice Walker published an article, "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston" (later retitled "Looking for Zora"), in Ms. magazine. In 2001, Hurston's manuscript Every Tongue Got to Confess ,
4473-410: Was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.42. In 2000, in the town, the population was spread out, with 33.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males. In 2000, the median income for
4544-403: Was a Baptist preacher and sharecropper , who later became a carpenter, and her mother was a school teacher. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama , on January 7, 1891. This was her father's hometown and her paternal grandfather was the preacher of a Baptist church. When she was three, her family moved to Eatonville, Florida . In 1887, it was one of the first all- black towns incorporated in
4615-452: Was almost 40% of the town of Eatonville. However, OCPS purchased the land from the trust in 1951 for about $ 16,000 with the stipulation that it be used "for the education of Black children". Since the original purchase, OCPS has petitioned the courts multiple times to reduce the number of acres required to be used for the education of black children from 300 to 100 with OCPS receiving almost $ 8 million. The remaining 100 acres (40 ha) parcel
4686-596: Was considered scandalous, as it was rumored that he had had sexual relations with Moge before his first wife's death. Hurston's father and stepmother sent her to a Baptist boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida , but she was dismissed after her parents stopped paying her tuition. In 1916, Hurston was employed as a maid by the lead singer of a touring Gilbert & Sullivan theatrical company. In 1917, she resumed her formal education by attending night school at Morgan Academy, now known as Morgan State University ,
4757-482: Was designated and added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 3, 1998. The district is bounded by Wymore Road, Eaton Street, Fords, and East Avenues, Ruffel, and Clark Streets. It contains 48 historic buildings. Several are related to the town's establishment as a home for African Americans and to its most famous former resident, Zora Neale Hurston . Some homes and buildings located in
4828-477: Was donated by E.C. Hungerford of Chester, Connecticut in memory of his physician son, Robert, who died of yellow fever . Cash donations came from across the country, including $ 400 from Booker T. Washington . The school was successful and more than 100 students were boarding in 1927, as well as local children attending and adult classes offered at night. Ten years later, Orange County provided bus transportation for black children from nearby Winter Park to attend
4899-442: Was offered a scholarship by Barnard trustee Annie Nathan Meyer to Barnard College of Columbia University . She was the sole Black student in this women's college. Hurston assisted Meyer in crafting the play Black Souls ; which is considered one of the first " lynching dramas" written by a white woman. She conducted ethnographic research with anthropologist Franz Boas of Columbia University and later studied with him as
4970-412: Was researching lumber camps in north Florida and commented on the practice of white men in power taking black women as concubines , including having them bear children. This practice later was referred to as " paramour rights ", based on the men's power under racial segregation and related to practices during slavery times. The book also includes much folklore. Hurston drew from this material as well in
5041-638: Was working for the WPA in Florida, she married Albert Price. The marriage ended after a few months, but they did not divorce until 1943. The following year, Hurston married James Howell Pitts of Cleveland. That marriage, too, lasted less than a year. Hurston twice lived in a cottage in Eau Gallie, Florida : in 1929 and again in 1951. When foundation grants ended during the Great Depression , Hurston and her friend Langston Hughes both relied on
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