Wayland Debs Hand (March 19, 1907,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

– October 22, 1986,

Moon Township, Pennsylvania Moon Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 27,261 at the 2020 census. Located northwest of Pittsburgh, the township is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

) was an American

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

Biography

Hand was born in New Zealand, where his parents had emigrated. A few years after his birth, the family returned to

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, where Hand grew up. He attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

in 1933 and 1934. He then earned a Ph.D. at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1936, writing his dissertation on German folk songs. After spending a year as an instructor at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, Hand joined the faculty at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in 1940, where he established the university's folklore department. From 1961 until his retirement in 1974, Hand was Director of UCLA's Center for the Study of Comparative Folklore and Mythology. He was editor of the ''

Journal of American Folklore The ''Journal of American Folklore'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. The journal has been published since the society's founding in 1888. Since 2003, this has been published at the University of I ...

'' from 1947–51 and president of the

American Folklore Society 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 t ...

from 1955-56. University of California memorial article
/ref> Hand is known for his 1964 book ''Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from North Carolina'', considered one of the most complete and well-organized studies of

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

. Over the course of his career, Hand collected an Archive of American Popular Beliefs and Superstitions containing over 2 million items. The archive forms the basis for UCLA's ongoing project to produce an ''Encyclopedia of Popular Beliefs and Superstitions''. Hand received numerous awards and honors including the

Giuseppe Pitrè Giuseppe Pitrè (22 December 184110 April 1916) was an Italian people, Italian Folkloristics, folklorist, medical doctor, professor, and senator for Sicily. As a folklorist he is credited with extending the concept of folklore to include all man ...

Prize for International Folklore (1965) and the

Order of the Lion of Finland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

(1972). Hand died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on October 22, 1986, at

Pittsburgh International Airport Pittsburgh International Airport —originally Greater Pittsburgh Airport and later Greater Pittsburgh International Airport—is a civil-military international airport in Findlay Township and Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. Abou ...

, while on his way to the annual meeting of the

. His papers and files are at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

. In his honor, the History and Folklore Section of the

(AFS) awards biannually the Wayland D. Hand Prize for an outstanding book that combines historical and folkloristic perspectives.

Bibliography

*''Humaniora: Essays in Literature, Folklore, and Bibliography: Honoring

Archer Taylor Archer Taylor (August 1, 1890September 30, 1973) was one of America's "foremost specialists in American and European folklore","Archer Taylor, UC professor", ''The San Francisco Examiner'', 2 October 1973, p. 49. with a special interest in cultura ...

on his Seventieth Birthday'' (1960) *''Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from North Carolina'' (1964) *''Eyes on Texas: Fifty Years of Folklore in the Southwest'' (1967) *''American Folk Legend: A Symposium'' (ed.) (1971) *''American Folk Medicine: A Symposium'' (ed.) (1976)

References

External links

Frances Cattermole-Tally, "Wayland Debs Hand (1907-1986)"
''

'' (1989).
Utah State University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hand, Wayland 1907 births 1986 deaths American folklorists University of Utah alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Minnesota faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty New Zealand emigrants to the United States Recipients of the Order of the Lion of Finland Presidents of the American Folklore Society

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links