Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891  – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on hoodoo. The most popular of her four novels is Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937. She also wrote more than 50 short stories, plays, and essays. [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston)