search overlapped with but never exceeded that of
ZORANEALEHURSTON.
Hurst, Fannie(1889–1968)
A successful and prolific novelist who also is well-
known for her relationship with ZORA NEALE
HURSTON, whom she employed as a secretary.
Born into a German Jewish family, she was the
daughter of Samuel and Rose Koppel Hurst. Raised
in Hamilton, Ohio, Hurst attended Washington
University in St. Louis, Missouri, before moving to
New York City. She began to earn her living as a
writer in 1910 and quickly became a highly paid
author whose works were published in such popu-
lar and well-circulated publications as the Saturday
Evening Postand Cosmopolitan.She had an uncon-
ventional marriage with Jacques Danielson, a Rus-
sian Jewish pianist with whom she did not live.
The couple maintained their marriage in secrecy
for several years. They had no children.
Hurst was a prolific writer whose publications
included some 18 novels, hundreds of short stories,
plays, essays, and an autobiography. She published
regularly throughout the Harlem Renaissance and
was part of the vibrant social circles that included
other white patrons and artists such as CARLVAN
VECHTENand AMYand JOELSPINGARN. In 1933
Hurst published IMITATION OFLIFE,a novel about
the interracial collaboration between two women
and the painful cost of racial passing. It was adapted
quickly as a film and was released in 1934. This first
version directed by John Stahl starred Louise
Beavers, Claudette Colbert, and Fredi Washington.
Hurst also supported the efforts of institutions
such as the NATIONALURBANLEAGUEto promote
and encourage African-American excellence in the
arts. In 1918 she was one of the judges presiding in
the first literary contest that Opportunityand the
Urban League sponsored. With CARL VAN
DOREN,EUGENEO’NEILL, and ALAINLOCKE,she
celebrated the accomplishments of Zora Neale
Hurston, the triumphant winner of multiple
awards. Hurst was the judge who handed Hurston
the second-place drama prize for her play COLOR
STRUCK.Impressed by Hurston’s potential, Hurst
soon sought out the BARNARDCOLLEGEstudent.
Thanks to mediation by Annie Nathan Meyer,
founder of Barnard College, Hurst soon agreed to
cover Hurston’s tuition costs. She also hired
Hurston as a secretary and solicited her evalua-
tions of work-in-progress. Hurston biographer
Melba Boyd notes that the two women, whose ages
differed by five years, enjoyed a lively and support-
ive relationship that continued even as the terms
of their working relationship changed. Hurst wrote
on Hurston’s behalf when she applied for a
GUGGENHEIMFELLOWSHIPin 1934. Her letter, ac-
cording to Boyd, was a remarkable combination of
potentially destructive compliments. Hurst de-
clared that Hurston was an “erratic worker” but
then insisted that she also was “a talented and pe-
culiarly capable young woman” (Boyd, 251). Three
years later, Hurston wrote a well-received and posi-
tive profile of her longtime associate for the Satur-
day Review of Literature.
Fannie Hurst died in February 1968. Her will
provided for an endowed professorship in her name
at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and at
Washington University, her alma mater, in St.
Louis, Missouri.Bibliography
The Fannie Hurst Collection is housed in the Human-
ities Research Center, University of Texas at
Austin.
Boyd, Valerie. Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora
Neale Hurston.New York: Scribner, 2003.
Hurst, Fannie. Anatomy of Me: A Wanderer in Search of
Herself.Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958.
Kroeger, Brooke. Fannie: The Talent for Success of Writer
Fannie Hurst.New York: Times Books, 1999.
Shaughnessy, Mary Rose. Myths about Love and Woman:
The Fiction of Fannie Hurst.New York: Gordon
Press, 1979.Hurston, Zora Neale(1891–1960)
A prolific, multifaceted, brilliant, and enigmatic fig-
ure of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale
Hurston authored groundbreaking anthropological
studies, best-selling novels, prizewinning plays, and
numerous short stories. Hurston was a tenacious
scholar, cultural critic, and artist whose accomplish-
ments underscore the significance of the Harlem
Renaissance as a period of unprecedented Ameri-
can literary and artistic development. Throughout
the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston excelled as aHurston, Zora Neale 261