In the 1950s and 1960s, Lincoln Park in Fort Pierce was home to a bustling Black community. Among the cultural icons living there was anthropologist and author Zora Neale Hurston. Best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston lived in Fort Pierce from 1957 to 1960, first in a private home and then in the St. Lucie County Welfare Home for Blacks. Recently, both properties were acquired by local nonprofit organization the Zora Neale Hurston Florida Educational Foundation (ZNHFEF).
The former Welfare Home for Blacks was gifted to ZNHFEF in 2019 by St. Lucie County after the organization lobbied to preserve the property. “We found out that this location where Zora last lived and died would be transformed into something that had no voice from the community,” says Marvin Hobson, grant administrator for ZNHFEF. “We wanted to see [it] memorialized.” Located at 809 North Ninth St., the building is under renovation and slated to open later this year as the Zora Dust Tracks Museum—with plans to feature exhibits about Hurston, offer classes and programs, and host art exhibits.
In 2019, with the help of a separate grant, ZNHFEF bought the private home at 1734 Avenue L where Hurston. The property will become a visitors’ center and host a writers-in-residence program. President of ZNHFEF Marina Santos says it fulfills an important vision in the community. “We are doing this because of the love of Zora, the love of the community, and the passion we have for preserving a legacy.
Zora in Florida
In honor of Black History Month, here are three of our favorite Florida-centric titles penned by Hurston.
• Their Eyes Were Watching God
Hurston’s novel follows a protagonist’s life in the all-Black town of Eatonville.
• Mules and Men
A collection of Black folklore, stories, songs, and sermons from Central Florida.
• Seraph on the Suwanee
Written in 1948, Hurston’s final novel explores Florida’s white “cracker” culture.
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