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Living Traditions of the Bear River Heritage Area survey collection, 1999-2004

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Bear River Heritage Area Council.
Title
Living Traditions of the Bear River Heritage Area survey collection
Dates
1999-2004 (inclusive)
Quantity
39 boxes, (9.5 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_FOLK COLL 29
Summary
Sound recordings of interviews, photographs, maps, illustrations, field notes and logs, and videotape and Powerpoint presentation stored on disc from a survey conducted 2001-2002 to identify the heritage traditions, themes, and future heritage projects of the Bear River Heritage Area in Utah (Box Elder, Cache, and Rich Counties).
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
Restrictions

Open to public research. To access the collection a patron must have the following information: collection number, box number, folder number and item number. The materials do not circulate and are available in USU's Special Collections and Archives. Patrons must sign and comply with the USU Special Collections and Archives Use Agreement and Reproduction Order form as well as any restrictions placed by the collector or informant(s).

Permission to publish material from the living traditions of the Living Traditions of the Bear River Heritage Area survey collection must be obtained from the Curator of the Fife Folklore Archives and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
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Historical Note

The Bear River Heritage Area Council works to identify, preserve, and enhance the natural, cultural, and economic heritage and to stabilize and expand upon the economic opportunities associated with the heritage of the Bear River area, which consists of four counties in southeastern Idaho: Bear Lake, Caribou, Franklin, and Oneida and three counties in northern Utah: Box Elder, Cache, and Rich that make up the Bear River drainage. The Council created a strategic plan that called for working with long time area residents and scholars to record local histories and identify and document traditional artisans and folklore of the Bear River region. This plan included working with communities and professional folklore fieldworkers to collect and record oral histories and information on local culture, artisans, and historically significant buildings.

In order to move this plan forward, Randy Williams (USU's Fife Folklore Archives) and Cindy Hall (Bear River Association of Governments) wrote grants and the BRHAC received funds from the Utah Humanities Council and the Community Cultural/Heritage Coordinating Council to conduct a fieldwork survey in Utah in the summer/fall 2001 in order to catalog the traditions in the Utah portion of the area. In 2003, Elaine Thatcher (Associate Director of the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at Utah State University), Cindy Hall, wrote a grant to National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to conduct the Idaho fieldwork.

The grant monies were used to hire folklore consultant Andrea Graham to conduct interviews in all seven counties (4 Idaho and 3 Utah) with local community members and tradition bearers and to mentor graduate student interns to assist with the fieldwork, and to develop an inventory of folk traditions in the Bear River Heritage Area. For the Utah segment of the fieldwork survey three graduate students from USU's Folklore Program participated: Sally Haueter (Rich County), Robin Parent (Cache County), and Michael Ward (Box Elder County). As well, Elaine Thatcher and Randy Williams conducted fieldwork in Utah. For the Idaho segment of the fieldwork survey three senior or graduate students from Idaho State University's English or Anthropology Departments and freelance folklorist (Duskin-Goede) participated: Sarah Barsness (Oneida County), Lisa Duskin-Goede (Franklin County), Andrew Jorgensen (Bear Lake County), and Terry Livingston (Caribou County). As well, Elaine Thatcher conducted fieldwork.

The inventory was used as the foundation for identifying heritage traditions and themes and future projects of the Bear River Heritage Area Council, and as a reference for interested community organizations. The fieldwork culminated with free public presentations in each of the counties entitled: "The Living Traditions of the Bear River Area." These programs included a PowerPoint presentation from the lead fieldworkers and graduate students and demonstrations from two community tradition bearers in each county. At the completion of the fieldwork, Elaine Thatcher, Tricia Harrison, Sally Haueter, and Randy Williams worked on the Bear River Heritage Guide that showcases the heritage sites, services, and traditions of the BRHA and is available throughout the region to help "heritage tourists" and local residents alike learn about and visit local heritage sites.

As well, the fieldwork gave the BRHAC direction for future heritage projects and helped with the BRHAC proposal to the 108th Congress to establish the National Bear River Heritage Area in Idaho and Utah.

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Content Description

The media holdings of the Living Traditions of the Bear River Heritage Area project were assigned project identification letters and numbers in the field as follows:

  • Prefix:
  • BR = Bear River
  • Year: 03 (Only for the Idaho Fieldwork, which helps differentiate the two fieldwork projects: Utah/Idaho)

  • Fieldworkers:
  • SB = Sarah Barsness
  • LD = Lisa Duskin-Goede
  • AG = Andrea Graham
  • SH = Sally Haueter
  • AJ = Andrew Jorgensen
  • TL = Terry Livingston
  • RP = Robin Parent
  • ET = Elaine Thatcher
  • MW = Michael Ward
  • RW = Randy Williams

  • Media Format Codes:
  • T=Cassettes Tape
  • DAT=DAT Digital Tape
  • B=Black and White Print Image/Film
  • C=Color Print Images/Film
  • D=Digital Color Images
  • CD = Compact Disc
  • F=Fieldnotes

  • Sequential number within each format, such as 1, 2, 3, etc.

  • Frame number for images:
  • Sequential number of the frame (image/slide).

The codes within each alpha-numeric identification are ordered in the following way: the prefix, the year (for the Idaho fieldwork), the fieldworker, the media type, the number within the group and for images the frame. For example, BR-SH-C-3:5 is the fifth frame on the third roll of color film that Sally Haueter took in Utah. BR-03-AG-T-13 is Andrea Graham's Idaho fieldwork, her 13th tape. The indices to the images on the CDs (digital duplicate photographs of all the print versions) are listed first by the CD identification number, followed by the corresponding number to the print version (BR-AG-CD-1-15: BR-AG-C-2-10).

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Permission to publish material from the Living Traditions of the Bear River Heritage Area survey collection must be obtained from the Curator of the Fife Folklore Archives and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Preferred Citation

Living traditions of the Bear River Heritage Area survey, 1999-2002. (FOLK COLL 29). Utah State University. Special Collections and Archives Department.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

  • I. Administration
  • II. Publicity and ephemera
  • III. Fieldnotes and informant information
  • IV. Sound recordings and logs
  • V. Photographs and logs
  • VI. Maps and illustrations
  • VII. Final products
  • VIII. Publications

Acquisition Information

The project called for the finished inventory and fieldwork to be housed in USU's Special Collections and Archives and made available to community members and scholars. The Utah portion of the fieldwork was deposited in the Archives in March 2002; the Idaho fieldwork was deposited in the Archives in August 2005. The Utah portion and the first few boxes of the Idaho collection are processed to the item level. The remainder of the Idaho fieldwork will be processed to the item level. However, all items in the collection are available at this time.

Processing Note

Originally processed by Randy Williams. Register created by Susan Gross, May 2004, Utah fieldwork; Randy Williams, September 2005, Idaho fieldwork; updated by Randy Williams, March 2012.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid created by Susan Gross, May 2004, Utah fieldwork; Randy Williams, September 2005, Idaho fieldwork.
2008

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