Archive of Idaho Folklore Papers, 1963-1972

The material in this record group retains its original order. A very complete outline of the collection prepared by Jan Harold Brunvand was included with the papers and all headings and subheadings used are those given in the outline; likewise all folder headings were retained.

The first series consists of the grant proposal for the project, a collecting guide, outline, and two items of correspondence.

The second series contains the background papers prepared by the students in the classes which contain their methods of collecting information, names of persons interviewed, and biographies of at least one interviewee. The third series consists of the foldered material. This generally contains the longer legends, stories, and songs, but occasionally 3x5 cards will be included in the folders. Among the many subjects covered are Idaho place name stories, Idaho lost and found mines, Chinese in the West, lore of special groups such as Indians, Mormons, and Basque, and occupational lore. This series also includes folksongs, tall tales, rhymes, games, and puzzles.

Shorter items were typed on 3x5 cards and filed in metal drawers. These include popular beliefs and superstitions, proverbs, riddles, jokes, rhymes including verses written in autograph books, toasts, and epitaphs.

The next series is composed of term papers written between 1969 and 1972 for Professors Bacil Kirtley and Lynn Pugmire. They were in no discernible order, so were organized alphabetically by author. These include items not associated with Idaho such as the Loch Ness Monster, African folktales, papers on Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed. Other topics include Shoshoni Indian Tales, the Coyote legends, the Lost Wheelbarrow mine, and superstitions of University of Idaho coeds.

The final series contains six reel to reel tape recordings of folk music and stories collected by several students in 1963 and 1964.