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Public Folklore collection

 Collection
Identifier: UUS_FOLK COLL 45

Scope and Contents

The Public Folklore collection contains correspondence, newsletters and ephemera such as brochures, mailers, pamphlets, programs, etc. related to public folklore programs in the United States, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. The materials are divided according to state and further organized into folders of their respective categories chronologically by date.

Dates

  • Creation: 1970-2010

Language of Materials

Material in English

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Public Folklore collection must be obtained from the Curator of the Fife Folklore Archives and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Biographical Note

Folklorists Charmes Camp (State folklorists in Marylnad) and Elaine Thatcher (public folklorists in Utah, New Mexico, South Dakota) seperately amassed

Folklorist Bess Lomax Hawes (daughter of John Avery Lomax and Bess Bauman-Brown Lomax, and the sister of Alan Lomax) was instrumental in organizing the Smithsonian Institution's 1976 Bicentennial Festival of Traditional Folk Arts on the National Mall in Washinton DC. She was aided in her efforts by public and academic folklorists throughout the United States. In 1977, Hawes was named the first director of the Folk and Traditional Arts Program at the National Endowment of the Arts, where she worked to create state or territorial folk arts programs—working with some of the same folklorists she involved in the Bicentennial Festival in 1976. The goal of the state folk arts programs was to collect and present the folk culture in each U.S. State and territory. The materials housed in this collection reflect the efforts of these programs.

Extent

56 boxes (17.5 linear feet)

Abstract

This collection contains materials pertaining to U.S. public folklore programs within their respective states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. The collection materials include pamphlets, brochures, programs, newsletters, correspondence, etc.

Arrangement

The materials are divided according to state and further organized into folders of their respective categories chronologically by date.

Custodial History

This collection was started with a donation by public folklorist Elaine Thatcher in 2009. In 2010, the Maryland State Arts Council deposited at the Fife Folklore Archives six linear feet of similar publication by/on public folklore programs in the U.S. There materials were collected from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s by Charles Camp, Maryland State folklorist for 20 years.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The materials in the collection began with a donation by folklorist Elaine Thatcher in 2009 and a substantial donation of materials in 2010 by the Maryland State Arts Council.

The Maryland State Arts Council deposited at the Fife Folklore Archives six linear feet of similar publications by/on public folklore programs in the U.S. These materials were collected from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s by Charles Camp, Maryland State folklorist for 20 years, (Maryland has the longest-running state folklife program in the nation) and Elaine Thatcher, public folklorist.

Processing Information

Processed in May of 2011 by Andrew Izatt. Finding aid created by Andrew Izatt, May 2011; updated by Randy Williams, May 2012.

Title
Guide to the Public Folklore collection1971-2004
Author
Finding aid created by Andrew Izatt
Date
©2011
Description rules
Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English.

Revision Statements

  • 2021 March 19: Template information was updated to reflect Archives West best practice guidelines.

Repository Details

Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)