Dust Traks 4

Chapter 4

Hurston returned to Florida in 1948 and faded into obscurity and poverty. In 1959 she had a stroke, from which she never recovered, and in October of the same year was sentto Lincoln Park Nursing Home, which was run by the St. Lucie County Welfare Agency, where she stayed for some months. She died on January 28, 1960. She was pronounceddead on arrival at Fort Pierce Memorial Hospital, after being taken there following another stroke. Having no money to cover burial expenses, donations were given to coverexpenses. She was buried at Genesee Memorial Gardens Cemetery (Garden of Heavenly Rest), a segregated cemetery in Fort Pierce, Florida, in an unmarked grave, with manyin attendance. In 1973 the grave was visited by Alice Walker, a well know African- American writer. She found the grave had not been tended and over grown with noheadstone. She purchased a headstone and had it inscribed.