| January 7, 1891 | Zora Neale Hurston Was Born | Zora Neale Hurston is born in Notasulga, Alabama. She is the fifth of eight children born to John and Lucy Potts Hurston. |
| 1892 | Family Moved to Eatonville | In 1892, the family moved to Eatonville. Eatonville, located north of Orlando, Florida, was a self-governing, all-African American town. |
| 1904 | Death of Lucy Potts Hurston | In 1904, Hurston's mother died. Her father remarried a very young woman soon after and Zora Neale Hurston strongly disliked her stepmother. |
| 1917 | Hurston Enrolled in High School | In 1917, at 26, Zora Neale Hurston lied about her age, claiming to have been born in 1901, to gain admission to high school. She maintained the lie about her age throughout her life. |
| 1919 | Enrolled at Howard University | After graduating high school in 1918, Hurston enrolled in Howard University in Washington D.C., completing her associates degree in 1920. |
| 1921 | Published "John Redding Goes to Sea" | Zora Neale Hurston's first short story was published in a literary magazine at Howard University in 1921. |
| December 1924 | Published "Drenched in Light" | In December 1924, the short story, "Drenched in Light", was published in the literary journal Opportunity. |
| 1925 | Transferred to Barnard College | Hurston transferred from Howard University to Barnard College in 1925. |
| 1926 | Visited Harlem | Hurston's first visit to Harlem came in 1926. The vibrant neighborhood and rich cultural revival of the Harlem Renaissance provided new opportunities for Hurston. |
| 1930 | Disagreement with Langston Hughes(1930 to 1931) | After working together on a play, Zora Neale Hurston had a falling out with noted poet and playwright Langston Hughes. Both regretted the disagreement. |
| January 10, 1932 | "The Great Day" Premiered on Broadway | Hurston's musical, "The Great Day" premiered on Broadway in 1932. She was rapidly gaining stature, both in the African American community and outside it. The play was well-received, but performed only once, leaving her with substantial debt. |
| May 1934 | Jonah's Gourd Vine Published | In May 1934, Hurston published her first full-length novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine. She would complete four novels in her lifetime, but publish a large number of short stories and non-fiction pieces. |
| 1936 | Guggenheim Fellowship | In 1936, Hurston was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study Obeah in Jamaica. She published the results of her study upon her return, as Tell My Horse. |
| 1937 | Their Eyes Were Watching God Published | Hurston's best-known novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was written in only seven weeks while she was studying religion in Haiti. |
| 1939 | Federal Writers' Project | In 1939, Hurston began recording African-American experiences in Florida as part of the Federal Writers' Project. This was part of Roosevelt's New Deal. |
| 1942 | Dust Tracks on a Road Published | Hurston's 1942 memoir, Dust Tracks on a Road, was published to critical acclaim, particularly for its take on race relations. |
| 1952 | Hurston Worked as a Journalist(1952 to 1959) | Between 1952 and 1959, Hurston worked primarily as a reporter and newspaper columnist. |
| January 28, 1960 | Death of Zora Neale Hurston | Following a stroke in late 1959, Zora Neale Hurston died penniless and alone in a nursing home facility run by the state. She was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1973, writer Alice Walker located her grave and purchased a headstone for it. |
