American Material Culture Commons

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Recent Articles in American Material Culture

Ravelings (Fa 752), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Ravelings (Fa 752), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Collection 752. Clippings of "Ravelings" column from "Harland (Kentucky) Daily Enterprise" and "Corbin (Kentucky) Daily Tribune" with collected mountain superstitions, customs, and folkways.


Review: Barbara L. Voss And Elenor Conlin Cassella, Editors. The Archaeology Of Colonialism: Intimate Encounters And Sexual Effects., John P. McCarthy University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Review: Barbara L. Voss And Elenor Conlin Cassella, Editors. The Archaeology Of Colonialism: Intimate Encounters And Sexual Effects., John P. Mccarthy

African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter

No abstract


Metal Detecting: One Step To Better Consideration Of African American Resources, Chris Espenshade, Patrick Severts University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Metal Detecting: One Step To Better Consideration Of African American Resources, Chris Espenshade, Patrick Severts

African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter

Difficulties in discovering, delineating, and evaluating ephemeral archaeological sites is a recognized issue in African American archaeology. It is argued that the addition of metal detecting to the methodological toolbox for survey, boundary definition, and testing will result in the better treatment of ephemeral sites of African American occupation.


The Boatbuilders: Steve White '77 And Jock Williams '62 Have Built International Reputations Fore Their Classically Inspired Yachts, Matthew P. Murphy Colby College

The Boatbuilders: Steve White '77 And Jock Williams '62 Have Built International Reputations Fore Their Classically Inspired Yachts, Matthew P. Murphy

Colby Magazine

In the world of custom-built yachts, Maine boatbuilders Jock Williams ’62 and Steve White ’77 are renowned for their boats’ classic lines and impeccable craftsmanship.


Frontier Access To East Tennessee: A Ceramic Analysis Of Ramsey House (40kn120), Bell Site (40kn202), And Exchange Place (40sl22), Abby Jane Naunheimer University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Frontier Access To East Tennessee: A Ceramic Analysis Of Ramsey House (40kn120), Bell Site (40kn202), And Exchange Place (40sl22), Abby Jane Naunheimer

Masters Theses

East Tennessee, falling within the Appalachian sub-culture, was romanticized by 19th-century writers as an unchanging, rural society. The stigma of a non-consumer, frontier culture persisted, questioning the ability of East Tennessee residents to access consumer goods during the frontier period. By using multiple lines of evidence, historical archaeology is well-positioned to study unknown settlers living within a misunderstood region.

Three frontier-era East Tennessee homesteads were chosen to conduct ceramic analyses as a beginning point of understanding consumer access. Ramsey House, Bell Site, and Exchange Place were each occupied beginning in the late 18th century and continued into the first quarter ...


Cloyd, Mary (Sc 31), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Cloyd, Mary (Sc 31), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 31. Old loom weaving drafts: Nine Snowballs draft and Pea Patch draft. On back notation states: “This is the Cass and Butler drafts.”


Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 581), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 581), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 581. Illustrated paper by Rachel Hopkin titled “A Reel in a Bottle: The Bottle Art of Chris Wood.” This illustrated project provides insight into the art of creating bottle art, or bottle whimsies. Folk artist Chris Wood’s path from observer to artist is detailed and includes his interpretations of the work of several historical and modern artisans within the genre. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.


Faytullayeva, Shamira A. (Fa 584), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Faytullayeva, Shamira A. (Fa 584), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 584. Illustrated paper by Shamira A. Faytullayeva titled “A Great Tailor in My Family.” This illustrated project describes the economic benefits of the tailoring skills of a Russian emigrant, Samisiya Faytullayeva. Samisiya’s mother taught her to sew when she was a child, and the skill has provided an income for her family in the years since her husband’s death and their subsequent immigration to the United States. This project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.


Chappell, Katherine (Fa 582), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Chappell, Katherine (Fa 582), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 582. Illustrated paper by Katherine Chappell titled “Fine, Folk, or Functional? The Art of Mark Whitley.” This illustrated project provides insight into the art of furniture making and the distinctions between the artistic formation of furniture and mass production. The project details the journey of one craftsman, Mark Whitley of Warren County, Kentucky, from one who makes furniture, into an artist whose work is practical, functional, and enduring. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.


Relational Viewing: Affect, Trauma And The Viewer In Contemporary Autobiographical Art, Matthew Ryan Smith Western University

Relational Viewing: Affect, Trauma And The Viewer In Contemporary Autobiographical Art, Matthew Ryan Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines the communicative relationship between contemporary autobiographical art and the viewer. By analyzing the work of six artists, Richard Billingham, Jaret Belliveau, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Lisa Steele and Bas Jan Ader, I maintain that lived experience and personal history condition the way viewers respond to autobiographical art. I turn to literary theory as a critical methodology to argue that autobiographical art operates as a catalyst for identification, memory and self-discovery. I use affect and trauma theory to demonstrate how artwork produces meaning and discourse through the viewer’s feelings, emotions and bodily sensations. Consequently, I survey the ...


Whitaker, Francis J., 1916-1994 (Mss 406), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Whitaker, Francis J., 1916-1994 (Mss 406), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collecction 406. Correspondence, research notes and manuscript articles of Frances J. “Thomas” Whitaker, a Benedictine monk who lived and worked at St. Maur’s Priory, formerly the South Union Shaker Village in Logan County, Kentucky, from 1954-1988. He amassed a large collection of photocopied research material on the South Union community as well as other Shaker villages and museums in the United States. Also includes his research on various Catholic topics.


Kentucky Heritage Applique Society (Mss 386), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Kentucky Heritage Applique Society (Mss 386), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 386. Administrative papers, minutes, correspondence, contest and workshop material, and publications of the Kentucky Heritage Applique Society, an auxiliary group of the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society.


Dalton, Callie Lou, B. 1965 (Fa 576), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Dalton, Callie Lou, B. 1965 (Fa 576), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 576. "The Handmade Paper Doll: A Study in Tradition," a paper written by Callie Lou Dalton for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.


Richardson, Laura Elizabeth (Ferguson), 1908-1986 (Sc 2546), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Western Kentucky University

Richardson, Laura Elizabeth (Ferguson), 1908-1986 (Sc 2546), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2546. Laura Elizabeth Richardson’s notebook containing holographic notes about the history of quilting. Notebook includes hand executed quilt pattern images in ink, poems, definitions of quilting terms, and textile descriptions. Includes notes about the provenance of Richardson’s quilt collectionand her furniture.