During the early 1900ʼs ( the time in which “ Their Eyes Were Watching God” was published) there were several historical events that occurred in the United States.
• Zora Neale Hurston was born in Alabama in 1891.
• Hurston spent most of her childhood in the first all-black town called Eatonville.
• Hurston was the first black scholar to research folklore on the level that she did. She researched songs, dances, tales, and sayings. Much of her book material revolves around issues of slavery and the time period immediately following it. 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.
• Even though some African Americans were trying to forget their heritage. Some were celebrating it! The Harlem Renaissance was an African American movement to celebrate their culture and heritage.
• The Harlem Renaissance focused primarily on literature and artistic works of African Americans in the 1920ʼs.
• Hurston became famous for her part in the Harlem Renaissanceʼs Literati. In May 1925, she won second place for her play “Color Struck”.
• The Roaring Twenties was alternatively known as The Jazz Age. This "movement" in which jazz music grew in popularity by immense standards in the U.S., also influenced other parts of the world.
•The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 and allowed women the right to vote.
• “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was published in 1937, three years before the end of the Depression.
• African-Americans were the hardest hit during the Great Depression, and they were often the first to get laid off.
• The board game Monopoly, which first became available in 1935, became immensely popular perhaps because players could become rich—at least in their imagination.
• People who lost their homes often lived in what were called “Hoovervilles,” or shanty towns that were named after President Herbert Hoover. There was also “Hoover Stew” (food dished out in soup kitchens), “Hoover Blankets” (newspapers that served as blankets), “Hoover Hogs” (jack rabbits used as food), and “Hoover Wagons” (broken cars that were pulled by mules).
• May 5, 1905. The black weekly newspaper, The Chicago Defender, is founded by Robert Abbot.
• In 1913, Bert Williams plays the lead role in Darktown Jubilee, making him the first African American actor to star in a motion picture.
