Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston and Her Eatonville Roots

FAIN: BH-250799-16

Florida Humanities Council (St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5005)
Jacqueline May (Project Director: February 2016 to September 2017)
Ann S. Schoenacher (Project Director: September 2017 to March 2018)
Heather Russell (Co Project Director: May 2016 to May 2018)

Two one-week workshops for seventy-two schoolteachers on the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston and Eatonville, the community that formed her identity and fueled her imagination.

The workshops outlined in this proposal provide K-12 teachers with an interdisciplinary exploration of the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston and the community that formed her identity and fueled her imagination – Eatonville, Florida. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, Eatonville is the oldest incorporated black town in the U.S. During the workshop, teachers will examine Hurston’s accomplishments within the context of the historical and cultural development of Eatonville and grapple with compelling questions about how this unique black enclave fueled her appreciation of folk culture, inspired her literary works, and formed her sometimes controversial views on race. Organized by the Florida Humanities Council in cooperation with the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community and Rollins College, the workshops are scheduled to occur in July 2017.