Zora Neale Hurston
by Jenna Taylor, Central and South FL Trail Program Manager Portrait of Zora Neale Hurston. April 3, 1938 by photographer, Van Vechten C. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress sensible for me to choose familiar ground,” she wrote in Mules and Men. Though largely overlooked as an environmentalist, Zora’s appreciation and care of the landscape shows through her writing. “I was only happy in the woods, and when the ecstatic Florida springtime came strolling from the sea, trance-glorifying the world with its aura.” (The Inside Light by Deborah Plant). Through her works, Zora shows the wildness of Florida and the ability to live off the land. She wrote about the migrant farm workers, lived on a shrimping boat, sailed her houseboats up and down the rivers all while inspiring and captivating others. Three Florida cities—Eatonville, Belle Glade and Fort Pierce, provided the backdrop of her life. Just miles from the Florida Trail, these locations offer unique historic value and trails of their own to remind us of Florida as it was through the eyes of Zora. Visiting those places today, whether while hiking on the Florida Trail, or by taking a day trip, one can ponder how we almost forgot Zora and the stories she tried to tell.
EATONVILLE
Just outside of Orlando and 15 miles from
HOW FLORIDA ALMOST FORGOT “THE GENIUS OF THE SOUTH”
S
“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone.” Their Eyes Were Watching God
he stands like a tree in Florida’s history. Sometimes seen, sometimes forgotten. She bloomed, withered and almost disappeared until her great roots in this state created a legacy that stands tall today. Zora Neale Hurston, author of tales full of Florida history and imagery such as, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Dirt Tracks on a Dust Road, lived and died here. Though
28
Florida Trail Association
she left several times to fulfill her own wish to, “have a busy life, a just mind and a timely death,” she always found herself back on Florida soil. She spent time immersing herself in the Harlem Renaissance, experiencing and studying voodoo in Jamaica and Haiti on a Guggenheim Fellowship or simply writing in and about Florida. “I realized I was new myself, so it looked FloridaTrail.org
Florida Trail access points, quietly sits Eatonville. A town of just over 2,400 residents, it holds a significant place in Florida history. Founded in 1887, Eatonville was the first town successfully established by African American freedmen in the United States. According to the James Madison Institute, while over 400 black towns had been established, none were legally recognized until Eatonville and only about 150 communities went on to receive the rights of a municipality. Of those, only 12 remain today. Zora considered this place home and
