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History and Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society |
The History and Folklore section of the American Folklore Society is devoted to connections of folklore with history and history of folklore studies. The interests of the section include topics of historical folk narratives, folk biography, museology, oral history, local and regional history, historical approaches, public heritage, and historiography.
The section sponsors a journal, The Folklore Historian (ISSN 1041-8644), published annually since 1983 in cooperation with the Hoosier Folklore Society. Articles appearing in the journal are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts. The editorial staff are:
Nancy C. McEntire, Editor
Department of English
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN 47809
Ronald L. Baker, Advisory Editor
Department of English
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN 47809.
Simon J. Bronner, Advisory Editor
American Studies Program
Penn State Harrisburg
777 West Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057
Mary Ann Duncan, Editorial Assistant
Indiana State University
The section also sponsors two prizes:
The Richard Reuss Prize for Students of Folklore and History, a biennial award honoring Richard Reuss (1940-1986), founding editor of The Folklore Historian and a leading chronicler of folklore studies. The prize of $100 will be awarded to a student paper on a subject dealing with the history of folklore studies. The winner of the prize will have his or her paper submitted for publication in The Folklore Historian. The next prize will be awarded in 2009. Submit papers in hard copy or electronically before June 1, 2009, to Nancy McEntire, Department of English, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809.
The Wayland D. Hand Prize, given for the best book combining history and folklore methods and topics. The biennial prize honors the eminent folklorist Wayland D. Hand (1907-1986). The winner of the Prize will receive $100.
The 2008 recipient was Guy Beiner, for Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006). Honorable mention went to Simon J. Bronner (ed.) for The Meaning of Folklore: The Analytical Essays of Alan Dundes (Utah State University Press, 2007).
The next prize will be awarded in 2010. It will recognize the best book published in 2008 or 2009. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2010. For information on submissions, contact Nancy McEntire, Department of English, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809.
The Hand Prize for 2006 was awarded to Wolfgang Mieder of the University of Vermont for his Proverbs are the Best Policy: Folk Wisdom and American Politics (Utah State University Press, 2005). The prize committee praised the author's depth of historical research on the way American presidents and noted political figures used proverbs not only to persuade their audience, but also to construct American ideas. Dr. Mieder deftly shows the significance of folkloric evidence in historical, political, and communication analysis. His insights will assuredly ripple through cultural and historical scholarship for many years to come. An honorable mention was awarded to Folklore in Utah: A History and Guide to Resources, edited by David Stanley of Westminster College in Utah (Utah State University Press, 2004).
Meetings
Section members meet annually at the American Folklore Society conference. For information, contact section convener Simon J. Bronner.
Sites of Related Interest
H-Net
Organization of American Historians
Harvard's Folklore and Mythology Homepage
UCLA Folklore and Mythology Archive
American Folklife Center (Library of Congress)
Center for Folklife Programs (Smithsonian)
Vance Randolph Homepage
Joel Chandler Harris Homepage
George Washington Cable and Mark Twain Homepage
Hoosier Folklore Society