Zora Hurston was born in Notasgula, Alabama on January 7, 1891 to John and Lucy Ann Hurston. However, Hurston never thought of Notasgula as her hometown since her family moved to Eatonville, a town in Florida, when she was three. Eatonville was the first all-black town in the United States. Living in Eatonville meant that Hurston got a much different view of society than many other blacks of her time. During her childhood, she almost never saw the cruelties and prejudices against blacks that were prevalent in most other parts of the area. Instead, she saw the black citizens governing and living as masters of Eatonville.
Later on, Hurston’s father became mayor of Eatonville. When Hurston’s mother died, her father soon remarried and neglected his children, including Hurston. She was sent to a boarding high school, but had to leave as her father stopped paying tuition. It was at this point that Hurston's life became much more difficult. She had to work multiple jobs in order to live and could not pursue a proper education for some time. In 1918, she was finally able to further her education and studied at Howard University. However, she needed to lie about her age in order to be accepted; she claimed to be ten years younger than her actual age. She would continue to lie about her age throughout the rest of her life. After studying at Howard University, she went to Barnard College, where she studied anthropology.
Zora Hurston lived during both the Great Depression and the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, the civil rights movement was beginning during the end of her life. Hurston was not popular with many other blacks. She supported many ultraconservative politicians and spoke against the civil rights movement. She was, though, friends with Langston Hughes.
Hurston began her writing career by writing short stories that were published in black literary magazines. Upon their success, she moved on to novels. Hurston had written seven novels and over fifty shorter works by the end of her life. She wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in Haiti over the course of seven weeks. This novel is often called her most famous literary work. Hurston had her last novel published in 1948. After this, she spent twelve years working various jobs before she died in poverty on January 28, 1960.
