Zora Neale Hurston (1891– 1960) was an American writer known for her stylish hats and folkloric fiction novels about the lives of black people. Soon after Hurston was born, her family moved to Eatonville, Florida–officially the first American town that was founded, incorporated and self-governed by blacks; a place that greatly influenced her life and work.

Hurston was inquisitive, and an independent thinker. Though her undergraduate studies began at Howard University, a full scholarship encouraged Hurston to transfer and graduate from Barnard College [Columbia University]. She joined literary societies, contributed to the Harlem Renaissance, and received awards and funding for her writing.

As an ethnologist, Hurston traveled throughout the southeastern United States, and the Caribbean and Bahamian islands documenting rituals, stories, songs, and dances of black residents. During her lifetime, Hurston’s literary talent was recognized from Manhattan to Hollywood, and internationally.