One of the most influential figures in North American folklore was Zora Neal Hurston. Hurston is best remembered for her celebrated novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, which was published in 1937. The novel is about a diffident teenager who achieves selfhood through her becoming a woman in full possession of herself. Yet, the novel is folklore at its’ best; the protagonist, Janie, is a metaphor for not only Zora, but also those women who desired to achieve spiritual fulfillment through their connection with the people they have always known. Thus, Zora’s life and her folklorist career began en masse when she left New York City after the Harlem Renaissance and returned to her hometown of Eatonville, Florida. Her leaving New York was spurred on by a professor friend who helped her in her efforts to chronicle the lives of her people in her native Eatonville.

Another influential figure in North American folklore was Langston Hughes.  Hughes was known for his poetry; but for his efforts at organizing the Harlem Renaissance and inviting writers from all over the free world and the Carribbean, “The bard of Harlem” would touch bases with Zora and the two would share a deep conviction about themselves and their connection to other black people.  Hughes would start touring the south with his entourage giving poetry readings and serenading black people with his sonorous voice.

A third influential figure in North American folklore was John Henry. The legend of John Henry is prodigal in black America. Here was this giant of a man, an ex-slave mind you, who would become a metaphor for those black people during those hardscrabbled days for blacks to look up to and become inspired. Furthermore, the legend of John Henry would make known to a world that was indifferent to black progress the will and determination of a people to succeed at all cost.

A fourth influential figure in North American folklore was W.E.B. DuBois. Even though Dr. DuBois was an academian, his work with black people in Philadelphia during the period 1897-1899 would help to ensure the dignity of black people by giving voice to them as a self-sustaining community. This work would be published as the Philadelphia Negro in 1905 and spur DuBois to lead a group of black intellectuals via the Niagara Movement and the organization of the NAACP.