[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H5990-H5991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ZORA NEALE HURSTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Brown] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, ``Their Eyes Were Watching God,'' 
Zora Neale Hurston, published first in 1937.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a bill that I am introducing 
that honors one of America's major voices in the 20th century, Zora 
Neale Hurston. Hurston is one of America's most famous writers and 
interpreters of southern rural African American culture. This bill 
recommends that the U.S. Postal Service issue a stamp that recognizes 
Hurston's contribution to American literature.
  Born in 1891, Zora grew up in Eatonville, FL. That is my district, 
the Third Congressional District, the first official African American 
township in the United States. She attended the Morgan Academy, which 
is now Morgan State University, and Howard University and became the 
first African American woman to graduate from Barnard College in 1919. 
The dominant female voice of the Harlem Renaissance period, 1919 
through 1995, Zora Neale Hurston produced two works of folklore: ``Of 
Men and Mules'', and ``Tell My Horse''.
  Using the talk of the rural southern African-American peasant, 
Hurston lifted the language of these folks to a level of poetry and 
fine literature. Through her style of writing and the subject of the 
African-American experience, she attracted international followers and 
the interest of feminists who transcend gender, race. Her life and work 
have inspired the founding of the Zora Neale Hurston Society at Morgan 
State University and the annual festival of arts and humanities in her 
home town of Eatonville.

                              {time}  1730

  Since her death in 1960, respect for her writings has increased along 
with their popularity. The recent discovery of plays by the Library of 
Congress has also revived interest in her writings.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that all my colleagues will join me in 
celebrating the accomplishments of the life of this inspirational 
American. By cosponsoring this legislation, we will encourage more 
Americans to learn about Hurston and perhaps influence that one child 
to become the next American author.
  Issuing a commemorative stamp in 1998 and unveiling it at the 10th 
annual festival scheduled in 1999 would rightfully honor this famous 
American who has changed the landscape of American literature.
  Before I conclude, Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the 36 Members who 
have already cosigned on this bill as original cosponsors. I hope that 
more of my colleagues will sign on in the near future in support of 
Zora Neale Hurston.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding, and I am so proud of the fact that she represents Eatonville, 
FL. I would tell the gentlewoman that I was born and raised in 
Altamonte Springs, FL, 8 miles from where Ms. Hurston, who the 
gentlewoman so rightly seeks commemoration of, was born.
  I had the good fortune of having had a grandmother, who has since 
deceased, like Ms. Hurston, who was a very good friend of hers and went 
to boarding school at the same place that Zora Neale Hurston did. I did 
not know it as a child, but my mother did, and other members of my 
family, but she was a giant of a woman, not only in size, but as the 
gentlewoman has appropriately indicated, in the magnitude of literature 
that she produced in her era and in her genre.
  For that I compliment the gentlewoman, and ask, as she does, that all 
of our colleagues go forward and commemorate her with this stamp that 
we can present, and I hope to be there with the gentlewoman in 1999 
when it is done.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his 
comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to day to speak about a bill that I would like to 
offer that honors one of America's major literary voices of the 20th 
century: Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston is one of America's most famous 
writers, folklorists, and interpreters of Southern rural African-
American culture. This bill recommends that the U.S. Postal service 
issue a stamp that recognizes Hurston's contributions to American 
literature.
  Born in 1891, Zora grew up in Eatonville, FL, the first incorporated 
African-American township in the United States, which is in the Third 
Congressional district of Florida. One of her favorite retreats was 
``the lying porch'' of Joe Clarke's store. Years of stories and tall-
tales that were told there, later became a part of Zora's works. As 
Zora grew older, her writing took shape as she found a way to express 
herself.
  It wasn't until college when Zora's writing began to flourish. She 
attended Howard University and, in 1924, she had her first work 
published. The short story ``Drenched in Light'' appeared in 
Opportunity, an Urban League publication.
  Attracted to the Harlem Renaissance of New York City, Zora moved to 
New York to further her writing career. In 1925, she won the Urban 
League's literary contest short story and one-act play categories. This 
distinction led to her association with artists and poets like the 
famous African-American poet Langston Hughes. In a short time, Zora 
Neale Nurston became the predominant female literary voice of the 
Harlem Renaissance.
  Zora continued her college education with a scholarship to Barnard 
College. There she changed her focus on English to anthropology and 
graduated with a background in folklore of Harlem and the American 
South. It is this combination of Zora's writing style and the subject 
of the African-American experience for which she is so well known.
  Through her lifetime, Hurston produced numerous works of fine quality 
that include an autobiography, ``Dust Tracks On A Road;'' novels like 
``Jonah's Gourd Vine,'' ``Man of the Mountain,'' and ``Seraph on the 
Sewanee;'' folklore such as ``Of Men and Mules'' and ``Tell My Horse''; 
short stories, articles, and plays. But Zora's best work which I have 
here, is ``Their Eyes Were Watching God.'' It is in her most popular 
work that Zora introduces the character of Janie Crawford who 
represents the prototype of the 20th century women searching for her 
own identity.

  Besides publishing many works, Zora was also a teacher, a Hollywood 
scriptwriter, and a newspaper columnist. Later in her life, Zora 
received fellowships to continue her anthropology research in the 
South, the West Indies, and Haiti.
  Since Zora's death in 1960, respect for her writings has increased 
along with their popularity. The recent discovery of plays by the 
Library of Congress has also revived interest in Zora Neale Hurston and 
her writings. She has attracted an international following and the 
interest of feminists who transcend race and ethnicity. Modern day 
poets and authors such as Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, world-renown 
poet Maya Angelou, and Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker all mention 
Hurston as a major influence on their writings as well. She has been 
listed in ``Black Female Playwrights,'' inducted into the Women's Hall 
of Fame and the Florida's Writer's Hall of Fame. Her writings have also 
inspired a Zora Neale Hurston Society, an annual festival in 
Eatonville, and a biography of her life by Robert Hemenway, who has 
placed her in history as the major, undiscovered literary voice of this 
century.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that you and all of my colleagues will join me in 
celebrating the accomplishments and the life of this inspirational 
American. By cosponsoring this legislation, we will encourage more 
Americans to learn about Zora Neale Hurston and perhaps influence that 
one child to become the next great American author.
  Issuing a commemorative stamp in 1998 and unveiling it at the 10th 
Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival--scheduled in 1999--would

[[Page H5991]]

rightfully honor this famous American who has changed the landscape of 
American literature.
  Before I conclude, I would like to thank the 35 Members who have 
already signed on to this bill as original cosponsors. I hope that more 
of my colleagues will sign on in the near future in support of Zora 
Neale Hurston.

                          ____________________