The workshops brought together a cohort of Tuskegee faculty to explore the local literary heritage of the area. Image courtesy of Tuskegee University.
Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and Albert Murray each have artistic and biographical ties to Macon County and the Tuskegee Institute—and each shaped Alabama history and helped transform American thought and culture. On the 200th anniversary of Alabama statehood, Tuskegee University is connecting its faculty, students, and the broader community with these three literary icons. NEH funding is supporting research into the authors, workshops around their work and lives, curricular enhancements to include the authors, and two public community events—a quilt exhibition inspired by Hurston and four day reading of Ellison’s Invisible Man. In doing so, the program has fostered community-based research and teaching among faculty and equipped students with a more robust understanding of the historic and ongoing challenges of rural areas like Macon County.
“I was able to learn more about Tuskegee through the authors we studied and how they had an influence on this community, and why it might be how it is today.”
–Tuskegee student
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Part of the faculty workshop included learning from an a contracted consultant at the Rosenwald School in Notasulga, one of the six initial schools established in Zora Neale Hurston’s hometown by the Rosenwald Fund to provide education to African American children. Image courtesy of Tuskegee University.
While visiting Zora Neale Hurston’s hometown of Notasulga as part of the Literary Legacies faculty workshops, participants visited some of Hurston’s relatives’ gravesites. Image courtesy of Tuskegee University.
Workshops for faculty on the three authors were pivotal aspects of the program. Faculty learned from content experts and visited historic sites and landmarks, including the Albert Murray Collection at Tuskegee’s Library; the Rosenwald School at Shiloh Baptist Church; Zora Neale Hurston’s birthplace, Notasulga; and Chehaw Station, the setting for Ellison’s essay “The Little Man at Chehaw Station.” In a survey of faculty workshop participants all respondents agreed that they learned more about the local history and culture, felt more connected to both the community and the university, and took pride in the program being held in their community. Faculty expressed a desire to integrate what they learned into their courses and future research. One respondent commented, “It gave me a deeper appreciation of the richness of both the local history and resources (personnel and material) in Tuskegee and Macon County.” Another stated: “I intend to use Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching God for students to conduct community studies of Africatown and Eatonville.”
A Tuskegee student visiting “The Soul of Zora: A Literacy Legacy through Quilts” at The Legacy Museum. Image courtesy of Tuskegee University.
Famed Quilter Jan Hollins hosted a quilting workshop to close “The Soul of Zora” exhibition. Image courtesy of Tuskegee University.
Students also gained a deeper appreciation for the university and local community and had the opportunity to work on the quilt exhibition associated with the grant. Survey results indicated that only fourteen percent of respondents had personal or familial ties to Macon County before attending Tuskegee. After taking courses that integrated faculty workshop content, 86 percent of student respondents reported learning more about Tuskegee’s local culture and/or literary history. One student wrote: “I gained a greater appreciation for the school I attend and the city it’s in.[…] Great minds grew from this soil.” Students also were able to assist with “Soul of Zora,” a quilt exhibition inspired by Zora Neale Hurston’s life and work, on display at the on-campus Legacy Museum. One student reflected on the experience: “Not only were we able to experience the Zora Neale Hurston quilt exhibit, but we were fortunately given the opportunity to deinstall the quilts. This [was] as a monumental and precious moment.”
