ALTHOUGH BETTER KNOWN FOR HER 1937 NOVEL

THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD,

FLORIDIAN ZORA NEALE HURSTON MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS

TO THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE.

HURSTON, A STUDENT OF NOTABLE ANTHROPOLOGIST FRANZ BOAS AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, WAS ONE OF THE FEW ACADEMICALLY-TRAINED AFRICAN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGISTS OF HER TIME.

AS A RESULT OF HER COLLEGE EDUCATION, HURSTON DEVELOPED A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON BLACK CULTURE, WHAT SHE CALLED “THE SPY-GLASS OF ANTHROPOLOGY.”

WANTING TO CAPTURE AFRICAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE IN AN AUTHENTIC FORM, HURSTON HEADED TO FLORIDA IN 1927 TO COLLECT FOLKTALES, SERMONS, AND SONGS. SHE TRAVELED FIRST TO EATONVILLE, THE OLDEST INCORPORATED BLACK MUNICIPALITY IN THE NATION AND HURSTON’S CHILDHOOD HOME.

THE EXTENSIVE MATERIAL GATHERED IN FLORIDA BECAME “FOLKTALES,” THE FIRST PART OF HURSTON’S 1935 BOOK MULES AND MEN. THIS WORK REVEALS AND PRESERVES AN IMPORTANT SEGMENT OF AMERICAN CULTURE AND MADE HURSTON THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO COLLECT AND PUBLISH BLACK FOLKLORE.

Courtesy of the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources