Episode Summary:

As host Chris Haley said, Zora Neale Hurston was a homegrown Florida treasure, known for her wit, charm, and a true gift for collecting folklore. As part of her work with the Writers’ Project, she made over a dozen recordings with audio equipment borrowed from the Library of Congress.

She knew about the equipment from earlier field recordings she had made with folklorist Alan Lomax. So, when she had the chance to use it for the Writers’ Project, Hurston “checked it out” from the Library.

We do use short excerpts in our last episode, but the full recordings really are a lot of fun to listen to. After you listen to these, we encourage you to go to the Library of Congress to listen to more!

Links and Resources:

Preserving Songs and Culture: Zora Neale Hurston and the Federal Writers' Project

Original Recording: Georgia Skin

Original Recording: Dat Old Black Gal

Original Recording: Let the Deal Go Down

Original Recording: Mule on the Mount

Original Recording: Uncle Bud

Credits:

Director: Andrea Kalin

Producers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James Mirabello

Editors: James Mirabello and Ethan Oser

Writer: James Mirabello

Featuring music and archival material from:

Pond5

Library of Congress

For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder

Produced with support from:

National Endowment for the Humanities

Virginia Humanities

Florida Humanities

Wisconsin Humanities

California Humanities

Humanities Nebraska

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