What I Learned from Reading Zora Neale Hurston’s Obituaries

Created by the author

Zora Neale Hurston died penniless and in obscurity in a county welfare home in Fort Pierce, FL from hypertensive heart disease on January 28, 1960. I’ve known this fact for a while now, after reading a host of mini-biographies online, in books, and in documentaries. As of this writing, I have yet to read a book-length biography of Zora’s entire life but I’m looking forward to reading the ones authored by Robert Hemenway and Valerie Boyd later this year.

I’m always curious about obituaries, especially those of notable people. I’m especially curious about what was said about Zora at the time of her death. Using ProQuest Historical Newspapers, I found six newspaper articles and one journal article covering Zora’s passing (written by Zora’s friend and fellow author, Fannie Hurst). Here are some of the more fascinating tidbits I learned when reading the articles.

• No one knew how old Zora was when she died. The articles stated she was either 52, 55, or 57, she was actually 69. It is well known now that Zora always told people she was 10 years younger than she was.
• Two of the obituaries mentioned that Jonah’s Gourd Vine was her best novel. Their Eyes Were Watching God was barely mentioned.
• She was working on the novel “The Life of Herod the Great” at the time of her death. As of this writing, this book has not been published, although a preface can be found online.
• One article mentioned that she was working on a book about life as a domestic.
• Three articles mentioned she published 8 books and Hurst’s article listed 9 books. We know she published 7 in her lifetime: Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934); Mules and Men (1935); Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937); Tell My Horse (1938); Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939); Dust Track on a Road (1942); and Seraph on the Suwanee (1948). One article mentioned a book titled “A Voice of the Land”, which I have never heard of and can not find any mention of this title elsewhere, this is more than likely an error. Fannie Hurst lists her seven books and two plays Mule Bone (1931) and Polk County (1944), which were co-written with Langston Hughes and Dorothy Waring, respectively.
• Zora coined the name “Mr. Republican” to Senator Robert Taft in the 1951 article “A Negro Voter Sizes Up Taft” published in the Saturday Evening Post. Taft was the son of President William Howard Taft and had presidential ambitions of his own. I was surprised and happy to see that she was given credit multiple times especially considering the racial and gender dynamics of 1960.
• One article mentioned her failed campaign against Congressman Adam Clayton Powell in 1946. I definitely can’t wait to hear more about this. I remember hearing from my African-American Literature professor, Dr. Reginald Watson, that Powell and Hurston had beef back then.
• It was also mentioned that she worked at the Library of Congress and as a writer for Warner Brothers Studios.
• She was a recipient of the Rosenwald and two Guggenheim fellowships.
• She loved to eat “fried chitterlings”.

Sources:

• ”Zora Hurston, 57, Writer, Is Dead” The New York Times. Feb. 5, 1960, 27.
• “Friends Pay For Author’s Funeral”. Chicago Defender. Feb. 8, 1960, 3.
• “Zora N. Hurston Dies In Florida; Wrote Eight Books”. Philadelphia Tribune. Feb. 9, 1960, 2.
• “Zora Hurston dies in obscurity”. The Baltimore Afro-American. Feb. 13, 1960, 6.
• “Miss Zora N. Hurston, famed novelist, dies in poverty”. The Baltimore Afro-American. Feb. 13, 1960, 9.
• “Bury Zora Neale Hurston in Fla.”. Pittsburgh Courier. Feb. 13, 1960, A2.
• Hurst, Fannie. 1960. “Zora Hurston: A Personality Sketch”. The Yale University Library Gazette. July 1960, 17–22.