Zora Neale Hurston was born on Jan. 7, 1891, in Alabama. Her family moved to Eatonville, Florida, when she was still a toddler. Growing up in this culturally affirming setting in an eight-room house on five acres of land, Zora had a relatively happy childhood . When Hurston was 13, her mother died and her father sent her to a private school in Jacksonville.

Hurston began her undergraduate studies at Howard University but then left after a few years, unable to support herself. She was later offered a scholarship to Barnard College where she received her B.A. in anthropology in 1927. Shortly before entering Barnard, Hurston became one of the leaders of the literary renaissance happening in Harlem, New York, producing the literary magazine Fire!! along with Langston Hughes. She published her masterwork, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," in 1937.

Hurston never received the financial rewards she deserved. So when she died on Jan. 28, 1960--at age 69, after suffering a stroke--her neighbors in Fort Pierce, Florida, had to take up a collection for her February 7 funeral. The collection didn't yield enough to pay for a headstone, however, and Hurston was buried in a grave that remained unmarked until 1973.