Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston’s correct birthdate is unknown due to the fact that during her lifetime she was constantly dishonest about her age. She was the middle child, born to John Hurston who was a baptist preacher, a tenant farmer and a carpenter. Her mothers name was Lucy Hurston. The oldest was a girl named Sarah and the youngest a boy named John. When Zora Hurston turned three her family moved to Eatonville, FL. Her father became the mayor of Eatonville and often rejected her because he was disappointed that she wasn’t a boy. This town was the first completely African American town that wasn’t a slum or a ghetto. She never experianced the racism that was going on in the societys outside the town because Eatonville was all one race. When she was nine her mother, Lucy Hurston, passed away. Lucy often encouraged Zora to be independent and creative. She wanted all of her children to "jump at de sun". Throughout most of Zora’s lifetime she was poor and stuggled for money. At the age of fourteen she ran away with a traveling drama troupe, who took her to Baltimore where she enrolled in Morgan Academy. She graduated in June of 1918. After Morgan Academy she went on to Howard where she received her associates degree in 1920. After collage “she took her black rural culture and heritage and celebrated it at a time when most black scholars were trying hard to deny and forget it.” Zora stayed in the carribean for two years studying their voodoo, rituals, and culture.While she lived in the Carribean, Zora wrote the book she is probably most known for Their Eyes Were Watching God. Zora Neale Hurston was married several times and she is known to be a mostly private person. Zora didn’t portray African Americans as defeated, humiliated, degraded, or victimized in her work. “She wanted to show them laughing, celebrating, loving, and struggling.”