Archives West Finding Aid

The Jan Harold Brunvand papers (1956-2004) consist of correspondence, news clippings, pamphlets, brochures, leaflets, research and teaching materials, talks and speech texts, manuscript drafts and galleys, and selected published materials. The papers document the thirty-year career of Jan Brunvand (b. 1933) as professor of English at the University of Utah (1966-1996), his involvement with the American Folklore Society and other professional associations, his numerous published articles and books, and his activities as a speaker at academic conferences, professional meetings, and social affairs. Brunvand made the initial donation of his papers to the library in July 1988, and has periodically deposited more material. Boxes 1-26 include correspondence, manuscripts, reports, several short (article) publications, materials for three of his urban legend books, and documents relating to his textbook, The Study of American Folklore. The correspondence with colleagues in the U.S., Norway, England, and Romania is arranged alphabetically. Also included are five boxes of records concerning meetings, papers, and presentations (including his presidential address to the American Folklore Society in 1985, in which he details changes in the positions folklorists began to hold outside of academe). Following are six boxes of articles, notes, book reviews, grants, and fellowships (which allowed Brunvand to study in Norway and Romania). There are four boxes of correspondence and notes pertaining to The Study of American Folklore and his three urban legend books. Five boxes of "dead matter" from the third edition of the textbook and two of the urban legend publications complete the initial donation. Brunvand made additions to his collection periodically through 1996 when he retired from the University. The chronological order of these donations has been maintained. Boxes 27 to 31 contain manuscripts, galleys, reviews, correspondence and notes for The Vanishing Hitchhiker, Curses! Broiled Again, The Choking Doberman, and The Mexican Pet. Box 32 contains miscellaneous publications by or about Brunvand. From 1986 to 1992 Brunvand wrote a syndicated column on folklore which appeared weekly in newspapers around the nation. Locally the column was carried by the Deseret News. Manuscripts for these columns are found in boxes 33 to 39. Brunvand also donated reviews, interviews, conference materials, speeches, correspondence, and files of Year's Work (1986-1992). These materials are found in boxes 40-45. Boxes 46-50 include personal papers, manuscripts and some research materials, correspondence, speeches, conference materials, and journals containing published articles by Brunvand. Boxes 51-64, contain correspondence and entry manuscripts for American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, published in 1996. Brunvand was the editor of this publication. Boxes 65-77 contain research documents and manuscripts for Brain Drain, Too Good To Be True, The Truth Never Stands in the Way of a Good Story, and the fourth edition of Brunvand's textbook. Boxes 78-81 contain conference information, research files, speeches, and manuscripts. Interested researchers may also see the Student Folklore Collection, Ms 488. The bulk of this collection was initially gathered and organized under Brunvand's direction. As a teacher of folklore, Brunvand's rapport with students is apparent in the comment sheets included with many of the projects completed by students in his classes.