Three one-week workshops for 120 school teachers to explore Zora Neale Hurston's life and work in the context of her hometown, Eatonville, Florida

The three weeklong seminars 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 country. During each seminar week, participants 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, created her racial and gender identity, 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 seminars are scheduled to occur over three consecutive weeks from June 15 to July 5, 2008.

Two one-week Landmarks workshops for eighty school teachers on African-American folklorist and author Zora Neale Hurston and her formative years in Eatonville, Florida.

The two weeklong 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 United States. During each workshop, participants 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, created her racial and gender identity, 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 over two consecutive weeks from June 13-26, 2010.

Two one-week workshops for eighty school teachers on the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston.

Two one-week workshops for eighty school teachers on the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston. Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960), renowned for both her fiction writing and her scholarly research as a collector of African-American folklore, spent much of her childhood in the small town of Eatonville, Florida, which was founded by freed slaves in 1886. During this workshop, participants explore Hurston's Eatonville roots, her folkloric and literary endeavors, her participation in the Harlem Renaissance, and her final years in Fort Pierce, Florida. Historian Julian Chambliss (Rollins College); literary scholars Houston A. Baker (Vanderbilt University), Jill Jones (Rollins College), and Maurice O'Sullivan (Rollins College); preservationist N.Y. Nathiri (Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community); Chautauqua interpreter Phyllis McEwen; and Hurston biographer Valerie Boyd (University of Georgia) join lead scholar Heather Russell (Florida International University) in this consideration of Hurston and her milieu. Participants take walking tours of Eatonville and Fort Pierce, examine Hurston documents at the Rollins College archive, view an exhibit on Hurston and Eatonville at the Maitland Art Center, explore her folklore writings collected on the Library of Congress's American Memory site, work on curriculum projects, and watch a theatrical presentation of songs and stories that the author collected in central Florida. Readings include, among other works and resources, Hurston's masterwork, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and other writings; Valerie Boyd, Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston; and Robert Hemenway, Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography.