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Twitter Honors Writer Zora Neale Hurston On What Would’ve Been 130th Birthday

By D.L. Chandler Jan 7, 2022 | 10:06 AM
Portrait of Zora Neale Hurston

Source: Donaldson Collection / Getty

Zora Neale Hurston and her weighty contributions to society are still major influences to writers and creative minds the world over. On Twitter, many are celebrating the author and anthropologist on what would have been her 130th birthday.

More on Hurston courtesy of Black America Web:

Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist most famous for her 1937 novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Hurston’s path to prominence came by way of hardship and savvy ingenuity, helping her become one of the most beloved literary figures of all time.

Hurston was born on January 7 in 1891, in Notasulga, Ala. to parents who were former slaves. Her parents uprooted the family and moved to Eatonville, Fla., one of the earliest all-black incorporated townships.

After the death of her mother in 1904, Hurston lived with several family members until she was sent off to boarding school in Jacksonville.

Facing a variety of hardships while working odd jobs, Hurston eventually moved to Baltimore in a bid to change her fortunes. Although she was 26 at the time, Hurston said she was 10 years younger in order to attend the free Morgan College, then the high school portion of Morgan State University.

After graduating, Hurston entered Howard University and earned an associate degree. It was there Hurston had some of her earliest works printed in the school’s newspaper.

From there, she entered Barnard College in New York on a scholarship, graduating with a degree in anthropology in 1928 and continuing her anthropology studies at Columbia University for the next few years.

Hurston’s interest in folklore, especially in the Caribbean and her native Florida helped her become became a fixture of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Her research on African-American colloquial language and folklore is valued to this day.

On Twitter, Zora Neale Hurston’s name is trending and we’ve got those tweets collected down below.

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Photo: Getty

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