Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 10.04 Archives
Presentation #1 Title
The Appalachian Folklife Archive at Radford University's McConnell Library
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Brief description: Summary of the archive's 30-year history, including the ongoing process of digitization; samples of its oral, customary, and material folklore content. Summary: Radford University’s Appalachian Folklife Archive housed in the Special Collections of McConnell Library includes over 600 field collection projects completed by Radford University undergraduate and graduate students since 1981. This presentation will survey the range of topics covered, which include oral, customary, and material culture. Much of the oral lore is oral history rather than narrative folklore strictly defined (e.g. legends and folktales). Truly legendary topics include the Beale Treasure of Bedford County and the Hillsville Courthouse Tragedy of 1912. Customary lore includes accounts of holiday and family traditions and one room school education, among others; material culture topics include the expected blacksmithing, foodways, and quilting, as well as more recently developed traditions such as customizing cars. The text of the entire archive, which ranges from 25 to 150 pages per project, has recently been scanned to compact format PDF files. The process of converting audio tapes to digital format (to CDs at this point) and indexing the contents has been inching forward for several years. The archive staff of McConnell Library, to whom this collection was transferred in fall 2013, are in the process of developing policies for accessing these materials, only some of which are accompanied by informant consent forms. The presentation will include samples of transcription, folklife texts, and collector’s comments, along with a review of 30 year history of this resource.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Ricky Cox teaches Appalachian Studies and English courses at Radford University and coordinates the Farm at Selu, a recreated 1930s farmstead at Radford University's Selu Conservancy.
The Appalachian Folklife Archive at Radford University's McConnell Library
Brief description: Summary of the archive's 30-year history, including the ongoing process of digitization; samples of its oral, customary, and material folklore content. Summary: Radford University’s Appalachian Folklife Archive housed in the Special Collections of McConnell Library includes over 600 field collection projects completed by Radford University undergraduate and graduate students since 1981. This presentation will survey the range of topics covered, which include oral, customary, and material culture. Much of the oral lore is oral history rather than narrative folklore strictly defined (e.g. legends and folktales). Truly legendary topics include the Beale Treasure of Bedford County and the Hillsville Courthouse Tragedy of 1912. Customary lore includes accounts of holiday and family traditions and one room school education, among others; material culture topics include the expected blacksmithing, foodways, and quilting, as well as more recently developed traditions such as customizing cars. The text of the entire archive, which ranges from 25 to 150 pages per project, has recently been scanned to compact format PDF files. The process of converting audio tapes to digital format (to CDs at this point) and indexing the contents has been inching forward for several years. The archive staff of McConnell Library, to whom this collection was transferred in fall 2013, are in the process of developing policies for accessing these materials, only some of which are accompanied by informant consent forms. The presentation will include samples of transcription, folklife texts, and collector’s comments, along with a review of 30 year history of this resource.
