Considered as one of the most preeminent writers of the twentieth century African American, Zora Neale Hurston is a novelist, folklorist, essayist, short story writer, dramatist and an anthropologist. Hurston was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance and a passionate promoter of the African American culture. However, she refused to let race and racism be the only focus of her work, something that she was criticized a lot for by her African American peers. Instead Hurston’s short stories and novels reflected her interest in anthropology and folklore. Having read some of Hurston’s work from the Harlem Renaissance in high school, I found her very interesting. This is one of the reasons I have chosen Hurston as my anthropologist to research
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Despite all of her accomplishments, her career soon began to decline. She was arrested and accused of molesting a 10-year old boy. Although she was able to prove the she was out of country at the time of the incident, the false accusation scared her reputation forever. She had problems getting her work published and suffered a lot financially. Some sources even say that the once-famous literary star suffered depressions due to rejections she face. Over the course of few years, Hurston suffered many strokes and entered a county welfare home in Florida. She never had any children despite being married twice; both of her marriages failed. She died moneyless and companionless on January 28, 1960, and was buried in an “unmarked grave” in Fort Pierce, Florida. Almost a decade later, another talented author, Alice Walker wrote about Hurston in her essay “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston," published in Ms. magazine in 1975 helped revive Hurston’s forgotten work. Overall, Zora Neale Hurston wasn’t just an important black woman in American history, but also a brilliant storyteller, a strong feminist, a trailblazer of literary style, and an excellent
Despite all of her accomplishments, her career soon began to decline. She was arrested and accused of molesting a 10-year old boy. Although she was able to prove the she was out of country at the time of the incident, the false accusation scared her reputation forever. She had problems getting her work published and suffered a lot financially. Some sources even say that the once-famous literary star suffered depressions due to rejections she face. Over the course of few years, Hurston suffered many strokes and entered a county welfare home in Florida. She never had any children despite being married twice; both of her marriages failed. She died moneyless and companionless on January 28, 1960, and was buried in an “unmarked grave” in Fort Pierce, Florida. Almost a decade later, another talented author, Alice Walker wrote about Hurston in her essay “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston," published in Ms. magazine in 1975 helped revive Hurston’s forgotten work. Overall, Zora Neale Hurston wasn’t just an important black woman in American history, but also a brilliant storyteller, a strong feminist, a trailblazer of literary style, and an excellent