Zora Neale Hurston came to work for the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in Florida in May of 1938. She signed on for the position of "Junior Interviewer" with the Federal Writer's Project (FWP). At the time Hurston had already published Jonah's Gourd Vine and Mules and Men and was the only widely published author on the Florida payroll.

Hurston never mentioned her work with the FWP in her autobiography, perhaps because of the stigma associated with the WPA's "relief" programs. During this time, she worked out of her home in Eatonville and finished her fifth novel Moses: Man of the Mountain. Hurston made numerous trips from her home to gather folklife across Florida.

In 1939, Hurston went to Cross City, FL to interview workers of the Aycock and Lindsay turpentine camp. Material from her essay "Turpentine" later appeared in her book Seraph on the Suwanee.

Turpentine camps were isolated, and known for their terrible working conditions and abuses. It was unusual for a writer to be allowed in to gather information. This essay is one of the few written, first hand accounts of the lives of the turpentine workers. Although Zora Neale Hurston was aware of, and made notes concerning some of the abuses that occurred in the camp, this essay focuses on the workday.

Between 1937 and 1942, Stetson Kennedy headed the Florida Writers' Project unit on folklore, oral history, and social-ethnic studies. Kennedy and Hurston worked together to capture the traditions, songs, tales, and anecdotes of the people of Florida. Kennedy's introduction to A Reference Guide to the Florida Foklore from the Federal WPA includes the story of the trip that he and Hurston took to the turpentine camp in Cross City. His introduction mentions the essay she wrote and helps to put the piece in context.

Students will

• listen to the following statement and decide if they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree:
  
  "Zora Neale Hurston's essay 'Turpentine' is an important part of the written history of the turpentine camps in Florida in the 1930's."
  
  
• work in groups to record information in support of their position.
• reconsider their stance in light of new information from Stetson Kennedy's description of the recording expedition to the turpentine camp in Cross City, FL.
• write a concise paragraph expressing their opinion about the statement.

1. "Turpentine" by Zora Hurston (see Documents)
   Transcript | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
   
   
2. "Turpentine" by Zora Neale Hurston
   Transcript -with linked photographs (optional). These photographs were NOT taken at the time of Zora Neale Hurston's visit to the turpentine camp in Cross City. However, they are representative of the era.
   
   
3. Stetson Kennedy's description of the trip to the turpentine camp in Cross City
   This first-person account by folklorist and former FWP supervisor Stetson Kennedy discusses the trip with Zora Neale Hurston to a turpentine camp in Cross City, FL in August of 1939. From A Reference Guide to Florida Folklore from the Federal WPA Deposited in the Florida Folklife Archives (see Documents).
   The Recording Expeditions
   
   
4. Poster for "four corner debate"
   Four posters, each labeled in large letters with one of the following: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

Read or give students copies of Zora Neale Hurston's essay "Turpentine". Using the four corner debate strategy, have students react to the following statement:

"Zora Neale Hurston's essay 'Turpentine' is an important part of the written history of the turpentine camps in Florida in the 1930's."

Read or give students copies of Stetson Kennedy's description of the trip to the turpentine camp in Cross City, Florida in The Recording Expeditions. Have students consider the statement again using this new information.

In summary, students will write a paragraph with an opening statement expressing their opinion, three strong reasons for this position, and one question for further research.

Two Views of the Turpentine Camps
(SS.A.1.4.3), (LA.A.2.4.8), (SS.A.5.4.4)

Have students compare Zora Neale Hurston's essay on the turpentine camps with the description in "From Can't to Can't: The North Florida Turpentine Camp, 1900-1950" by Robert N. Lauriault.


Zora Neale Hurston was criticized by her some contemporaries for not dealing with the harsh realities of racism in her writing. Her supporters saw her as celebrating the strength and culture of African Americans in a way that almost no one else was doing at the time.

Students might notice that Zora Neale Hurston talks about individual turpentine workers, mentions them by name and describes their skills in positive terms. "Leroy Heath is the champ puller." Contrast that to the depersonalized descriptions in From Can't to Can't. Which is a more accurate portrayal of reality? Are there multiple realities?

Materials

Go to the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM), and search under the keyword "turpentine". Or go directly to one of these links:

http://fulltext.fcla.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?&c=fhp&idno=SN00154113_0067_003&format=text

http://fulltext.fcla.edu/DLData/SN/SN00154113/0067_003/67no3.pdf