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Zora Neale Hurston

By Leaangr

  • Zora Neale Hurston born

    Zora Neale Hurston is born in Notasulga, Alabama. She is the fifth of eight children born to John and Lucy Potts Hurston.

  • Move to Eatonville

    The Hurston family moves to Eatonville, an incorporated, self-governed, all-black town north of Orlando, Florida. Incorporated in 1887, it is the oldest such town in the United States.

  • Mother Dies

    Hurston's mother Lucy Potts Hurston dies. Soon after, her father marries Mattie Moge, a young woman only six years older than Zora. Hurston and her new stepmother bitterly dislike each other.

  • Twentysomething High-Schooler

    After leaving home and school and working a number of odd jobs to support herself, Hurston moves to Baltimore, Maryland. In order to qualify for a free high school education, 26-year-old Hurston lies about her age, claiming her birth year as 1901. She maintains the falsehood until her death.

  • Hurston at Howard University

    Hurston enrolls at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

  • Hurston Publishes First Story

    "John Redding Goes to Sea," Zora Neale Hurston's first short story, is published in the Howard literary magazine Stylus.

  • The Great Day

    The Great Day, a musical written and choreographed by Hurston, premieres on Broadway.

  • Hurston's First Novel

    Hurston's first novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine, is published. Her essays and short stories appear frequently in literary journals. She begins to study for a doctorate (never completed) at Columbia University with the help of a Rosenwald Fellowship.

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God

    Her Guggenheim fellowship extended, Hurston continues her research in Haiti. While there, she writes Their Eyes Were Watching God in seven weeks. She returns to the United States shortly before the 18 September publication of the novel.

  • Stroke

    Hurston suffers a stroke and is forced to move into the St. Lucie County Welfare Home.

  • Death of Zora Neale Hurston

    Zora Neale Hurston dies of hypertensive heart disease at the St. Lucie County Welfare Home. Penniless and alone at the time of her death, her neighbors take up a collection to pay for her funeral. She is buried in an unmarked grave.