Zora Neale Hurston: The First of Us will visually represent the interdisciplinary efforts of the Zora Neale Hurston Committee at Barnard College to celebrate the centennial of Zora’s tenure at Barnard (1925-1928). Zora Neale Hurston was the first recognized Black student to graduate from Barnard College.
The Zora Neale Hurston Committee has organized and supported programming to engage students, faculty, and staff to honor Zora’s legacy. I have been collecting images of this programming and compiling them into a visual anthology to archive this moment.
The status of this project is ongoing, and will continue to document all Zora Neale Hurston Centennial programming until Spring 2028.
Zora Neale Hurston: The First of Us
Front cover
Features archival images of Zora Neale Hurston sourced from the Barnard Archives and the University of Florida Zora Neale Hurston Papers.
Here are some alternative covers!
I wanted to play around with color to provide contrast and a clear focal point. I had a lot of fun moving these images of Zora and the letters of her name around. It reminds me of Zora’s angularity—one of the 12 Characteristics of Negro Expression highlighted in her 1934 essay.
“Everything that [the Negro] touches becomes angular.” (Hurston)
2025 Zora Neale Hurston Summit
January 31 - February 1, 2025
Organized by the Barnard Zora Neale Hurston Committee and the Zora Neale Hurston Trust
Rae Chesny (Zora Neale Hurston Trust) and Dr. Monica Miller (Zora Neale Hurston Committee)
Photographed by Carrie Glasser
Mrs. Adaeze Ezekoye (BC ‘66)
Photographed by Carrie Glasser
Black, Brilliant and Free: An Ode to Zora in 3 Parts
A mini-library and altar for Zora by OlaRonke Akinmowo of The Free Black Women’s Library in collaboration with the Milstein Library
Photographed by Carrie Glasser
Photographed by Tomisin Fasosin
Weaving Dreams: The Quilts of Kim F. Hall
Weaving Black Barnard photographed by Tomisin Fasosin