Identifier
USU_FOLK COLL 11 (local)

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

Summary

Utah State University's cowboy poetry collection, containing books, pamphlets, etc. of cowboy poetry, songs, and related material; including both trade and self published works.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of 20 linear feet of books on cowboy poetry, including press and self published works. The collection can be accessed through USU Libraries online catalog

Administrative/Biographical History Element

Historical note

Folk Coll 11 is Utah State University's cowboy poetry collection. The collection, originally created by a generation donation by the L. J. and Mary Skaggs Foundation, includes books that were gathered during a fieldwork project in the early 1980s to document cowboy poetry in the U.S. west. (See Folk Coll 11f.) From this important fieldwork project came the impetus for the first Cowboy Poetry Gathering held in January 1985 in Elko, Nevada. Since that time, each January, the Fife Folklore Archives staff take the collection and Access database (that details each book, poem, author, first line and key words), to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering for offsite use. Through University purchases and generation donations from poets and collectors, this collection continues to grow

System of Arrangement

Chronological by year

Conditions Governing Access

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)

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 The Skaggs Foundation cowboy poetry collection : authors M-Z must be obtained from theCurator of the Fife Folklore Archives and/or the Special Collections Department Head

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Originally created by a donation from the L. J. and Mary Skaggs Foundation. Recent acquisitions have come through university purchase or donations from poets and collectors

General Note

Register created by Susan Gross & Randy Williams, April 2004. Last revised by Randy Williams, February 2007

Related Archival Materials

The Skaggs Foundation cowboy poetry collection : authors A-L

Extent
20 (linear feet (ca.))

Language
English. (Languages)

Other Subject Headings
Folklore (Local)
Cowboys--Poetry (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Cowboys--Songs and music (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Ranch life--Poetry (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Poets, American (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
West (U.S.)--Poetry (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))

Preferred Citation
The Skaggs Foundation cowboy poetry collection, 1890s-2008 (FOLK COLL 011)