experiences there provided inspiration for several of her novels, including the autobiographical Dust Tracks on the Road. Hurston attended Morgan Academy in Baltimore for high school, and studied afterward at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. From 1925 to 1927 Hurston attended Barnard College, studying anthropology with Dr. Frank Boaz. She subsequently did field research recording the folklore and ways of African Americans, first in Harlem and then throughout the rural South. Her work played a large role in preserving the folk traditions and cultural heritage of African Americans. Hurston was ahead of her time. Her literary activities were influential in bridging the gap between what came to be known as the first and second phases of the Harlem Renaissance. She began writing short stories in the 1920's, but her major acheivements were generally between 1931 and 1943, when she wrote scholarly works on folklore and published six major novels. She was on the vanguard of the modern literary movement. Several of her books won recognition and her stories were published in the leading literary magazines of the times. Her most notable novel was Their Eyes Were Watching God, a classic in American literature....
