African American Studies Commons^™

Stewart, Karen (Fa 1273), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1273. Student paper titled “Negro Gospel Music at Barnes Chapel Methodist Church” in which Karen Stewart describes a singular all-day “singing” held at the church in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, in February 1971. Stewart offers a brief description of her fieldwork methods including research and recording and provides an abbreviated background on each of her musical informants. Stewart also recounts the songs that were sung and notes recurrent themes throughout the music. The paper also includes the words to each hymn, a black and white photograph of the performers, and two reel-to-reel audiotapes.

Forggett, Essie (Fa 1104), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1104. Student paper titled “Slavery in Green County” in which Essie Forggett details the history of the settlement of Green County and its eventual dependence upon slave labor. Forggett also includes stories of slave auctions, punishments, attempted escapes, and religious practices of slaves throughout the region. Paper is based on information collected by Forggett from county clerk records and in-person interviews with slave descendants.

Oldham, Barbara (Fa 924), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 924. Paper titled: “Negro Folklore.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of African American beliefs and superstitions in Ohio County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, informant’s name, and motif index number.

Cruse, Billy (Fa 917), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklilfe Archives Project 917. Project titled: “Negro Folklore.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of African American beliefs, epitaphs, and stories in Hart County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, informant’s name, and motif index number.

Bradley, Peggy And Dianah Logsdon (Fa 883), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Collection 883. Paper titled: “Negro Religious Beliefs.” Project includes survey sheets with descriptions of religious beliefs and practices of African Americans in Kentucky. Sheets include a description and informant’s name.

Brame, Lawrence R. (Fa 861), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 861. Collection consists of Negro spirituals collected from individuals in Kentucky. Song lyrics are provided along with the names of sources who provided each song. This project was conducted by Lawrence R. Brame for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Lee, James C. (Fa 857), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 857. Paper: “The Negro Church” which covers various aspects of the African American church experience, including songs, leadership, and self-expression. Titles and song lyrics are provided from the Eleventh Street Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This project was conducted by James C. Lee for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Richey, Nancy Carol, B. 1959 (Fa 575), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 575. Interview conducted on 21 February 2012 by Nancy Richey and Sue Lynn McDaniel with Angela Townsend regarding Jonesville, an African American community in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that was eliminated by an urban renewal project in the 1960s.

Taft, Ann Celine (Fa 49), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 49. Oral history interview with The Straightway Gospel Singers from Gallatin, Tennessee conducted by Ann Celine Taft for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Subsequent paper titled "The Straightway Gospel Singers" also included.

Shirley, Latrel, B. 1989 (Fa 543), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 543. Paper titled "The Bible Time Capsule" written by Latrel Shirley about Lisa Gail (Morrison) Shirley's Bible and the ephemera stored in it. Includes colored illustrations.

Reed, Ashlee Catara, B. 1986 (Fa 548), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text papers (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 548. Contains three papers: “Permanent Wave Machine,” “The Hot Comb” about African American hairstyling, and “The Telephone Switchboard,” about an early switchboard on display in Barren County, Kentucky. Includes color illustrations. This project was a requirement for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Hines, Thomas Collier, Jr. (Fa 7), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 7. Interviews conducted by Thomas Hines. Includes intervewis with Sarah Alice (Marcum) Roemer. The interviews include information about Alice Roemer's life, inlcuding her childhood, education, work and family experiences, with special emphasis on Thanksgiving customs.

Campbellsville - Taylor County, Kentucky Oral History Project (Fa 202), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 202. Project includes 22 interviews with African Americans concerning their lives as Taylor County, Kentucky residents. Interviews are on compact discs with interviewer's notes included. Topics discussed include: family life, when and why they live in Taylor County, childhood experiences, community involvement and personal opinions about Taylor County.

Saxton, Lashanda (Fa 359), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 359. Paper: "Home vs. College" written by LaShanda Saxton for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Interview With John Buell Edmonds (Fa 198), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with John Buell Edmonds conducted by Michelle Ross on 18 October 2000. The purpose of the interview was to discuss Edmonds involvement with gospel music, particularly his role as a worship and choir leader in the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Bowling Green, Kentucky. He discusses his musical background and his musical endeavors outside the church.

Trigg County, Kentucky African American Oral History Project (Fa 196), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid for Folklife Archives Project 196. Project by four WKU Folk Studies students in which they interviewed Trigg County, Kentucky African Americans about various aspects of their lives. Most of the individuals that were interviewed had a rural background and were born in the early 1900s. Interviews may be accessed by clicking on the "Additional Files" below.

Zora Neale Hurston: The Voice Of The Goddess, Mella Davis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Zara Neale Purston has re-emerged as an author of promise due to the re-appraisal of her works led by Alice Walker and Robert Hemenway. In both literary and folklore academic circles, Hurston's work has been reclaimed by African-American female scholars and writers, but still a significant study has yet to be done about her ethnographic contributions to folklore and her farsightedness in fieldwork methodology. This thesis seeks to validate her work as a folklorist, thereby dismissing the charges of popularization and amateurishness by re-examining her work. Mules and Men and Jonah's Gourd Vine are Hurston's two most influential folklore texts …

Ua37/30/2 Wku Research Notecards - F Topics, Lowell Harrison

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Notecards created by Lowell Harrison while researching his book Western Kentucky University. The cards transcribed below are for 259 topics beginning with F ranging from Faculty - Hunt to Future of Education.

The Cedar Grove Community In Oral Folk History, Ada Parker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The thesis was originally done for the Center for Intercultural & Folk Studies which no longer exists.

Ua77/1 Western Alumnus, Vol. 44, No. 4, Wku Alumni Association

WKU Archives Records

WKU alumni magazine. Features the following articles:

• Dilmarter, Ronald. What Is a Cave, Anyway?
• Gray, David. Water Quality Studied
• Snodgrass, Jim. Spelunking in Big Cave Country
• Morse, Mike. The People of Cave Country
• Wilson, Gordon. Remember When . . . Folklore of the Cave Region
• The Seventh Wonder 'Makes It' to Celluloid - 'First' Cave Film - Mammoth Cave
• 1+2+4=1 Great Season - Track & Field
• Given, Ed. The Little Man Who Stood Tall, Al Almond
• Sutherland, David. Teacher Corps: Western Interns Learn/Teach on the Job
• Thompson, Kelly. An Appreciation - Gordon Wilson
• Cassidy, Frederic. Importance of Depth Collecting - …

The Beeson Farmstead: A Study Of The Functional Aspects Of A Black Farm In The Richland Community, Annelen Archbold

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study documents the lifestyle on a small, prosperous black farmstead in the Richland community of Butler County, Kentucky. It is based on extensive fieldwork and interviews conducted with Percy Beeson, owner of the farm for aver fifty years. The result of the fieldwork and interviews was the documentation of how this farmstead, maintained without mechanical farm equipment, worked as a functional unit on a year-round basis.

As a functional unit, the Beeson farmstead is described in terms of the Beeson family and their ownership of the farm and the breakdown of the property into two dependent units. In the …

Ua77/1 Western Alumnus, Vol. 40, No. 2, Wku Alumni Relations

WKU Archives Records

Quarterly magazine created for WKU alumni. Regular features are Hilltopics, Sports, Alumni Newsgrams and Notes and In Memoriam. This issue includes:

• Graduate School (College) is On Its Way
• Evening Class is Thataway
• The Hilltopper Hundred to the Rescue
• ETV - Keep Watching, It's All in Color
• Student Interns Learn How Government Works
• Significant Statements: The New Year Begins
• Good News for Fishermen: Reservoir Research
• There it Was! Your Homecoming - 1971
• Performing Arts Illuminate the Campus Scene
• Discovery 1 - Uncovering the Kentucky of Antiquity
• Discovery 2 - Reviving the Heritage of Kentucky
• Discovery 3 - The Intercultural Studies Program …