Zora Dust Tracks Heritage Marker 2

1806 Avenue I
 
At a time in our history when blacks were frequently denied the most basic opportunities, Zora Neale Hurston worked hard and successfully to obtain a fine education and establish herself as a writer. Her life experience is full of lessons for all of us. For a short time in 1958, Zora taught English at Lincoln Park Academy, then a segregated school. But ironically, because she couldn't get a state certificate quickly enough, this nationally renowned writer wasn't hired to teach on a permanent basis.

Zora and Lincoln Park Academy
Today, Lincoln Park Academy is a magnet school of choice, rated A+ by the Florida Department of Education, and has been listed as one of the nation's most outstanding high schools by Newsweek magazine. The school's roots reach back to 1921, when an ambitious group of black families worked to raise money and support for the area's first four-year black high school—at a time when there was no high school available for blacks south of Palatka (Putnam County, north Florida). When Lincoln Park Academy was accredited in 1928, it was one of only four accredited black high schools in Florida. The school achieved its status in part thanks to Principal James A. Espy, who insisted that (most) teachers have college degrees, an almost unheard of requirement for this time.

Zora Neale Hurston was a nationally known author and folklorist, had a prestigious college degree, and had taught in college classrooms. But in the school system, rules are rules, and in February 1958, when Zora came to teach English at Lincoln Park Academy, she found that her education and extensive professional experience would not exempt her from obtaining an official State of Florida teaching certificate. Zora was unable to obtain transcripts and other support quickly enough to satisfy school authorities, who were under pressure to meet accreditation requirements (which included hiring fully certified teachers). As a result, Zora taught for only a short time and students missed a rare opportunity to meet and learn from a great talent. Today, historians and literature scholars continue to find wisdom in the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston.

When Zora came to teach at Lincoln Park Academy, she was near the end of her life's journey. Her fine formal education had been greatly amplified through travel and and interaction with other creative people. Zora's autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road (1942), did not capture all of her rich life, and she was often pressed to publish more of her personal story. Today historians and literature buffs continue to study Zora and search for clues to her character and passion for work.

"Hit uh Straight Lick wid uh Crooked Stick"
Zora Neale Hurston often used colloquial proverbs in her stories. (A proverb is a short, popular saying that expresses a well-known truth or fact. Colloquial means that it is expressed in a local dialect or mannerism.) "Hit uh straight lick wid uh crooked stick" is an example of a colloquial proverb Zora used in many different instances in her novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine (1934). This proverb aptly describes Zora's own education and career—accomplishing great things against incredible odds—and serves as a beacon of example to students facing today's challenges.

A 1977 article in the Orlando Sentinel by John Hicks described how Zora worked to obtain an education in a time when black Americans did not have the educational opportunities they do today. "Acquiring an education was not easy, or free, and Zora worked, at times, as a manicurist, maid and waitress in a struggle to keep ahead of her debts….she was awarded a scholarship to attend Barnard College in New York City as the school's first black student. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard in 1928." After entering Barnard, Zora continued to work and seek financial assistance. She wrote magazine articles and did anthropological fieldwork for Dr. Franz Boas at Columbia University. She also received a $1400 fellowship (a sizable sum for the time) from the Carter Woodson's Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, enabling her to travel to Florida, where she began collecting the black folklore that became such an essential part of her career as a creative professional.