Collecting Memories: Oral Histories of American Folklorists, 2011-2018

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Utah State University, Special Collections and Archives
Title
Collecting Memories: Oral Histories of American Folklorists
Dates
2011-2018 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 boxes, (3.5 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_FOLK COLL 46
Summary
Collecting Memories contains oral histories (and related materials) of American folklorists. The project is a joint effort of Utah State University and the American Folklore Society.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions

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

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Collecting Memories: Oral Histories of American Folklorists is a joint effort by the American Folklore Society and Utah State University Special Collections and Archives. The American Folklife Center at The Library of Congress was the project advisor. Collecting Memories is an effort to collect, preserve, and disseminate the voices and images of American folklorists and the field of folklore studies through oral histories (memories and personal commentary) and related materials (photographs, curriculum vitae, personal papers, diaries, logs, etc.).

The project helps document the development and change of the field since the mid-twentieth century in order to more fully tell the story of folklore scholarship and to make accessible the institutional memory of the American Folklore Society, the premier folklore society in the United States. Project products (media, transcripts/logs, images and affiliated materials) are housed at Utah State University, the official repository of the American Folklore Society Records: MSS 206. USU hosts the products of Collecting Memories in this physical collection and in a digital collection.

In October 2009, Randy Williams (Utah State University) proposed the project to Tim Lloyd (Executive Director American Folklore Society) and Michael Taft (Head of the Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress). All parties agreed to participate. Simon Bronner and Jill Terry Rudy (members of the American Folklore Society History Section) and Guha Shankar (Folklife Specialist, Research and Programs, American Folklife Center, LOC) were invited to help Lloyd, Taft, and Williams draft the project forms. Williams applied to USU's Institutional Review Board for IRB approval, which was awarded: USU IRB protocol number 2761. The project was introduced at the 2010 American Folklore Society Meeting in Nashville, TN, by Bronner, Lloyd, Rudy, Taft and Williams.

Members of the American Folklore Society (and their students) are invited to participate in the project by being interviewed or by interviewing a member of the society. Project forms are available to guide the process. For history of folklorist oral history efforts see Simon Bronner's "American Folklorists' Voices in Print: A Critical Survey" (2011 Folklore Historian).

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains original sound, interview transcript/log, photographs, and associated materials. Release forms housed in a collection file.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

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

Permission to publish material from the Collecting Memories: Oral Histories of American Folklorists must be obtained from the Curator of the Fife Folklore Archives and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Preferred Citation

Collecting Memories: Oral Histories of American Folklorists. (FOLK COLL 46). Utah State University. Special Collections and Archives Department.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Collection arranged by interview chronologically by date and year.

Location of Collection

USU Special Collections and Archives

Preservation Note

Materials in this collection include interview media (sound), transcript and associated materials, such as photographs and curriculum vitae, etc.

Processing Note

Processed August 2011 by Randy Williams. Finding aid created by Randy Williams, August 2011 and updated April 2012 and May 2019.

Acquisition Information

The items in this collection were donated by the collector (interviewer) and/or interviewee. Each interview is accompanied by a release form.

Related Materials

Collecting Memories (digital version of the collection; includes links to American folklorist oral history efforts housed at other institutions)

USU MSS 206: American Folklore Society Records.

Folk Collection 20: The Barre Toelken Native American Collection

Folk Collection 35: The Barre Toelken Book Collection (American, German, and Native American folklore)

Folk Collection 35a: The Barre Toelken Image Collection (fieldwork images (1954-2002): topics include cemeteries, Native American, German/Austrian, Japanese, USA, and special motifs)

Folk Collection 35b: The Barre Toelken Sound Recording Collection (fieldwork recordings)

Custodial History

After the deposit of interview materials by the collector (interviewer) and/or interviewee, Utah State University Special Collections becomes the custodian of the material.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1
Toelken, Barre
Interview contains information on J. Barre Toelken's youth in Quabin Valley, Massachusetts, including song tradition of Daman family; college life at Utah State University and University of Washington; work in uranium mining in early 1950s and introduction to the Navajo community in Monument Valley, Utah; professional life as professor at University of Oregon and Utah State University: folklore studies, Middle English language and literature; fieldwork: Navajo legends collected from Hugh Yellowman (1960-70s); folksongs and ballads collecting in Oregon and Washington; family life: Miiko Toelken (wife); involvement in American Folklore Society, Societe Internationale d`Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF), National Storytelling Association; attitudes about ethics in folklore fieldwork. Release form housed in collection file.
2011 March; 2018 December 7-15
Item 1: CD of interview: parts 1 and 2
2011 March
Item 2: CD of interview: parts 3 and 4
2011 March
2011 March 2, 4, and 11
2011 March 2, 4, and 11
2011 March 2, 4, and 11
2011 March
2018 December 17
2018 December 15
2018 December 12
2018 December 15
2018 December 15
2 Oversized
Origami paper cranes created by Barre Toelken's family
This box contains approximately 500 of the 1000 Senbazuru (One Thousand Origami Cranes) created by Toelken's family and friends. The Senbazuru were hung in Barre Toelken’s room the last weeks of his life; and displayed at his Life Celebration, 15 December 2018. One thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe you are granted happiness and eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. Creators include Miiko Toelken (wife), Kazuko Toelken (daughter); Taizo Toelken (son) and his family; Sachi Lubahn granddaughter—Kaz daughter); Kayden and Keiko(great-grandchildren, Sachi’s children); Kenji Bearchum Toelken (grandson-Kaz son); Alan and Kory Shino and family (family—Mimiko’s family); Dawn Yoshinaga (family); Kathleen Olsen (friends) Heather and Mark Tucker (friends); Ashly Coats (friend).
2018 October
3 Oversized
Origami paper cranes
This box contains approximately 500 of the 1000 Senbazuru (One Thousand Origami Cranes) created by Toelken's family and friends. The Senbazuru were hung in Barre Toelken’s room the last weeks of his life; and displayed at his Life Celebration, 15 December 2018. One thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe you are granted happiness and eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. Creators include Miiko Toelken (wife), Kazuko Toelken (daughter); Taizo Toelken (son) and his family; Sachi Lubahn granddaughter—Kaz daughter); Kayden and Keiko(great-grandchildren, Sachi’s children); Kenji Bearchum Toelken (grandson-Kaz son); Alan and Kory Shino and family (family—Mimiko’s family); Dawn Yoshinaga (family); Kathleen Olsen (friends) Heather and Mark Tucker (friends); Ashly Coats (friend).
2018 October
Folder
1 2
Edison, Carol
Interview contains information about Carol Edison and how she accidentally became a public sector folklorist, after earning BA and MA degrees in English from the University of Utah. She talks about the early days of public folklore programs in Utah, and how she eventually became the Utah Folk Arts Program Coordinator. She discusses the Utah State Collection of Folk Arts, and how it came to be. She also talks about her many experiences being a public sector folklorist over the years in Utah. Her interests include grave markers, Native American art (especially basket weaving), cowboy poetry, Mormon folk art, as well as others. Release form housed in collection file.
2013 April
Item 1: CD of interview
2013 April
2013 April 29
2013 April 29
1 3
Siporin, Steve
In this interview Steve Siporin talks about how he was introduced to the field of folklore, his schooling experiences while earning his Master's Degree (at University of Oregon), and his PhD (at the University of Indiana), and positions he has held as a public folklorist over the years. He talks a little about his fieldwork experiences in the US West, as well as in Italy and Israel. He discusses his perspective on public folklore, and how the field has changed over time, and his views on the relevance of public folklore (and folklore) to the human experience. Release form housed in collection file.
2010 August
Item 1: CD of interview (including MS Word interview transcript)
2010 August
Item 2: CD of interview images
2010 August
2010 August 12
2010 August 12
2010 August 12
2010 August 12
2010 August 12
Item 8: Elaine Thatcher (interviewer) fieldnotes and photolog
2010 August
Item 9: Photocopy of photograph taken of US public sector folklorists at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, 1983.
2010 August
1 4
Wilson, Williams A. "Bert"
William A. Wilson talks about his growing up years primarily in Downey, Idaho, his LDS mission to Finland, his interest in the Kalevala, his education at Brigham Young University (BA, MA) and Indiana University (PhD). He talks about the “democratic” leanings of folklore. He talks about his association with legendary folklorist Richard Dorson, his interest in both Finnish and Mormon folklore, trying to get folklore courses at BYU, coming to USU to head the Folklore Program, starting the Fife Folklore Conference, before returning to BYU.
2010 August
Item 1: CD of interview: Part 1
2010 August 1
Item 2: CD of interview: Part 2
2010 August 1
2010 August 1
2010 August 1
2010 August 1
2016 April 30
1 5
Hand, Wayland D.
Wayland D. Hand interview by folklorist Michael Owen Jones, 28 February 1984, 20 and 28 March 1984, and 17 May 1984, at UCLA.
1984
Item 1: Wayland D. Hand interview transcript
1984
Jeannie Thomas
2014
7/11/2014
2014 July 11
2014
Tim Lloyd
2017
7/9/1905
2017 October 19
2017 October 19

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Folklore archives--United States--History
  • Folklore--Study and teaching--United States--History
  • Folklore--United States--History
  • Folklorists--United States--History
  • Oral history--United States--History

Personal Names

  • Edison, Carol, 1951-, Interviews
  • Lloyd, Timothy, Interviews
  • Siporin, Steve, Interviews
  • Thomas, Jeannie Banks, Interviews
  • Toelken, Barre, 1935-2018, Interviews
  • Wilson, William, 1933-2016, Interviews

Form or Genre Terms

  • Oral history