Searching the Collections

Books and special collections related to Zora Neale Hurston can be found in several Library of Congress Divisions. Books may be found in the general collections. Special collections related to Hurston may be found in the collections of the American Folklife Center, the Prints and Photographs Division, the Manuscripts Division, the Motion Picture and Television Reading Room, and the Recorded Sound Reference Center. It is recommended that researchers use the Library's Ask a Librarian service to get assistance with particular items housed in other Library divisions--take note of the division when viewing materials and direct questions to librarians in that division using in to expedite answers to their requests. The search keys below will provide lists of items to browse to help you get started.

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content, including collection finding aids, are included when available.

Selected Collections of Interest

Franz Boas papers, 1878-1943.
Call Number: Microfilm 18,375-44P-1P
Published/Created: 1878-1943
Personal and professional correspondence, diaries, and Boas (Boaz) family papers relating chiefly to Boas's career as an anthropologist and social scientist. Subjects include anthropology and linguistics in the U.S.; the development of their study; and anthropology in Latin America. Other subjects include academic freedom, race, and science. Includes correspondence between Boas and Zora Neale Hurston. (Request in the Manuscript Reading Room, Madison, LM101).
Alan Lomax, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle expedition collection
Call Number: AFC 1935/001
Published/Created: 1935
Collection of field recordings of African American, Bahamian, and Haitian songs, music, tales, and church services recorded on instantaneous discs by Alan Lomax, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle in 1935 for the Archive of American Folk Song. Zora Neale Hurston accompanied the recording expedition in Georgia and Florida, but she not did go to the Bahamas. Recordings include blues, work songs, ballads, tall tales, dance music, ring dances, circle games, sea songs, string band music, vodou music, guitar, harmonica, drums, children's games and songs; gospel music, and church services with sermons, hymns, and prayers. The collection includes interviews conducted on St. Simon's Island with speakers of Gullah. (Request in the American Folklife Center Reading Room, Jefferson LJG53).
[South Carolina, May 1940, Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort--field recording]
Call Number: RGA 9773, cuts 3-9 (playback copy)
Published/Created: 1940
A recording from the Beaufort, South Carolina church project, a folklore collecting project that focused on the study of religious trances in the sanctified church. Includes singing, preaching, people speaking in trance and unknown tongues, and Biblical references. Zora Neale Hurston, on-site director; Jane Belo, project organizer; Norman Chalfin, sound recording. (Request in advance in the Recorded Sound Reference Center: Madison LM113).
[South Carolina, May 1940, Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort--field footage]
Call Number: VBQ 8236 (viewing copy
Published/Created: 1940
Footage from a folklore collecting project that focused on the study of religious trances in the sanctified church. The footage was taken at the Commandment Keeper Church in Beaufort, South Carolina on May 18-19, 1940. The Reverend George Washington leads the services, while the prophet Julia Jones, the deacon Henry Moore, Zora Neale Hurston, several of Washington's family members, and other congregants participate. Zora Neale Hurston, on-site director; Jane Belo, project organizer. (Request in: Motion Picture and Television Reading Room, by appointment, Madison LM336).
The Mary Margaret McBride show [1943-01-25]
Call Number: RGA 4836 (playback copy)
Published/Created: 1943
Recording of an interview with Zora Neale Hurston. Topics include Hurston's autobiography Dust tracks on a road, her experiences while writing Jonah's gourd vine, and a description of zombies in Haiti. Hurston also briefly describes her first experiences in the field of gathering folklore. 45 minutes. (Request in advance in the Rec Sound Ref Center, Madison, LM113).

Selected Books by Zora Neale Hurston

Mules and men. With an introd. by Franz Boas. 10 illus. by Miguel Covarrubias. by Hurston, Zora Neale
Call Number: GR103 .H8 1969
ISBN: 0837120004
Published/Created: 1969
Reprint of the 1935 ed.
Their eyes were watching God : a novel by Hurston, Zora Neale
Call Number: PS3515.U789 T639 1990
ISBN: 0060916508
Published/Created: 1990
Go gator and muddy the water : writings / by Zora Neale Hurston from the Federal Writers' Project ; edited and with a biographical essay by Pamela Bordelon. by Hurston, Zora Neale.
Call Number: GR111.A47 H84 1999
ISBN: 0393046958
Published/Created: 1999
Barracoon : the story of the last "black cargo" / Zora Neale Hurston ; edited by Deborah G. Plant by Hurston, Zora Neale
Call Number: E444.L49 H87 2018
ISBN: 0062748203
Published/Created: 2018

Zora Neale Hurston: A Resource Guide

Searching the Collections

Selected Collections of Interest

Selected Books by Zora Neale Hurston