Zora Neale Hurston

An item at American Writers Museum

Zora Neale Hurston arrived in New York in the 1920s and quickly took her place as one of the stars of the Harlem Renaissance. She used lyrical, evocative prose in works like Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) to bring African-American stories, voices, and places to life while exploring feminist themes well ahead of her time.

Hurston led an extraordinary life. She grew up in Eatonville, Florida, an all-black town, leaving home in her teens and working menial jobs in order to finish high school. She came to New York to study anthropology at Columbia University, Fieldwork fueled her writing, most notably Mules and Men (1935), a collection of African-American folktales.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum