Ellen Stekert (b. 1935) is an American academic, folklorist and musician. Stekert is a Professor Emerita of English at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and a former president of the

American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the 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 ...

Early life and education

Stekert was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1935 and grew up in

Great Neck Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincorpo ...

on Long Island. She survived

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

as a child. Stekert began performing

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

in high school and has recorded several albums. Stekert attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, where she took classes taught by the folklorist Harold Thompson, who she also assisted in teaching. As her interest in folklore grew, Stekert began doing fieldwork, collecting folksongs from traditional singers in upstate New York. The songs Stekert collected from Ezra "Fuzzy" Barhight, a retired lumberjack from Cohocton, New York, she recorded and released as ''Songs of a New York Lumberjack'' in 1958. After graduating in philosophy at Cornell, Stekert began a Masters degree in folklore at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

. There she continued her fieldwork, collecting folk songs in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. On completion of her M.A., Stekert began research for a Ph.D. in folklore at Indiana. She completed her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia due to the attitude towards her work of her supervisor at Indiana,

Richard Dorson Richard Mercer Dorson (March 12, 1916 – September 11, 1981) was an American folklorist, professor, and director of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. Dorson has been called the "father of American folklore"Nichols, Amber M.Richard M. ...

. Stekert completed her Ph.D. in 1965.

Career

Stekert's first teaching position was at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

in Detroit. There, Stekert built upon the pioneering work of

Thelma G. James 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 The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the US-bas ...

in the collection of urban folklore traditions. From there, she moved to the University of Minnesota where she was based for the rest of her academic career.

Recognition

Stekert served as president of the

for the year 1977. She was also appointed Minnesota's state folklorist.

Selected publications

Books

* Américo Paredes and Ellen Jane Stekert (eds.) ''The Urban Experience and Folk Tradition''. Published for the

by the

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...

(1971)

Articles

* Ellen Stekert, "Fairy Palace". ''

Western Folklore ''Western Folklore'' is a quarterly academic journal for the study of folklore published by the Western States Folklore Society (formerly the California Folklore Society). It was established in 1942 as the ''California Folklore Quarterly'' and ob ...

'' (1959) * Ellen Stekert, "The Hidden Informant." '' Midwest Folklore'' (1963) * Ellen Stekert. “The Snake-Handling Sect of Harlan County, Kentucky: Its Influence on Folk Tradition.” ''Southern Folklore Quarterly'' (1963) * Ellen Stekert, "Four Pennsylvania Songs Learned Before 1900, From the Repertoire of Ezra V. Barhight" in ''Two Penny Ballads and Four Dollar Whiskey: A Pennsylvania Folklore Miscellany'', ed. Robert H. Byington and Kenneth S. Goldstein (1966) * Ellen J. Stekert, "Foreword: The Urban Experience and Folk Tradition." ''

Journal of American Folklore The ''Journal of American Folklore'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada ...

'' (1970) * Ellen J. Stekert, "Focus for Conflict: Southern Mountain Medical Beliefs in Detroit". ''

'' (1970) *Richard M. Dorson, Ronald L. Baker, Robert H. Byington, George Carey, Robert A. Georges, Thomas A. Green, Ellen J. Stekert, Robert T. Teske, "The Academic Future of Folklore". ''

'' (1972) * Ellen J. Stekert, "The False Issue of Folklore vs. 'Fakelore': Was Paul Bunyan a Hoax?" ''Journal of Forest History'' (1986) * Mary Jane Hennigar, Daniel Hoffman, and Ellen J. Stekert. “The First Paul Bunyan Story in Print

ith Commentary The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immedia ...

” ''Journal of Forest History'' (1986) * Ellen J. Stekert, "Autobiography of a Woman Folklorist". ''

'' (1987) *Ellen J. Stekert and Luz María Umpierre, "Deviance and Power: Malleable Realities in Manuel Puig‘s Use of Folklore and Cinematic Sources in '' Kiss of the Spider Woman''." '' Cincinnati Romance Review'' (1992) *Ellen Stekert, "Folk Song and Folk Music" in ''Encyclopedia of American Social History'' (Scribner, 1993) * Ellen J. Stekert, "Cents and Nonsense in the Urban Folksong Movement: 1930–1966" in ''Transforming Tradition'', ed. Neil V. Rosenberg (1993)

Selected discography

As primary artist

*Ellen Stekert, ''Ozark Mountain Folk Songs Volume One'' (

Stinson Records Stinson Records was an American record label formed by Herbert Harris and Irving Prosky in 1939, initially to market, in the US, recordings made in the Soviet Union. Between the 1940s and 1960s, it mainly issued recordings of American folk and bl ...

, c. 1955) *Ellen Stekert, ''Ballads Of Careless Love'' (Cornell Recording Society, 1956) * Milton Okun and Ellen Stekert, ''Traditional American Love Songs'' (

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riversid ...

, 1957) *Ellen Stekert, ''Songs Of A New York Lumberjack'' (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Servic ...

, 1958)

Compilations and other appearances

*Various Artists, ''Everybody Sing! American Folk Songs Specially Selected For Children, Volume 1: Songs For Cubs'' (

, c. 1957): Milton Okun and Ellen Stekert, "Paper of Pins/Jenny Jenkins" *Various Artists, ''Everybody Sing! American Folk Songs Specially Selected For Children, Volume 2: Songs For Juniors'' (

, c. 1957): Milton Okun and Ellen Stekert, "River Brazos/Shule Aroon" *Various Artists, ''Everybody Sing! American Folk Songs Specially Selected For Children, Volume 3: Songs For Seniors'' (

, c. 1957): Milton Okun and Ellen Stekert, "Must I Go Bound; The Cambric Shirt" *Various Artists, ''Our Singing Heritage Volume I'' (Elektra, 1958): "The House Carpenter" and "Froggie went A-Courting" *Various Artists, ''Songs Of The Civil War'' (Folkways Records, 1963): "The Cumberland And The Merrimac" and "Pat Murphy Of The Irish Brigade" *

Sarah Ogan Gunning Sarah Ogan Gunning (June 28, 1910 – November 14, 1983) was an American singer and songwriter from the coal mining country of eastern Kentucky, as were her older half-sister Aunt Molly Jackson and her brother Jim Garland. Although she made an ...

, ''Girl Of Constant Sorrow'' (

Folk-Legacy Records Folk-Legacy Records was an independent record label specializing in traditional and contemporary folk music of the English-speaking world. It was founded in 1961 by Sandy and Caroline Paton and Lee Baker Haggerty. The label recorded Frank Proff ...

, 1965) *Various Artists, ''O Love Is Teasin' (Anglo-American Mountain Balladry)'' (

Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...

, 1984): "Froggie went A-Courting" *Various Artists, ''The Riverside Folklore Series Volume Three: Singing the New Traditions: Songs, Singers, and Instrumentalists of the Folk Revival'' (Riverside Records, 1996): Milt Okun and Ellen Stekert, "The Cambric Shirt (Child #2)", "Must I Go Bound", "The Brazos River", "Trouble" *Various Artists, ''Constant Sorrow (Gems From The Elektra Vaults)'' (One Day Music, 2014): "Froggie went A-Courting" *Various Artists, ''Classic English And Scottish Ballads From Smithsonian Folkways'' (

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...

, 2017): "The Two Sisters (Child No. 10)"

References

External links

Folklorist Ellen Stekert Performs and Shares Stories from Folklore
AMPERS {{DEFAULTSORT:Stekert, Ellen Living people University of Minnesota faculty 1935 births People from Great Neck, New York Educators from Minneapolis Musicians from Minneapolis Cornell University alumni American folk-song collectors American folk musicians Presidents of the American Folklore Society Polio survivors 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American educators 20th-century American academics 20th-century American women educators Scholars and academics with disabilities American musicians with disabilities