MUNFLA

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MUNFLA (Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive) is the largest sound recording folklore archive in Canada. It is hosted at Memorial University of Newfoundland, located in the G.A. Hickman Building at the St. John's campus in Newfoundland, Canada. It is a member of the Canadian Council of Archives and the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives. MUNFLA was founded in 1968 by folklorist Herbert Halpert, head of the Folklore Department, and his wife, researcher-librarian Violetta Maloney Halpert, [1] as a joint-venture by the Folklore and English departments at Memorial University. The archive was created as a repository for recordings and material culture of Newfoundland and Labrador folk culture.

Contents

Collection

The archive contains a variety of items including oral histories, songs, poetry, childlore, folk narratives, personal experience narratives, folk beliefs as well as student research papers and graduate theses and dissertations from the Department of Folklore.

Related Research Articles

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Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN, is a public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and in Labrador, Saint Pierre, and Harlow, England. Memorial University offers certificate, diploma, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate programs, as well as online courses and degrees.

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Richard Francis Nolan was a Canadian musician, from Newfoundland. Nolan was known for performing Newfoundland folk music in Toronto night clubs. During his 50-year career he released more than 40 albums and recorded over 300 tracks. He is particularly known for his song "Aunt Martha's Sheep".

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Ron Hynes was a folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador. He was especially known for his composition "Sonny's Dream", which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41st greatest Canadian song of all time on the 2005 CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version.

Tom Dawe, is a Canadian writer from Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Maud Karpeles OBE, was a British collector of folksongs and dance teacher.

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Violetta Maloney Halpert, American folklorist, researcher, and U.S. Navy Veteran. Born Violetta (Letty) Goff Maloney, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, she was instrumental in the development of university folklore collections in Canada.

J.D.A. (John) Widdowson is a British linguist and folklorist.

Peter Narváez was a Canadian writer, scholar, folklorist, and musician known for his contributions to the study of folklore, ethnomusicology, blues, popular culture and Canadian culture.

References

  1. "Scholarships & Awards". Department of Folklore. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

MUNFLA operates an online catalogue.

The archive also contains The MacEdward Leach Collection of Songs of Atlantic Canada.