Lucy Anne Hurston, anthropologist and niece of author Zora Neale Hurston, spoke passionately about her aunt’s life during a lecture event at the Long Beach State University Library on Feb. 7.
From a young age, Lucy Hurston showed an interest in reading and writing books. When she found a signed copy of her aunt’s book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Lucy Hurston’s curiosity for the literary world deepened.
“I said who is this woman with my last name […] and I went to my father and I asked him ‘what’s up with this,’” Lucy Hurston said.“Then began a 30-year conversation with my father on who this woman is.”
Everett Hurston, father of Lucy and brother to Zora, recounted to his daughter that Zora Hurston was a free spirit.
Everett Hurston, Zora’s brother and her father, told her that Lucy Ann Hurston [Zora’s mother and Lucy Anne’s grandmother] had two daughters and two sons.
Her daughter Sarah was considered the perfect child while Zora was free from restrictions because she did as she pleased.
“She wasn’t cooking, she wasn’t ironing, we weren’t making beds, she was hiding somewhere with a book,” Lucy Hurston said about her aunt’s time attending boarding school.
She also stressed the importance of education and experiencing different cultures.
“We all have culture, in particular, what we do in our culture is what gives us that unique glimpse but it doesn’t make you inferior or superior, it just makes us different,” Lucy Hurston said. “Who wants to eat vanilla ice cream every day?”
Master of the Art of Religion and Zora Neale Hurston researcher Markeeda Monet said she feels proud of CSULB for hosting Lucy Hurston’s lecture event during Black History Month.
“I feel proud of California State University Long Beach [because of] the fact that they brought a Black American writer in honor of a month that America has set aside to emphasize us remembering the Black American historical experience,” Monet said.
German major James Logan said he saw an advertisement he saw for the Hurston lecture caught his eye because he read her books.
“I was very excited by the fact that people were able to ask their questions and she could provide her reflections, so, that was a great way she made the presentation,” Logan said.
When speaking to the audience, Lucy Hurston said she would come back in a heartbeat to do another lecture at CSULB.
“I feel grateful that I can bring a new perspective to a group that I presented to. I find it rewarding and exhilarating to take questions on the fly,” Lucy Hurston said as she reflected on her speech.
After discovering her relation to Zora Neale Hurston, Lucy Hurston became motivated to emulate her aunt’s legacy to hold herself to a higher standard.
“Practicing anthropology and traveling in different areas, [Zora Neale Hurston had] the superpower lens to see it and document it, knowing full well that at the time she was doing it, it’s not appreciated,” Lucy Hurston said.