Identifier
USU_COLL MSS 206 (local)

Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division

Date
1890 - 2011 (Inclusive dates)

Summary

Correspondence, memorandums, financial records, membership records, meeting agendas, conferences, notes, questionnaires, surveys, election records, by-laws, applications, grants, committee records, and affiliate records generated by the administrative offices of the AFS.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, memorandums, financial records, membership records, meeting agendas, conferences, notes, questionnaires, surveys, election records, by-laws, applications, grants, committee records, and affiliate records generated by the administrative offices of the American Folklore Society. Records will be transferred continually to this archive from the AFS offices as they become inactive. The materials are divided into series according to function. The series within this archive include Historical Records, Secretary/Treasurer, Presidents Papers, Affiliates, Centennial Coordinating Committee, Philadelphia Folklore Project, Committees, Constitution, Executive Board, Meetings, Publications, Misc. Publications, and Sections. These series are further divided into sub-series. The archive spans the years 1890 to 2011

Officers and Editors Secretary/Treasurers 1942 D. S. Davidson 1943-1960 MacEdward Leach 1961-1965 Tristram P. Coffin 1966-1972 Kenneth S. Goldstein 1973-1976 Richard Bauman 1977-1981 David J. Hufford 1982-1986 Charles Camp 1987-1991 Timothy Lloyd 1992-2000 Shalom Staub

Executive Director 2001- Timothy Lloyd

Presidents 1942 Harold W. Thompson 1943 Gladys A. Reichard 1944 Benjamin B. Botkin 1945 Melville J. Herskovits 1946-1947 Joseph M. Carrière 1948 Erminie W. Voegelin 1949 Thelma G. James 1950 A. H. Gayton 1951-1952 Francis Lee Utley 1953-1954 William R. Bascom 1955-1956 Herbert Halpert 1957-1958 Wayland D. Hand 1959-1960 William N. Fenton 1961-1962 MacEdward Leach 1963-1964 Melville Jacobs 1965-1966 Samuel P. Bayard 1967-1968 Richard Dorson 1969-1970 Daniel J. Crowley 1971-1972 D.K. Wilgus 1973-1974 Dell Hymes 1975-1976 Kenneth S. Goldstein 1977 Ellen Stekert 1978 J. Barre Tolken 1979 Roger D. Abrahams 1980 Alan Dundes 1981 Don Yoder 1982 Linda Dégh 1983 W.F.H. Nicolaisen 1984 Bruce Jackson 1985 Jan Harold Brunvand 1986 Rayna Green 1987 Judith McCulloh 1988 Alan Jabbour 1989-1990 Henry Glassie 1991-1992 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1993-1994 Sylvia Grider 1995-1996 Jane Beck 1997-1998 John Roberts 1999-2000 Jo Radner 2001 Peggy Bulger 2002-2003 Jack Santino 2004-2005 Michael Owen Jones 2006-2007 Bill Ivey 2008-2009 Elaine Lawless 2010-2011 C. Kurt Dewhurst 2011-2012 Diane Goldstein

Journal of American Folklore Editors 1888-1899 (volumes 1-12) William Wells Newell 1900-1907 (volumes 13-20) Alexander F. Chamberlain 1908-1924 (volumes 21-37) Franz Boaz 1925-1939 (volumes 38-52) Ruth Benedict 1940 (volume 53) Gladys A. Reichard 1941 (volume 54) Archer Taylor 1942-1946 (volumes 55-59) Ermine Wheeler-Voegelin 1947-1951 (volumes 60-64) Wayland D. Hand 1952-1953 (volumes 65-66) Katherine Luomala 1954-1958 (volumes 67-71) Thomas A. Sebeok 1959-1963 (volumes 72-76) Richard M. Dorson 1964-1968 (volumes 77-81) John Greenway 1969-1973 (volumes 82-86) Americo Pardes 1974-1976 (volumes 86-89) J. Barre Toelken 1976-1980 (volumes 90-94) Jan Harold Brunvand 1981-1985 (volumes 94-98) Richard Bauman 1986-1990 (volumes 99-103) Bruce Jackson 1991-1995 (volumes 104-108) Burt Feintuch 1996-2000 (volumes 109-113) Jack Santino 2001-2006 (volumess 114-volume 419 No. 471 ) Elaine J. Lawless 2006-2010 (volume 419 No. 472-volume 123 No. 490 ) Harris M. Berger and Giovanna P. Del Negro 2011-2015 (volume 124 No. 491 - ) Thomas A. DuBois and James P. Leary

Administrative/Biographical History Element

Historical Note

by Shalom D. Staub

The American Folklore Society is a scholarly association that exists to further the discipline of folklore studies. The society was founded in Boston in 1888 by such luminaries as Francis James Child, William Wells Newell, Daniel Garrison Brinton, and Franz Boas, with its principal emphasis directed toward the publication of a scientific journal and the convening of an annual meeting

Generations of scholarly theories and approaches are reflected in the society's publications, revealing the sometimes partisan leanings of its members toward folklore as literature or folklore as a subfield of anthropology. The Journal of American Folklore (JAF) has been published quarterly since 1888. It includes articles, notes, and commentaries; reviews of publications, films and videotapes, audio recordings, and exhibitions and events; and obituaries. The Centennial Index (1988; vol. 101, no 402 of JAF) provides a serial listing of all Journal entries from 1888 to 1988, with author, title, and subject indexes

Additional publications of the society include a Memoir Series of book-length monographs (1894-1975), a Bibliographical and Special Series (1950-1978), and a New Series (1980-). Titles in the New Series, judged by a publications series editor and outside readers to be outstanding in the field, are issued with the imprimatur of the American Folklore Society through various university presses

The American Folklore Society Newsletter has been published bimonthly since 1971. This publication carries official news and reports of the society's business, as well as a wide range of information relevant to the field generally. Regular features include listings of academic meetings, publication news, job notices, grant announcements, a cooperation column, prizes, and information on electronic media. Special features include columns on computer applications in folklore study, career opportunities, the status of funding for folklore in federal agencies, and folklore studies outside the United States. The preliminary program of each year's annual meeting is published in the August issue of the Newsletter

In recent years, the society has moved beyond the early dichotomy between literary and anthropological folklorists working in academic settings and those working in the public sector, a term broadly applied to folklorists. It provides a common forum for folklorists working in nonacademic positions such as federal, state, and local government agencies (such as arts or humanities funding agencies) or private non-profit organizations (such as museums or historical organizations). The need to bridge the academic and public sectors has prompted the society to sponsor an annual public-sector internship for a graduate student to gain experience working in a public-sector agency and a public-folklorist-in-residence program, which places experienced public folklorists in an academic setting to pursue individual research and interact with faculty and students. The residency program was developed in cooperation with Indiana University's Folklore Institute. Subsequent partners for this residency program have been Utah State University and Western Kentucky University

The society's annual meeting takes place in October in cities throughout the continental United States and occasionally Canada. The five-day gathering offers panels, forums and workshops, film and video screenings, book exhibitions, special events, and tours of folklorist interest. The society offers several prizes to honor outstanding work in African American folklore studies, public folklore, and Francophone folklore studies. Additionally, sections of the AFS, which are interest groups of society members, offer separate prizes. In 1995, there were approximately thirty such sections, addressing folklore genres (such as dance, folk arts, folk belief, folk narrative, foodways, and music), folklore of particular folk groups (such as African, American Indian, Baltic, British, Catholic, children, gay and lesbian, Italian, Jewish, Latino, occupational, and women), and professional issues (such as computer applications, graduate students, journals, social justice, and public programs). Sections meet at the annual meeting. Many of them sponsor sessions, offer prizes, and issue newsletters or journals of their own. Several sections maintain electronic bulletin boards, as does the society itself, available via a gopher at the University of Texas-Pan American

The American Folklore Society is governed by an executive board composed of nine members plus the president and the president-elect, as set forth in the society's by-laws. An executive secretary-treasurer is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the society's business. The society's papers and records are archived at Utah State University's Library, Special Collections Division. These archives are indexed and are accessible for research

Additional information about the society can be obtained by contacting the American Folklore Society, 4350 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 640, Arlington, VA 22203

(From American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, edited by Jan Harold Brunvand. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1996)

System of Arrangement

Organized into the following series: I. Historical records; II. Secretary/Treasurer; III. President's papers; IV. Affiliates; V. Centennial Coordinating Committee; VI. Philadelphia Folklore Project; VII. Committees; VIII. Constitution; IX. Executive Board; X. Meetings; XI. Publications; XII. Misc. Publications; XIII. Sections. These series are further divided into sub-series

Conditions Governing Access

Restrictions

Open to public research

Conditions Governing Access

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 American Folklore Society records must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head

Immediate Source of Acquisition

In 1991, the Executive Board of the American Folklore Society selected Utah State University as the official repository for its papers. The decision to place the AFS papers at USU was based in part on the university's central location to major U.S. folklore programs, the national reputation of the school's own folklore program, and the library's commitment to maintaining and providing access to the collection. The Society's collection, dating from 1890, continues to receive regular additions from current AFS officers and section heads. The AFS collection is divided into two parts: a manuscript collection (MSS COLL 206) and a published collection containing the Journal of American Folklore and the AFS book series (FOLK COLL 18)

Related Archival Materials

Fife Folklore Archives (FOLK COLL 18)

Extent
345 (boxes)

Language
English. (Languages)

Other Subject Headings
Folklore (Local)
Folklore--Societies, etc.--History--Sources (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))

Preferred Citation
American Folklore Society records, 1890-2011. (COLL MSS 206). Utah State University. Special Collections and Archives Department