The Zora Neale Hurston Collection

Date(s): 1930s to present

Extent: 2 linear feet; 4 boxes

Access: Open access except for one folder that contains archival correspondence.

Language: English

Copyright Statement: The status of copyright on the materials of the Zora Neale Hurston collection is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Preferred Citation: Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: container number, the Zora Neale Hurston Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida.

Biographical Note:

Zora Neale Hurston was born January 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama and spent her childhood in Eatonville, Fla. She attended Howard University and was a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, but she transferred to Barnard College and earned a B.A. in anthropology in 1927. Hurston was one of the proponents of the literary renaissance in Harlem. Starting in 1925 she produced the literary magazine, Fire!!, along with Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman. She also incorporated her ethnographic training in writing about African American folklore in Mules and Men (1935) and Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). She formed a folk-based performance group also focused on African American culture. In 1937 Hurston conducted research in Haiti with a Guggenheim Fellowship, and helped to expose secret societies and their use of drugs to create the Vodun trance.

Hurston spent the rest of her life as a freelance writer. She contributed to the Pittsburgh Courier covering the murder trial of Ruby McCollum. She worked as a librarian and a substitute teacher. Hurston died of a stroke on January 28, 1960. However, her memory remains, for her childhood hometown of Eatonville, Fla. holds the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities annually in her honor. Her town of residence, Fort Pierce, also celebrates her life with annual events such as Hattitudes, birthday parties, and Zora Fest, a several-day festival held at the end of April.

Publications of Zora Neale Hurston in the Olin Library:

2005: Their Eyes Were Watching God (video recording) DVD 0614

2002: Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters (C. Kaplan) PS3515 .U789 Z48

2001: Every Tongue Got to Confess (sound recording) GR111 .A47 H83

2001: Songs Sung by a Choir Led by Zora Neale Hurston PS3515 .U789 S66

2000: Their Eyes Were Watching God PS3515 .U789 T5

2000: Their Eyes Were Watching God; Mules and Men (sound recording) CASSETTE NO. 781- 786

1997: Sweat PS3515 .U787 S94

1995: Novels and Stories PS3515 .U789 A6

1995: Folklore, Memories, and other Writings GR55 .H86 A3

1991: Their Eyes Were Watching God (sound recording) CASSETTE NO. 386

1991: Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life (1st ed). Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston PS3515 .U274 M85

1990: Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica BL2490 .H87

1990: Mules and Men (1st perennial ed). GR103 .H8

1985: Spunk: the Selected Stories of Zora Neale Hurston PS2515 .U789 S68

1984: Dust Tracks on a Road: an Autobiography PS3515 .U789 Z465

1984: Moses, Man of the Mountain PS3515 .U789 M6

1979: I Love Myself When I’m Laughing…and Then Again When I’m Looking Mean and Impressive:
        a Zora Neale Hurston reader PS3515 .U789 A6

1971: Jonah’s Wine Gourd PS3515 .U789 J6

1948: Seraph on the Suwannee PS3515 .U789 S4

1939: Moses, Man of the Mountain RB Fla. PS3515 .U789 M6

1938: Tell My Horse RB Fla. BL 2490 .H87

1937: Their Eyes Were Watching God RB Fla. PS3515 .U789 T4

1934: Jonah’s Gourd Vine RB Fla. PS3515 .U789 J6 1934

Scope and Contents:

These archival files highlight the relationship between Zora Neale Hurston and Rollins College.  They document Hurston’s performances at Rollins in the early 1930s, arrangement regarding her visits, as well as her written correspondence with Rollins student Maxeda Von Hesse ’1935.  The records also contain secondary reference materials including biographical information and literary criticism.  Hurston’s importance in Central Florida is documented through the annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts as well as local reading programs, and postage stamp recognition. 

Series 1.  Zora Neale Hurston’s Relationship with Rollins College

Series 2.  Reference Materials about Zora Neale Hurston:

Biographical Information

Works by Zora Neale Hurston

Literary Criticism

Finding Aids of other Depository Collections on Hurston

Series 3.  Zora Neale Hurston Festivals in Florida

Series 4. Audiovisual Materials

Inventory of Folder List

Series	Series Title	Sub series	Folder Title	Box	Folder
1	Relationship to Rollins College		1930s Presentations and Playbills ZNH & Rollins, 1930s Correspondence ZNH & Rollins, Correspondence at U. of FL. Ruth St. Dennis, Annie Russell Theatre Program Copies of Correspondence from Maxeda von Hesse Papers Sandspur Articles and Press Releases “ZNH at Rollins” in Zora in Florida, 1991 Reflections by E. O. Grover & R. W. France From Sun to Sun, 60^th Anniversary 1/1993 Hurston’s stone in the Walk of Fame 3/22/1987 Archival Correspondence -- Restricted Access	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
2	Reference Materials	Biography Works by Zora Neale Hurston Literary Criticism Finding Aids of other Collections on ZNH	Biographical Information News Clippings Family & Residence New Yorker Magazine -- Feb.17, 1999 World Folklore and Folklife (Greenwood Ency.) Fort Pierce Newspaper 2003 Books About ZNH Jump at the Sun: A Guide for Teachers Short Publications in The X-Ray, “Under the Sun”; “Spears” Encyclopedia Americana Entries The Ocoee Riot Bibliography ZNH - A Reference Guide Contemporary Literary Criticism Literary Review Time and Place Have Their Say by: West, Genevieve PhD Performances of Plays By and About Her ZNH National Museum of Fine Arts Eatonville, Fla. Postage Stamp Copies of Photographic Prints Recording Florida’s Cultural Treasures The ZNH Plays at the Library of Congress LC Folk Archive Finding Aid Florida Folklife from the WPA Collection Material at University of Florida ZNH Fellowship Award	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2	12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
3	Zora Neale Hurston Festivals		ZNH Festival of the Arts & Rollins College N.Y. Nathiri Correspondence ZNH Festival of the Arts 1990 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1991 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1992 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1993 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1994 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1995 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1996 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1997 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1998 ZNH Festival of the Arts 1999 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2000 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2001 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2002 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2003 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2004 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2005 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2006 ZNH Festival of the Arts 2007 Zora! Magazine 1990-1994 Zora! Magazine 1995-2005 Zora Fest 2007 Ft. Pierce, Fla.	2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3	17 18 19 20 21 22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15a 15b 16
4	Audiovisual Materials		CD - American Writers II CSPN 4/2002 CD - Eatonville Blues: 1935 Field Recordings from Eatonville, Florida Collected by Alan Lomax, Mary Elizabeth Barnacle, and Zora Neale Hurston (1997) CD - Songs Sung by a Choir Led by Zora Neale Hurston, Sponsored by Rollins College Folk Group (Sp. Fla. PS 3515 .U789 S66 2001) VHS Tape - Harlem Renaissance VHS Tape – Zora Neale Hurston 5th Annual Celebration, Eatonville, FL 1994 (H21.0) VHS Tape – Tea with Zora and Marjorie, Rollins Knowles Chapel, 1/15/1989 (H22.0) VHS Tape – “Zora Is My Name!” PBS Program with Ruby Dee as Hurston (H23.0) Microfilm Reel I: Boxes 1-3, Group VI MS. Microfilm Reel II: Boxes 4-5, Group VI MS. Microgaphics, Gainesville, FL	4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4