Editing Zora Neale Hurston (section)

==Anthropological and Folkloric Fieldwork==
Hurston traveled extensively in the Caribbean and the American South and immersed herself in local cultural practices to conduct her anthropological research. Based on her work in the South, sponsored from 1928 to 1932 by [[Charlotte Osgood Mason]], a wealthy philanthropist, Hurston wrote ''[[Mules and Men]]'' in 1935.<ref name="autogenerated17" />{{rp|157}} She was researching [[lumber camp]]s in north Florida and commented on the practice of white men in power taking black women as [[concubines]], including having them bear children. This practice later was referred to as "[[paramour rights]]", based on the men's power under [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]] and related to practices during slavery times. The book also includes much folklore. Hurston drew from this material as well in the fictional treatment she developed for her novels such as ''Jonah's Gourd Vine'' (1934).<ref name="autogenerated17" />{{rp|246–247}}

In 1935, Hurston traveled to Georgia and Florida with [[Alan Lomax]] and [[Mary Elizabeth Barnicle]] for research on African-American song traditions and their relationship to slave and African antecedent music. She was tasked with selecting the geographic areas and contacting the research subjects.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hurston |first=Zora Neale |author-link=Zora Neale Hurston |title=Dust tracks on a road: an autobiography |publisher=University of Illinois Press |contributor-last=Hemenway |contributor-first=Robert |contributor-link=Robert Hemenway |contribution=Edited and with an Introduction by |year=1995 |isbn=0-252-01149-X |edition=2nd |location=Urbana |page=[https://archive.org/details/dusttracksonr2nd00hurs/page/209 209] |oclc=11091136}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Zora Neale Hurston NYWTS.jpg|thumb|Hurston playing a hountar, or mama drum, 1937]]

In 1936 and 1937, Hurston traveled to [[Jamaica]] and [[Haiti]] for research, with support from the [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation|Guggenheim Foundation]]. She drew from this research for ''Tell My Horse'' (1938), a genre-defying book that mixes anthropology, folklore, and personal narrative.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=McFadden |first=Bernice L. |title=Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619–2019 |title-link=Four Hundred Souls |publisher=One World |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-593-13404-7 |editor-last=Kendi |editor-first=Ibram X. |editor-link=Ibram X. Kendi |location=New York |pages=297–300 |chapter=Zora Neale Hurston |editor-last2=Blain |editor-first2=Keisha N. |editor-link2=Keisha N. Blain}}</ref>

In 1938 and 1939, Hurston worked for the [[Federal Writers' Project|Federal Writers’ Project (FWP)]], part of the [[Works Progress Administration]].<ref name="autogenerated17" /> Hired for her experience as a writer and folklorist, she gathered information to add to Florida's historical and cultural collection.<ref name="autogenerated17" /> Music makes up a significant portion of the material she collected for the FWP,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Choie |first=Dianne; posted by Alli Hartley-Kong |date=January 7, 2025 |title=Her eyes were watching everything: Zora Neale Hurston at the Library of Congress {{!}} Minerva’s kaleidoscope |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417040127/https://blogs.loc.gov/families/2025/01/her-eyes-were-watching-everything-zora-neale-hurston-at-the-library-of-congress/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> including: “Crow Dance,” a [[Bahamian Americans|Bahamian-American]] dance song with [[Music of West Africa|West African]] roots;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hurston |first=Zora Neale [performer] |date=1939 |title=Crow dance |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250203064221/https://www.loc.gov/item/flwpa000017/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> the [[Gullah|Gullah Geechee]] song, “Oh, the Buford Boat Done Come”;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hurston |first=Zora Neale [performer] |date=1939 |title=Oh, the Buford Boat done come |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207115054/https://www.loc.gov/item/flwpa000013/?loclr=blogfam |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> and the folk song “[[John Henry (folklore)|John Henry]],” performed by [[Gabriel Brown]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Gabriel [performer] |date=1935 |title=John Henry |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114105225/https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200196392/?loclr=blogfam |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref>

From May 1947 to February 1948, Hurston lived in [[Honduras]], in the north coastal town of [[Puerto Cortés]]. She had some hopes of locating either Mayan ruins or vestiges of an undiscovered civilization.<ref name="autogenerated17" />{{rp|375–387}} While in Puerto Cortés, she wrote much of ''Seraph on the Suwanee'', set in Florida. Hurston expressed interest in the [[polyethnic]] nature of the population in the region (many, such as the [[Miskito Sambu|Miskito Zambu]] and [[Garifuna people|Garifuna]], were of mixed African and indigenous ancestry and had developed [[Creole peoples|creole]] cultures).
[[File:Zora Neale Hurston and unidentified man 1935 Belle Glade FL.tif|thumb|Hurston in Florida on an anthropological research trip, 1935]]
During her last decade, Hurston worked as a freelance writer for magazines and newspapers. In the fall of 1952, she was contacted by [[Sam Nunn]], editor of the ''[[Pittsburgh Courier]],'' to go to Florida to cover the murder trial of [[Ruby McCollum]]. McCollum was charged with murdering the white Dr. C. Leroy Adams, who was also a state politician. McCollum said he had forced her to have sex and bear his child.<ref name="movie">Dr. C. Arthur Ellis, Jr. [http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/1/prweb4933714.htm "New Florida-based Movie on Ruby McCollum Story Underscores Need for Black History Month"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628225912/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/1/prweb4933714.htm |date=June 28, 2014 }}, PR Web, January 5, 2011, accessed March 18, 2014,</ref> Hurston recalled what she had seen of white male sexual dominance in the lumber camps in North Florida, and discussed it with Nunn. They both thought the case might be about such "paramour rights", and wanted to "expose it to a national audience".<ref name="movie"/>

Upon reaching Live Oak, Hurston was surprised not only by the gag order the judge in the trial placed on the defense but by her inability to get residents in town to talk about the case; both blacks and whites were silent. She believed that might have been related to Dr. Adams' alleged involvement in the gambling operation of Ruby's husband Sam McCollum. Her articles were published by the newspaper during the trial. Ruby McCollum was convicted by an all-male, [[all-white jury]], and sentenced to death. Hurston had a special assignment to write a serialized account, ''The Life Story of Ruby McCollum'', over three months in 1953 in the newspaper.<ref>Hurston, Zora Neale. Series of articles covering the trial: ''Pittsburgh Courier'', October 1952 – January 1953. Also, "The Life Story Of Ruby McCollum", ''Pittsburgh Courier'', Jan–March 1953</ref> Her part was ended abruptly when she and Nunn disagreed about her pay, and she left.<ref name="movie"/>

Unable to pay independently to return for the appeal and second trial, Hurston contacted journalist [[William Bradford Huie]], with whom she had worked at ''[[The American Mercury]]'', to try to interest him in the case. He covered the appeal and second trial, and also developed material from a background investigation. Hurston shared her material with him from the first trial, but he acknowledged her only briefly in his book, ''Ruby McCollum: Woman in the Suwannee Jail'' (1956), which became a bestseller.<ref name="Boyd">Boyd, Elizabeth, [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=14694 "Disquiet", Review of Tammy Evans, ''The Silencing of Ruby McCollum: Race, Class, and Gender in the South''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318235832/https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=14694 |date=March 18, 2014 }}, H-Net Review, July 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2014,</ref>

Hurston celebrated that
{{blockquote|"McCollum's testimony in her own defense marked the first time that a woman of African-American descent was allowed to testify as to the paternity of her child by a white man. Hurston firmly believed that Ruby McCollum's testimony sounded the death toll of 'paramour rights' in the Segregationist South."<ref name="movie"/>}}

Among other positions, Hurston later worked at the [[Pan American World Airways]] Technical Library at [[Patrick Air Force Base]] in 1956. She was fired in 1957 for being "too well-educated" for her job<!-- Edited 07152023 for accuracy to reflect dates from the cited source. -->.<ref name="ft140204">{{Cite news | first=Ben | last=Brotemarkle | title=Zora Neale Hurston fond of writing in Eau Gallie cottage | url=http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20140204/NEWS01/302040022/Florida-Frontiers-Zora-Neale-Hurston-fond-writing-Eau-Gallie-cottage | newspaper=Florida Today | location=Melbourne, Florida | page=9A | date=February 4, 2014 | access-date=February 4, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222075355/http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20140204/NEWS01/302040022/Florida-Frontiers-Zora-Neale-Hurston-fond-writing-Eau-Gallie-cottage | archive-date=February 22, 2014 | url-status=live}}</ref>

She moved to [[Fort Pierce, Florida]]. Taking jobs where she could find them, Hurston worked occasionally as a substitute teacher. At age 60, Hurston had to fight "to make ends meet" with the help of public assistance. At one point she worked as a maid on Miami Beach's [[Rivo Alto Island]].