Early Life
Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Alabama. Before she can remember, her family moved to Florida, which is why she calls Eatonville, Florida home in her novels. She had a very significant relationship with her mother, so it hurt her deeply when she died in 1904. When her father remarried shortly after, she moved out and began working to earn money toward higher education. She received an associate degree from Howard University where she was a member of Zeta Phi Beta soroity, and she also published one of her first works in the university newspaper.