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VOICE ONE:
I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program PEOPLEIN AMERICA. Today, we tell about writer Zora Neale Hurston. She wasone of the most recognized black women writers. She wrote sevenbooks and more than one-hundred short stories, plays and articlesfor magazines.
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VOICE ONE:
Zora Neale Hurston was born in eighteen-ninety-one in Notasulga,Alabama. A short time later, her family moved to Eatonville, a smalltown in central Florida. All of the people of Eatonville wereAfrican-American. The town shaped Hurston’s life and her writing. Asa child, she would listen closely to the stories told by the adultsin the town. Several of her books take place in communities verysimilar to Eatonville. The people she wrote about in her books arevery similar to people she knew there.
Zora was born at a time of racial tensions between blacks andwhites in the southern United States. But she never felt angry aboutbeing black. In her stories, she described Eatonville as a placewhere black Americans could live as they pleased.
Zora Neale Hurston was known for her ability to tell a story.Storytelling is an important part of many cultural traditions.African-American storytelling is a strong family tradition thatdates back hundreds of years. It is a way for people to establishtheir identities in often unfriendly areas as they struggle to holdtheir communities together.
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VOICE TWO:
Zora Neale Hurston was the fifth of eight children. Zora’s motherwas a schoolteacher. Her father was a builder and a church preacher.He also became the mayor of Eatonville. Zora’s mother died innineteen-oh-four, when Zora was thirteen years old. Her mother’sdeath severely affected Zora’s life. She was rejected by her fatherand his second wife. Zora was forced to take care of herself.
She left Eatonville and moved north when she was fourteen yearsold. She worked for a traveling theater company. She also worked asa maid, cleaning the homes of white people. One of her employersrecognized Zora’s abilities. She made it possible for her to attendhigh school in Baltimore, Maryland.
Zora was twenty-six years old when she began high school. But shesaid she was only sixteen. Throughout her life, she often said shewas younger than she really was.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-eighteen, Zora Neale Hurston attended HowardUniversity in Washington, DC. She studied with Alain Locke. He was aprofessor of philosophy and an expert on black culture. She earnedmoney by working as a maid and doing other work.
Hurston published her first short stories at Howard University.Her stories were about black folklore and life in Eatonville. Shewon prizes for her writings that were published in newspapers andmagazines. The early nineteen-twenties marked the beginning of ZoraNeale Hurston’s life as a writer.
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VOICE TWO:
In nineteen-twenty-five, Hurston traveled to New York City. Thiswas during the period known as the Harlem Renaissance. Harlem is afamous area in New York. The Harlem Renaissance was a period inwhich black artists explored their culture and showed pride in theirrace. This was expressed in literature, music and other art forms.Hurston and her stories about Eatonville became important during theHarlem Renaissance. She met other young black writers of the time,such as poet Langston Hughes.
Hurston became the first black student to attend Barnard Collegein New York. She studied with anthropologist Franz Boas. She becameinterested in anthropology — the study of the origin, developmentand actions of humans. Boas recognized Hurston’s storytellingability and deep interest in the black culture of the South. Heurged her to do more research there.
VOICE ONE:
Hurston received financial support for most of her research froma wealthy woman in New York named Charlotte Osgood Mason. During thenext several years, Hurston traveled in Florida and the Caribbean tocollect and write stories about what she saw. She learned about thetraditions of the people she met. She spoke with men and women,young and old, collecting their stories in their own words. Shewanted to keep the language exactly as they told it. Many of thestories were like those she had heard as a child.
VOICE TWO:
In nineteen-thirty-six, Hurston traveled to Jamaica and Haitiwith a financial award from the Guggenheim Foundation. The Caribbeanpeople accepted her as one of them. They spoke with her freely, evenabout religious traditions. In Haiti, she learned a great deal aboutthe voodoo religion.
Hurston published two important collections of stories based onher research. They were “Mules and Men” and “Tell My Horse.” Bothexamined the voodoo religion.
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VOICE ONE:
Zora Neale Hurston published her first book, “Jonah’s GourdVine,” in nineteen-thirty-four. The story takes place in a smallFlorida town. It is about two people similar to her parents. Hersecond book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” was published threeyears later. It is widely considered her most important work. Shewrote the book in seven weeks while she was traveling in Haiti. Itis the story of a black woman’s search for happiness and her trueidentity, during twenty-five years and three marriages.
In nineteen-forty-two, Hurston published a story about her ownlife, called “Dust Tracks on a Road.” But the book was widelycriticized. Literary experts said it was full of false information.Others said it added to the mystery surrounding the writer.Hurston’slast two novels were the biblical story “Moses, Man of the Mountain”and “Seraph on the Suwanee.” This was the only book she wrote aboutwhite people.
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VOICE TWO:
Zora Neale Hurston’s stories were about the pain-filled andsometimes magical world that surrounded blacks in the South. Thestories tell about faith, love, family, slavery, race and community.They also include humor. Hurston was well known for her writing. Shealso became known for her outspoken opinions, her clothing and thegreat pride she had in herself and her race.She was married threetimes. But she found it impossible to settle down. Her husbandsusually expected her to give up her writing. But she said that wasthe one thing she could not do.
VOICE ONE:
Hurston received praise for her work by both blacks and whites.But not everyone enjoyed her work. Some of the writers of the HarlemRenaissance criticized her for writing about black culture insteadof relations between the races. Many blacks also rejected Hurston’spolitical ideas and her support for racial separation laws in theSouth.
Hurston, however, made no apologies for her work. She said therichness of black culture existed to be enjoyed, celebrated and madeinto literature.
VOICE TWO:
During the late nineteen-forties, she began to publish less andless. She was arrested and charged with sexual wrongdoing with aten-year-old boy. The charges were later dropped, but the eventaffected her work and her life.In nineteen-fifty, Hurston returnedto Florida. Although her work was quite popular, she was unable tomake a living with her writing. In her later years, she worked as ateacher, a librarian and as maid. In nineteen-fifty-nine, Hurstonsuffered a stroke and entered a nursing home in Fort Pierce,Florida. She died there a year later and was buried in an unmarkedgrave.
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VOICE ONE:
Today, Zora Neale Hurston has not been forgotten. She influencedother African-American female writers, including Alice Walker.Because of Walker’s efforts, Hurston’s work was rediscovered in thenineteen-seventies.
During the nineteen-nineties, her book “Their Eyes Were WatchingGod” sold more than one-million copies. Many young people inAmerican schools are reading the book.
In addition, two of Hurston’s plays have been produced. New bookshave been written about her. And her work and life are the subjectof many studies, conferences and festivals.
In nineteen-seventy-three, Alice Walker placed a marker in FortPierce, Florida, where Hurston is believed to be buried. The stonereads, “Zora Neale Hurston, A Genius of the South.”
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VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written and produced by CynthiaKirk. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for anotherPEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.