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Montana Folksongs Collection, 1945-1950

Overview of the Collection

Title
Montana Folksongs Collection
Dates
1945-1950 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.6 linear feet
Collection Number
Mss 245 (collection)
Summary
The Montana Folksong Collection is primarily a collection of audio recordings of songs and correlated field journals from projects conducted in Montana in 1947 and 1948 by Charles Cutts, Robert C. Wylder, Betty Wylder, and Wayland Hand.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

The Montana Folklore Collection contains content created by Charles Cutts, Robert C. Wylder, Betty Wylder, and Wayland Hand.

Charles Cutts, born January 14, 1901 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was a member of the U.S. military from 1916 to 1919. Cutts earned his Bachelor of Music from the MacPhail College of Music in 1926. He returned to school in the mid-1930s, earning his B.A. degree from Yankton College in 1937. Cutts served as the Supervisor of Music in the Billings (Montana) Public School District. He earned his Masters of Music Education from the University of Montana (then called Montana State University) in 1952, with his thesis titled "Vocal Technique for Elementary Schools." Charles Cutts died May 2, 1981.

Robert C. Wylder, born January 10, 1921 in Malta, Montana, was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942 to 1957, achieving the rank of Major. Wylder earned his B.A. from the University of Montana in 1947 and his M.A. from the University of Montana in 1949. A few years after graduating with a degree in English, Wylder became an English professor at California State University, Long Beach in 1953, a position that he held until his retirement in 1979. Wylder remained active in his Long Beach community, writing articles and reviews in the local newspapers about plays and musicals. Robert Wylder died May 27, 1999.

Elizabeth "Betty" Cutts, born March 12, 1923 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the daughter of Charles Cutts. She grew up very musically inclined, performing in numerous musicals and ensembles during her youth, quickly becoming an adept organist, pianist, and vocalist. She attended the University of Montana in the early 1940s, dropping out for a brief period to marry U.S. Marine Robert C. Wylder in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania in 1944. Following the end of World War II and her husband's safe return, Betty Wylder re-enrolled at the University of Montana where she was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority, Music Club, and Mortar Board, graduating with a degree in music in 1947. In her later years, Wylder continued her love of music by serving as the organist for the Long Beach Unitarian Church. Betty Wylder died February 18, 1994.

Wayland Debs Hand, born March 19, 1907 in Auckland, New Zealand, was one of the premier authorities of the twentieth century on American folklore. After receiving his B.A. in 1933 and his M.A. in 1934 in German from the University of Utah, Hand went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1936, writing his dissertation on German folk songs. Hand was a professor at the University of California Los Angeles from 1940 until his retirement in 1974. At UCLA, Hand founded the university's folklore department and served as the Director of UCLA's Center for the Comparative Study of Folklore and Mythology from 1961 to 1974. During his time at UCLA, Hand served as an editor for the Journal of American Folklore from 1947 to 1951, and also as the president of the American Folklore Society from 1955 to 1956. Wayland Hand died on October 22, 1986.

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Content Description

The Montana Folksongs Collection contains audio recordings of songs and their correlated field journals and published articles. The collection contents were created between 1945 and 1950 by Wayland Hand, Charles Cutts, Robert C. Wylder, and Betty Wylder. The bulk of the material in this collection was gathered as part of two separate projects conducted in Montana, one in 1947 and the other in 1948.

In 1947, Charles Cutts, Robert C. Wylder, and Betty Wylder visited Miles City, Montana and its vicinity to conduct the Montana Community Music Research Project to record, preserve, and study Montana folk music. This study ran from June 2, 1947 to July 31, 1947, during which time 21 performers were consulted, leading to the creation of 33 phonorecords consisting of 96 different songs. During this trip, Cutts and the Wylders kept field journals, which spanned two volumes and thoroughly documented their research activities. Along with information about the subjects that were interviewed and recorded, these journal entries also list the songs recorded and their corresponding labels. The findings of this trip directly influenced Robert C. Wylder's Master's thesis from the University of Montana in 1949, "A Comparative Analysis of Some Montana Folksongs." This collection includes almost a complete set of the original phonorecords, some of which have duplicates. Volume I of the 1947 field journal mentions records AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, and FF, but these are not present in this collection.

Cutts and the Wylders embarked on another project in the summer of 1948, traveling to Butte, Montana to collect more ethnically oriented folksongs. Whereas their previous project focused on preserving Montana folk music, this project focused more on the survival of ethnic folk songs in Montana sung in their national language, illuminating the immigrant experience within the state. This study began June 15, 1948 and ended July 28, 1948. A month or so after they began their 1948 project they were joined by Wayland Hand. Together the four engaged in an effort to collect folk songs most accurately defined as mining or work songs, which included popular parodies. Cutts and the Wylders kept detailed field journals during this research trip as well. The journals are in two volumes, and provide much of the same information that they recorded in their 1947 research. The findings of this joint venture resulted in the article "Songs of the Butte Miners," which appeared in Western Folklore, vol. 9, no. 1 in January 1950.

This collection has been organized in three series: Series I is content from the 1947 project with Cutts and the Wylders, along with related materials. Series II is content from the 1948 project with Cutts, the Wylders, and Hand, along with related materials. Series III, Miscellaneous Audio, contains content which is very likely related to either the 1947 project or the 1948 project, or to the original 1945 project conducted by Wayland Hand, but which couldn't be clearly identified as one project or the other.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

Montana Folksongs Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection has been divided into three series:

Series I: 1947 Research Trip and Related Materials, 1947-1949. 0.8 linear feet

Subseries 1: Papers

Subseries 2: Phonographs

Subseries 3: Audiocassettes

Series II: 1948 Research Trip and Related Materials, 1945-1950, 0.8 linear feet

Subseries 1: Papers

Subseries 2: Reel-to-Reel Tapes

Subseries 3: Accession 2025-051

Series III: Miscellaneous Audio, circa 1945-1948 and undated, 0.2 linear feet

Acquisition Information

Source and year of acquisition by the Archives are unknown.

Processing Note

This collection was originally processed in 1997 and was reorganized in 2019 to clearly distinguish between content from the 1947 project and the 1948 project. A 1979 Montana Folklife Survey and duplicate audio cassettes were removed during the 2019 reprocessing. In 2025, additional reel-to-reel audio was added the collection in Series II, Subseries 3.

Related Materials

The following materials are related to the contents of this collection:

Montana Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress: AFC 1948/009: Wayland Hand / Irish Songs Recorded in Butte, Montana (1945); AFC 1948/045: Wayland Hand Collection of Irish Songs Recorded in Butte, Montana (1946); AFC 1950/004: Wayland Hand / Montana Silver Miners Songs (July 10-29, 1948) Note: Material in this series is believed to duplicate a portion of the Montana Folksongs Collection (Mss 245) described in this guide; AFC 1965/020: Wayland D. Hand / Mining Songs from Montana (1948)

The University of California, Los Angeles, holds an oral history conducted with Wayland Hand in 1974.

Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division holds the Wayland D. Hand Folklore Papers, 1938-1986

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Folk songs--Montana
  • Folk songs--Montana--Butte
  • Folklore--Field work
  • Miners--Montana--Butte--Songs and music

Geographical Names

  • Butte (Mont.)--Songs and music
  • Montana--Social life and customs
  • Montana--Songs and music

Form or Genre Terms

  • Audiotapes
  • Sound recordings

Occupations

  • Folklorists--Montana
  • Women folklorists--Montana

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Cutts, Charles
    • Hand, Wayland Debs, 1907-
    • Wylder, Betty
    • Wylder, Robert C.
    • Wylder, Robert C. Comparative Analysis of Some Montana Folksongs

Finding aid prepared by Dave Robertson, Julie Eklund, Jodi Allison-Bunnell, Hayden Nelson and Donna McCrea
1997

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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