What I'm Doing on My Summer Vacation

Way back in January I received an email about a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar. The topic was Zora Neale Hurston and Her Eatonville Roots. I have been intrigued with Zora, as all devotees know her, since I read Their Eyes Were Watching God several years ago. I wondered why I had never heard of Hurston or her works in high school or even as an English major in college. I was amazed to find a Florida writer, new to me, that had achieved national recognition and prominence. And, I was intrigued by the town in central Florida she called home, Eatonville, the first incorporated African American town in the United States. I had to find out more. The seminar, hosted by the Florida Humanities Council, seemed just the ticket.

I completed an application packet and wrote an essay. My principal wrote a letter of recommendation. I bundled up all my materials and mailed everything off. Then I waited anxiously to see if I had won a coveted spot on the first week's roster. Only forty teachers from around the country would attend. I was thrilled to receive the acceptance email on April 1. No fooling.

So, here I am in Winter Park at Rollins College. I didn't know anything about Rollins until my principal told me it was a very nice school. Since I've been here on the lovely campus, I've learned that it was founded by Yankee Congregationalists who vacationed in the Florida and wanted to send their kids to a good local college. So, they started Rollins. The campus is charming, a village of Spanish-Mission architecture haunted by old live oaks dripping with moss. Roses are not easy to grow in Florida, but they grow them here. It's a beautiful, old place, and the dorm room I'm occupying solo this week looks much like the room I had at Florida State many years ago. For a week of teacher comraderie and stick-to-your-ribs scholarship, I can endure the hard as a plank bed and the communal dressing area in the shower.

I've been here since Saturday, although it feels longer. There are teachers here from California and Michigan, Utah and New Jersey. We're a diverse lot and teach elementary music, eighth grade social studies, and high school English. Teachers are one of the persecuted vocational groups these days. It is a balm to come to a place where teachers are appreciated and given validation for what they do.

Today we went to Eatonville and visited the town where Zora Neale Hurston spent her childhood, the town she has written about in several of her books. Brave souls, we trekked along in the Florida noonday sun and had a lovely lunch in the yard of a long-time Eatonville native. We visited the tiny Zora Neale Hurston National Art Museum and the St Lawrence A.M.E. Church that predates the incorporation of the city in 1887. When we returned to Rollins, we had plenty to talk about, and we ended the day with a panel discussion featuring several long-time Eatonville residents.

Tomorrow, we're on campus in the lecture hall engaged in further Zora exploration. More later.