INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Celebrate Black History Month and discover the rich history of a Harlem Renaissance Woman who made a difference in the lives of African-American people in this area and in this country. She lived right here on the Treasure Coast, before it was called the Treasure Coast.
Join Day Trippin’ with Patti and Vicky when they travel the path of Zora Neale Hurston on Friday, Feb. 27, with Pam Carithers, Director of the Lincoln Park Main Street Program in Fort Pierce.
Zora Neale Hurston, author of seven books including Their Eyes Were Watching God, was born in Alabama in 1891 and moved to Eatonville, the first incorporated black township in the U.S, when she was just two years old.
After the early death of her mother, Hurston took off to discover the world beyond Eatonville. During her travels, she worked as a maid for an actress, attended and completed college, moved to Harlem where she pursued her studies in Anthropology and studied with Franz Boas, wrote a collection of stories and plays, befriended poet Langston Hughes and popular singer, Ethel Waters, traveled to the Caribbean where she studied and wrote about the people and their religions and after writing more books and stories that earned her numerous literary awards and a place in Who’s Who in America, Current Biography and Twentieth Century Authors, Zora Hurston settled in Fort Pierce, where she taught school and influenced the lives of many black men, women and children.
It has been said that Hurston never received the financial rewards that she deserved. The largest royalty she ever earned from any of her books was $943.75. When she died on Jan. 28, 1960, at the age of 69, her Fort Pierce neighbors and friends had to take up a collection for her funeral. The collection did not yield enough to pay for a headstone, so Hurston was buried in a grave that remained unmarked until 1973 when famed author, Alice Walker (The Color Purple), traveled to Fort Pierce to place a marker on the grave of the author who had so inspired her own work.
Named after Hurston’s autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road, the tour on Feb. 27, will take participants on the Dust Tracks Heritage Trail which will include The Hurston Library, Lincoln Park Academy, Zora Neale Hurston’s home, the Gravesite of Zora Neale Hurston, the Fort Pierce Chronical Building (where Zora worked), Means Court School, Peek Funeral Chapel and the Backus Museum. Tour-goers will also have the pleasure of dining at Granny’s Kitchen where they will have the opportunity to enjoy one of Hurston’s favorite dishes and meet one of her students, Hassie Russ.
Russ and her husband Charles own and operate the popular restaurant Granny’s Kitchen located in the heart of Fort Pierce. Their motto is “food that makes you smile!”
The Celebrate Zora tour will start at Indrio Crossings Shopping Center located at the intersection of Indrio Road and the Turnpike Feeder Road in North Fort Pierce. A comfortable bus will take transport the group through the tour. The Magic Carpet Bus will depart at 9:30 a.m. from the East side parking lot at Indrio Crossings. Cost for the full day tour and lunch is $65. Part of the proceeds will benefit the Dust Tracks Heritage Trail.
For more information or to make a reservation call Day Trippin’ with Patti and Vicky at (772) 569-8372 or send an email to [email protected]. Day Trippin’ is a registered LLC in Indian River County and in the State of Florida.
