Jane C. Beck (born 1941) is an American folklorist and oral historian. She is Executive Director Emeritus and founder of the Vermont Folklife Center [1] and has published research on the folklore of Vermont and on African American belief systems.
Jane C. Beck (born 1941) is an American folklorist and oral historian. She is Executive Director Emeritus and founder of the Vermont Folklife Center [1] and has published research on the folklore of Vermont and on African American belief systems.
Jane (née Choate) Beck grew up in Long Island, New York. Her father, Thomas Hyde Choate, worked as an investment banker. Her mother, Jane Harte Choate was involved with a number of charitable organizations. [2]
Beck attended St. Timothy's School in Maryland and then Middlebury College, Vermont. At Middlebury College, she read American Literature and met her future husband, Professor Horace Beck. [2] She graduated from Middlebury College in 1963 and undertook graduate studies in folklore at the University of Pennsylvania. She married Horace in 1965. [2] She completed her Ph.D. in 1969 with a thesis entitled 'Ghostlore of the British Isles and Ireland'. [3]
Beck began work as state folklorist for Vermont in 1978. The role was created through the Vermont Council on the Arts. [4]
Beck founded the Vermont Folklife Center as a private non-profit organization in 1983. [4] She served as its executive director until 2007. [5]
After retirement, Beck published Daisy Turner's Kin: An African American Family Saga (2015). [1] Daisy Turner was the daughter of freed African American slaves and the book relates four generations of oral history from her family. It was based on interviews Beck carried out with Turner, beginning in 1983 when Turner was 100 years old. Beck traveled to Virginia, West Africa, and England to research the family history of Turner for the book. [2]
Beck served as president of the American Folklore Society (AFS) between 1995 and 1996. [6] Her Presidential address was titled 'Talking Stock' and reflected on her 35 years as a member of the AFS. It drew on interviews with 100 fellow members of the Society. [4]
She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for Vermont Research at the University of Vermont in 2011. [1]
In 2016, Daisy Turner's Kin: An African American Family Saga was awarded both the Wayland D. Hand Prize (by the History and Folklore Section) and the Chicago Folklore Prize (as "best book of folklore scholarship for the year") by the American Folklore Society. [7]
The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the United States (US)-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world, which aims to encourage research, aid in disseminating that research, promote the responsible application of that research, publish various forms of publications, advocate for the continued study and teaching of folklore, etc. The Society is based at Indiana University and has an annual meeting every October. The Society's quarterly publication is the Journal of American Folklore. The current president is Marilyn White.
Helen Hartness Flanders, a native of the U.S. state of Vermont, was an internationally recognized ballad collector and an authority on the folk music found in New England and the British Isles. At the initiative of the Vermont Commission on Country Life, Flanders commenced a three-decade career capturing traditional songs that were sung in New England—songs that, in many cases, traced their origin to the British Isles. The timing of her life work was critical, coming as it did when people were turning away from traditional music in favor of listening to the radio. Today her nearly 4,500 field recordings, transcriptions and analyses are housed at the Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont and have been a resource for scholars and folk singers, since the establishment of the collection in 1941.
William R. Bascom was an award-winning American folklorist, anthropologist, and museum director. He was a specialist in the art and culture of West Africa and the African Diaspora, especially the Yoruba of Nigeria.
Martha Warren Beckwith was an American folklorist and ethnographer who was the first chair in folklore at any university or college in the U.S.
Daisy Turner was an American storyteller and poet. Born in Grafton, Vermont, to former slaves, she became famous late in life for her oral recordings of her family's history, which can be traced back to Africa and England.
Kenneth S. Goldstein was an American folklorist, educator and record producer and a "prime mover" in the American Folk Music Revival.
Donald Knight Wilgus was an American folk song scholar and academic, most recognized for chronicling 'Hillbilly', blues music and Irish-American song and his contribution to ballad scholarship.
The Wayland D. Hand Prize is an award given by the History and Folklore section of the American Folklore Society (AFS) for the best book combining historical and folkloristic methods and materials. The biennial prize honors the eminent folklorist Wayland D. Hand (1907-1986), a former president of the American Folklore Society (1955-1967) who in his teaching and scholarship encouraged historical methodology in folklore research.
Ellen Stekert is an American academic, folklorist and musician. Stekert is a Professor Emerita of English at the University of Minnesota.
Anna "Anta" Birgitta Rooth was the first Swedish professor of ethnology at Uppsala University. She is known for her research into folklore, especially the Cinderella story.
Anna Hardwick Gayton (1899-1977) was an American anthropologist, folklorist and museum curator. She is most recognized for her role in "compiling and analyzing Californian Indian mythology" and was elected President of the American Folklore Society in 1950.
Thelma Gray James (1899–1988) was a folklorist and lecturer. She was a pioneer of the collection and study of urban folk traditions and was elected president of the American Folklore Society in 1949.
Sylvia Ann Grider is an American folklorist, noted for her research into such topics as ghosts, child lore and the memorialization of tragic events.
Elaine J Lawless is an American folklorist. She is Curators' Professor Emerita of English and Folklore Studies at the University of Missouri. In 2008 she was elected president of the American Folklore Society.
Joan Newlon Radner is an American folklorist, storyteller and oral historian. She is Professor Emerita at American University in Washington, DC.
Michael Ann Williams is an American Folklorist, recognised for her research into vernacular architecture, particularly in Appalachia.
John W. Roberts is an academic who specialises in Folklore, African-American Studies and English Literature. His work has argued for the "integrity, authenticity, and authority" of African-American vernacular traditions.
C. Kurt Dewhurst is an American curator and folklorist. Dewhurst is Director for Arts and Cultural Partnerships at Michigan State University (MSU) and also a Senior Fellow in University Outreach and Engagement. At MSU, he is also Director Emeritus of the Michigan State University Museum and a Professor of English and Museum Studies.
MacEdward Leach (1892-1967) was an American folklorist, whose work "greatly influenced the development of folklore as an academic discipline".
Emelyn Elizabeth Gardner was an American folklorist, educator, and English professor. Gardner was co-founder with Thelma G. James of the Wayne State University Folklore Archive, one of the oldest and largest collections of urban folklore in the United States. Gardner's 1937 book Folklore from the Schoharie Hills is considered to have been groundbreaking.