Zora Neale Hurston, most well-known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, spent most of her childhood in the town of Eatonville, Florida — yes, the same town that much of Their Eyes Were Watching God took place in. Living in America’s first incorporated black township, Hurston grew up relatively free of the prejudice that dominated much of the American South at the time. As a result, her childhood marked some of the happiest moments of her life. Yet, Hurston’s life completely changed when her mother died when Hurston was 13. Where Hurston spent the next ten years of her life are still largely unknown, but she describes them as “her haunted years.”

As someone who was described as incredibly energetic and skilled, Zora Neale Hurston completed her studies at Howard University and became a notable figure during the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston became friends with other influential figures such as Langston Hughes and Ethel Waters.

In 1937, Hurston published her most well-known work, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which was initially criticized by her male colleagues for the lack of political action against racism in the novel. Her other works included Moses, Man of the Mountain, Dust Tracks on a Road, and more.

When Hurston died at the age of 69, the most money she had ever earned was $943.75 for any of her books. The money collection her friends started did not earn enough for a headstone, so the writer’s grave remained unmarked until 1973, when Alice Walker (another writer inspired by Hurston) found her abandoned grave, marked it, and helped recover much of Hurston’s work.