Zora Neale Hurston
By: Ruby Haywood
Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston was a famous author and Civil Rights Activist. Before she became this figure, she started off in Notasulga, Alabama. She was born on January 7th, 1891 and she was the daughter of former slaves John Hurston and Lucy Ann Hurston. She had several family members due to her father’s remarriage. She started her writing career by writing several fiction novels, including Their Eyes Were Watching God. She was also a folklorist and anthropologist. Later in her life, she was lucky enough to attend many schools. She received a scholarship to Barnard College, graduated Howard University with an associate's degree, and studied at other various schools. Once she became a well-known author, Hurston had received a Guggenheim Fellowship award for her first novel, Johah's Gourd Vine. She worked in the Brown v. Board of Education in 1955. This case was a Supreme Court decision which called for the end of school segregation. In Hurston’s final years of her life, she stayed in St. Lucie County Welfare Home. She suffered from several strokes and died on January 28th, 1960 in Fort Pierce Florida. Zora Neale Hurston had a major impact on Civil Right’s Movements.