The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the

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 ...

(US)-based

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

for

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 ...

s, 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 Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, etc. The Society is based at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

and has an annual meeting every October. The Society's quarterly publication is 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 ...

''. The current president is

Marilyn White Marilyn Elaine White (born October 17, 1944, in Los Angeles, California) is an American sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres. She won a silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with teammates Willye ...

. As of 2016, almost half of its 2,200 members practice their work outside

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

. In addition to professors, members include public folklorists,

arts administrator Arts administration (alternatively arts management) is a field in the arts sector that facilitates programming within cultural organizations. Arts administrators are responsible for facilitating the day-to-day operations of the organization as we ...

s, freelance researchers,

librarians A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

s, and others involved in the study and promotion of

and traditional culture.

History

AFS was founded in 1888 by

William Wells Newell William Wells Newell (1839–1907) was an American folklorist, school teacher, minister and philosophy professor. Biography Newell was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School. After tryi ...

, who stood at the center of a diverse group of university-based scholars, museum anthropologists, and men and women of letters and affairs. In 1945, the society became a member of the

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

. AFS is also an active member of the National Humanities Alliance (NHS). Over the years, prominent members of the American Folklore Society known outside academic circles have included

Marius Barbeau Charles Marius Barbeau, (March 5, 1883 – February 27, 1969), also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadians, Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthr ...

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

Ben Botkin Benjamin Albert Botkin (February 7, 1901 – July 30, 1975) was an American folklorist and scholar. Early life Botkin was born on February 7, 1901, in East Boston, Massachusetts, to Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. He attended the English High Schoo ...

Jan Harold Brunvand Jan Harold Brunvand (born March 23, 1933) is an American retired folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah. Brunvand is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend ...

Linda Dégh Linda Dégh (18 March 1918 – 19 August 2014) was a folklorist and professor of Folklore & Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, USA. Dégh was born in Budapest, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning muc ...

Ella Deloria Ella Cara Deloria (January 31, 1889 – February 12, 1971), also called Aŋpétu Wašté Wiŋ ("Beautiful Day Woman"), was a Yankton Dakota educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and novelist. She recorded Native American oral history a ...

, William Ferris,

John Miles Foley John Miles Foley (January 22, 1947 – May 3, 2012) was a scholar of comparative oral tradition, particularly medieval and Old English literature, Homer and Serbian epic. He was the founder of the academic journal ''Oral Tradition'' and the Cen ...

Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his t ...

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo ...

, James P. Leary,

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...

, John A. Lomax, Kay Turner, and

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

. Past presidents have included Samuel Preston Bayard,

Henry Glassie Henry Glassie (born 24 March 1941) College Professor Emeritus at Indiana University Bloomington, has done fieldwork on five continents and written books on the full range of folkloristic interest, from drama, song, and story to craft, art, and archi ...

, Diane Goldstein,

Dorothy Noyes Dorothy Noyes is an American folklorist and ethnologist whose comparative, ethnographic and historical research focuses on European societies and upon European immigrant communities in the United States. Beyond its area studies context, her work ha ...

, and

Dell Hymes Dell Hathaway Hymes (June 7, 1927, in Portland, Oregon – November 13, 2009, in Charlottesville, Virginia) was a linguist, sociolinguist, anthropologist, and folklorist who established disciplinary foundations for the comparative, ethnographic ...

Past Presidents

* 1888–89

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor ...

* 1890

Daniel Garrison Brinton Daniel Garrison Brinton (May 13, 1837July 31, 1899) was an American archaeologist, ethnologist, historian, and surgeon. Biography Brinton was born in Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Yale University in 185 ...

* 1891 Otis T. Mason * 1892

Frederic Ward Putnam Frederic Ward Putnam (April 16, 1839 – August 14, 1915) was an American anthropologist and biologist. Biography Putnam was born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Ebenezer (1797–1876) and Elizabeth (Appleton) Putnam. After leaving ...

* 1893

Horatio Hale Horatio Emmons Hale (May 3, 1817December 28, 1896) was an American-Canadian ethnologist, philologist and businessman. He is known for his study of languages as a key for classifying ancient peoples and being able to trace their migrations. Hale ...

* 1894

Alcée Fortier Alcée Fortier (June 5, 1856 – February 14, 1914) was a renowned Professor of Romance Languages at Tulane University in New Orleans. In the late 19th and early 20th century, he published numerous works on language, literature, Louisiana histo ...

* 1895

Washington Matthews Washington Matthews (June 17, 1843 – March 2, 1905) was an Irish-born American surgeon in the United States Army, ethnographer, and linguist known for his studies of Native American peoples, especially the Navajo. Early life and education ...

* 1896 John G. Bourke * 1897

Stewart Culin Robert Stewart Culin (July 13, 1858 – April 8, 1929) was an American ethnographer and author interested in games, art and dress. Culin played a major role in the development of ethnography, first concentrating his efforts on studying the A ...

* 1898

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...

* 1899 Charles L. Edwards * 1900

* 1901 Frank Russell * 1902 George Dorsey * 1903

Livingston Farrand Livingston Farrand (June 14, 1867 – November 8, 1939) was an American physician, anthropologist, psychologist, public health advocate and academic administrator. He was president of Cornell University and the University of Colorado. Earl ...

* 1904

George Lyman Kittredge George Lyman Kittredge (February 28, 1860 – July 23, 1941) was a professor of English literature at Harvard University. His scholarly edition of the works of William Shakespeare was influential in the early 20th century. He was also involved in ...

* 1905 Alice C. Fletcher * 1906

Alfred L. Kroeber Alfred Louis Kroeber ( ; June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the fi ...

* 1907–8 Roland B. Dixon * 1909

John R. Swanton John Reed Swanton (February 19, 1873 – May 2, 1958) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and ethn ...

* 1910–11 Henry M. Belden * 1912–13 John A. Lomax * 1914–15

Pliny Earle Goddard Pliny Earle Goddard (November 24, 1869 – July 12, 1928) was an American linguist and ethnologist noted for his extensive documentation of the languages and cultures of the Athabaskan peoples of western North America. His early research, carr ...

* 1916–17

Robert H. Lowie Robert Harry Lowie (born '; June 12, 1883 – September 21, 1957) was an Austrian-born American anthropologist. An expert on Indigenous peoples of the Americas, he was instrumental in the development of modern anthropology and has been described a ...

* 1918 C. Marius Barbeau * 1919–20

Elsie Clews Parsons Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (November 27, 1875 – December 19, 1941) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist who studied Native American tribes—such as the Tewa and Hopi—in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. ...

* 1921–22 Frank G. Speck * 1923–24 Aurelio M. Espinosa * 1925–26

Louise Pound Louise Pound (June 30, 1872 – June 28, 1958) was an American folklorist, linguist, and college professor at the University of Nebraska. In 1955, Pound was the first woman elected president of the Modern Language Association, and in the same y ...

* 1927–28

Alfred M. Tozzer Alfred Marston Tozzer (July 4, 1877 – October 5, 1954) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, linguist, and educator. His principal area of interest was Mesoamerican, especially Maya, studies. He was the husband of Margaret Castle To ...

* 1929–30

Edward Sapir Edward Sapir (; January 26, 1884 – February 4, 1939) was an American anthropologist-linguistics, linguist, who is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of the discipline of linguistics in the United States ...

* 1931

* 1932–33 Martha W. Beckwith * 1934

* 1935–36

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 ...

* 1937–39

Stith Thompson Stith Thompson (March 7, 1885 – January 10, 1976) was an American folklore studies, folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist". He is the "Thompson" of the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, which indexes Folklore, ...

* 1940–41

A. Irving Hallowell Alfred Irving "Pete" Hallowell (; 1892–1974) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist and businessman. Early life and education Hallowell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended the Wharton School of the University of Penn ...

* 1942 Harold W. Thompson * 1944 Benjamin A. Botkin * 1945 Melville J. Herskovits * 1946–47 Joseph M. Carrière * 1948

Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin (April 2, 1903 – July 10, 1988) was an American award-winning anthropologist, folklorist, and ethnohistorian. Her research and directorship of the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley Research Project at Indiana University has been ...

* 1949 Thelma G. James * 1950

Anna H. Gayton Anna Hadwick Gayton (September 20, 1899–September 18, 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 ...

* 1951–52 Francis Lee Utley * 1953–54

William R. Bascom __NOTOC__ William R. Bascom (May 23, 1912 – September 11, 1981) 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 Y ...

* 1955–56

Herbert Halpert Herbert Halpert (August 23, 1911 – December 29, 2000) was an American anthropologist and folklorist, specialised in the collection and study of both folk song and narrative. Biography Herbert Norman Halpert's interest in folklore emerge ...

* 1957–58 Wayland D. Hand * 1959–60

William N. Fenton William N. Fenton (December 15, 1908 – June 17, 2005) was an American scholar and writer known for his extensive studies of Iroquois history and culture. He started his studies of the Iroquois in the 1930s and published a number of significant w ...

* 1961–62

MacEdward Leach MacEdward Leach (1892-1967) was an American folklorist, whose work "greatly influenced the development of folklore as an academic discipline". Early life and education Leach was born near Bridgeport, Illinois. Later in life he sometimes gave his ...

* 1963–64

Melville Jacobs Melville Jacobs (July 3, 1902 – July 31, 1971) was an American anthropologist and folklorist known for his work preserving indigenous cultures and languages of the Pacific Northwest United States. Jacobs was a doctoral student of Franz Boas, a ...

* 1965–66 Samuel P. Bayard * 1967–68 Richard M. Dorson * 1969–70 Daniel J. Crowley * 1971–72 D.K. Wilgus * 1973–74

* 1975–76

Kenneth S. Goldstein Kenneth S. Goldstein (March 17, 1927 – November 11, 1995) was an American folklorist, educator and record producer and a "prime mover" in the American Folk Music Revival. Early life and education Goldstein was born in Brooklyn to Tillie Horowit ...

* 1977

Ellen Stekert Ellen Stekert (born 1935) is an American academic, folklorist and musician. Stekert is a professor emerita of English at the University of Minnesota and a former president of the American Folklore Society. She has been called "one of the country� ...

* 1978 J. Barre Toelken * 1979

Roger D. Abrahams Roger David Abrahams (June 12, 1933 – June 20, 2017) was an American folklorist whose work focused on the expressive cultures and cultural histories of the Americas, with a specific emphasis on African American peoples and traditions. Abrahams w ...

* 1980

Alan Dundes Alan Dundes (September 8, 1934 – March 30, 2005) was an American folklorist. He spent much of his career as a professional academic at the University of California, Berkeley and published his ideas in a wide range of books and articles. He ...

* 1981

Don Yoder Don Yoder (August 27, 1921– August 11, 2015) was an American folklorist specializing in the study of Pennsylvania Dutch, Quaker, and Amish and other Anabaptist folklife in Pennsylvania who wrote at least 15 books on these subjects. A professor em ...

* 1982

* 1983 W.F.H. Nicolaisen * 1984 Bruce Jackson * 1985

* 1986 Rayna Green * 1987

Judith McCulloh Judith McCulloh (August 16, 1935 – July 13, 2014) was an American folklorist, ethnomusicologist, and university press editor. Early life and education McCulloh was born in Spring Valley, Illinois, on August 16, 1935 to Henry and Edna Binkele. ...

* 1988 Alan Jabbour * 1989–90

* 1991–92

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (born September 30, 1942, in Toronto, Ontario) is a scholar of Performance and Jewish Studies and a museum professional. Professor Emerita of Performance Studies at New York University, she is best known for her int ...

* 1993–94

Sylvia Grider Sylvia Ann Grider (born 1940) is an American folklorist, noted for her research into such topics as ghosts, child lore and the memorialization of tragic events. She served as president of the American Folklore Society,1993–94. Early life and e ...

* 1995–96 Jane Beck * 1997–98

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...

* 1999-2000 Jo Radner * 2001

Peggy A. Bulger Margaret Anne "Peggy" Bulger is a folklorist and served as the director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress from 1999 to 2011, when she moved to Florida to continue work on personal projects. Education A native of Albany, Ne ...

* 2002-2003

Jack Santino Jack (John Francis) Santino is an academic folklorist. His work He is a Professor of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University and is Director of the Bowling Green Center for Culture Studies. His work has primarily focused on ritual, cel ...

* 2004-2005 Michael Owen Jones * 2006-2007

Bill Ivey Bill Ivey (born September 6, 1944) is an American folklorist and author. He was the seventh chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a past chairman of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Early life Billy Ivey w ...

* 2008–2009 Elaine Lawless * 2010-2011

C. Kurt Dewhurst C. Kurt Dewhurst (born 1948) 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 Direct ...

* 2012–2013 Diane Goldstein * 2014-2015 Michael Ann Williams * 2016-2017 Kay Turner * 2018-2019

* 2020-2021 Norma Cantú * 2022-2023 Marilyn M. White

Awards

AFS awards various prizes to honor outstanding work in the field of folklore, at the opening ceremony of the annual AFS meeting. These include the following: * The

Prize is awarded annually and honors the best student work in the field of African American folklore. * The

Américo Paredes Américo Paredes (September 3, 1915 – May 5, 1999) was an American author born in Brownsville, Texas who authored several texts focusing on the border life that existed between the United States and Mexico, particularly around the Rio Grande r ...

Prize is awarded annually and honors excellence in integrating scholarship and engagement with local communities. * The Benjamin A. Botkin Prize is awarded annually to honor outstanding achievements by folklorists working in the field of

public folklore Public folklore is the term for the work done by folklorists in public settings in the United States and Canada outside of universities and colleges, such as arts councils, museums, folklife festivals, radio stations, etc., as opposed to academ ...

. * The Chicago Folklore Prize is awarded annually and honors author(s) for the best scholarly monograph in folklore. Other prizes are awarded annually, by different sections of the American Folklore Society. * The ''Women's Section'', inaugurated in 1983, awards two prizes in the memory of

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

Elli Köngäs-Maranda Elli-Kaija Köngäs-Maranda (11 January 1932, Tervola, Finland – 1 November 1982, Québec City, Canada) was an internationally renowned anthropologist and feminist folklorist. She studied Finnish language and folklore at the University of Helsin ...

. * The ''Children's Folklore Section'' awards the annual Prize, for the best student essay. It also awards the

Iona and Peter Opie Iona Margaret Balfour Opie, (13 October 1923 – 23 October 2017) and Peter Mason Opie (25 November 1918 – 5 February 1982) were an English married team of folklorists who applied modern techniques to understanding children's literature and p ...

Prize approximately every two years to the author of the best recently published scholarly book on children's folklore and annually awards the Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades. * The ''History and Folklore Section'' awards the biennial Wayland D. Hand Prize for an outstanding book that combines historical and folkloristic perspectives and the Richard Reuss Prize for students of folklore and history. Every other year (in alternating years), AFS awards the following prizes: * The American Folklore Society Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award (even-numbered years) honors folklorists for outstanding accomplishments over a career of scholarship. * The Kenneth Goldstein Award for Lifetime Academic Leadership (odd-numbered years) honors those who have made contributions to supporting academic programs in folklore for outstanding achievement."AFS Prizes"
Retrieved May 25, 2013.

References

External links

* at americanfolkloresociety.org * {{Authority control Organizations established in 1888 American folklore Folklore studies Non-profit organizations based in Indiana Historical societies of the United States Professional associations based in the United States Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies Learned societies of the United States 1888 establishments in the United States

History

Past Presidents

Awards

See also

References

External links