Eber Carle Perrow (1880–1968) was an American professor of English who wrote about the literary history of the

last will and testament A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...

and southern folk songs. His writings on folk songs were influential. He was born in Virginia and lived for a while in Tennessee. He received honors as a student at Trinity College in North Carolina where he received an A.B. degree in 1903 and an A.M. degree from the same school in 1905. He received a Doctor of

Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

from Harvard University in 1910. He was an Edward Austin Fellow at Harvard. He was an assistant professor at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

. He then became an English professor at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

. While a student at Trinity, he wrote about the controversy that ensued from Trinity professor

John Spencer Bassett John Spencer Bassett (September 10, 1867 – January 27, 1928) was an American historian. He was a professor at Trinity College (today Duke University), and is best known today for the "Bassett Affair" in 1903 when he publicly criticized racism a ...

's editorial "Stirring Up the Fires of Racial Antipathy" about the work of Democratic Party aligned editorialists. After his retirement from University teaching, he published the 17 page book "Unto the Hills" in 1955 and the 8 page book "Background" in 1956.

Songs from the South

His ''Songs and Rhymes from the South'' was published in the '' Journal of American Folk-Lore'' in three parts. Volume I: Songs of Outlaws (1911) vol. 25, pages 137–155. Volume II. Songs in which animals figure (1913) vol. 26, pages 123–173 Volumes III-VIII: Game songs and nursery rhymes, Religious songs and parodies of religious songs, Songs connected with the railroad, Songs connected with drinking and gambling, Songs of the plantation, Songs of love (1915) vol. 28, pp. 129–190 He wrote an article on the literary history of the

. The Berea Collection includes "correspondence, song texts, and folklore narrative material collected from students by folklore scholar E. C. Perrow, while he was teaching at the University of Louisville diring the early teens of the 1900s. Narrative subject areas include anecdotes, games, riddles, rhymes and superstitions." Perrow was an influence on Arthur Palmer Hudson. D. K. Wilgus built on the work of folklorists including Pertow.

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. It was integrated from as early as 1866 ...

has documents Wilgus collected from Perrow and his students. He filed for copyright protection for his words and music to the song "Louisville" in 1916.

Songs

Songs published in his collection include: * " The State of Arkansaw" ( State of Arkansas (folk song) * " I Love Coffee" * "

Ballad of Casey Jones "The Ballad of Casey Jones", also known as "Casey Jones, the Brave Engineer" or simply "Casey Jones", is a traditional American folk song about railroad engineer Casey Jones and his death at the controls of the train he was driving. It tells of ...

" * " Run, Nigger, Run" * "This Old Hammer"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrow, E. C. 1880 births 1968 deaths Duke University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Mississippi faculty University of Louisville faculty

Songs from the South

Songs

See also

References