American Popular Culture Commons^™

Poindexter, Karen S. (Fa 225), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 225. Paper: "A Ghostly Experience in Breeding, Kentucky" written by Karen S. Poindexter for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Norris, Keith (Fa 226), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 226. Paper: "Superntaural Storytelling Session and Subsequent Events Which Occurred in Jefferson County, Kentucky" written by Keith Norris for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Glynn, Luanne Carol Aylesworth (Fa 229), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 229. Paper: "[Folk Medical Beliefs About Illness]" written by Luanne Carol Aylesworth Glynn for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Edwards, Jennifer L. (Fa 220), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 220. Paper: "Folk Medical Beliefs Concerning Colds or the Flu" written by Jennifer L. Edwards for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Cecil, Pam (Fa 222), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 222. Paper: "Thanksgiving" written by Pam Cecil for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Grant, Erin M. (Fa 235), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 235. Paper: "Goal Posts and Parking Lots" written by Erin M. Grant for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Ferguson, Joseph W. (Fa 236), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 236. Paper: "Folklore in Greeting Cards" written by Joseph W. Ferguson for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class. Nine greeting cards demonstrating folklore motifs are included with the paper.

Bullington, Mose (Fa 207), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 207. Paper: "Personal Narratives Related to Natural Disasters" written by Mose Bullington for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Fitzpatrick, Miriam (Fa 208), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 208. Paper: "I Remember When...[Manners, Customs and Games in New Albany, Mississippi]" written by Miriam Fitzpatrick for a Western Kentucky University English class.

Boarman, Dawn M. (Fa 217), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 217. Paper: "Halloween: Monsters and Myths" written by Dawn M. Boarman for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Coburn, Rhonda (Fa 212), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 212. Paper: "Famous Ghost Legends at Western Kentucky University" written by Rhonda Coburn for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project

Cederquist, Nancy (Fa 206), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 206. Paper: "Local Ghost Legends of the Bowling Green-Warren County Area" written by Nancy Cederquist for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Haunting Experiences: Ghosts In Contemporary Folklore, Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, Jeannie B. Thomas

All USU Press Publications

Ghosts and the supernatural appear throughout modern culture, in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts. Popular media's commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from what people believe about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Belief and tradition and the popular or commercial nevertheless continually feed off each other. They frequently share space in how people think about the supernatural. In Haunting Experiences, three well-known folklorists broaden the discussion of ghost lore by examining it from multiple angles in various modern contexts. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas take ghosts seriously. They …

What Goes Around Comes Around: The Circulation Of Proverbs In Contemporary Life, Kimberly J. Lau, Peter Tokofsky, Stephen D. Winick

All USU Press Publications

In this collection of essays, prominent folklorists look at varied modern uses and contexts of proverbs and proverbial speech, some traditional and conventional, others new and unexpected. After the editors' introduction discussing the history and status of attempts to define proverbs, describing their contemporary circulation, and acknowledging the especially important work of paremiologist Wolfgang Meider, the contributions examine the continuing pervasiveness and idiomatic relevance of proverbs in modern culture.

The Pitchman In Print: Oral Performance Art In Text And Context, Joseph Ugoretz

Publications and Research

Oral performance art, patterned performative speech for an audience, is perhaps the oldest and most ubiquitous human art form. Specific instances of this art include the performances of griots and guslars, troubadors and shamans, as well as rappers and riddlers, preachers and politicians. While this art form is by definition oral, it is also the case that, frequently, literary art has represented oral performance art. There is written art which depicts oral art, which describes it, appropriates it, criticizes and co‑opts it.

In this dissertation, I define oral performance art as constituting a separate and unique artistic genre, one which …

Brown, Bethany D. (Fa 174), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 174. "The Folklore in Cosmetic Advertising", a paper written by Bethany D. Brown for a WKU folk studies class. "Redbook" magazine is referenced.

Interview With Yvonne Dodge Regarding Sarah Gertrude Knott (Fa 459), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Yvonne Dodge, Princeton, Kentucky, conducted by Michael Ann Williams regarding the life of Sarah Gertrude Knott and her sister Gladys Knott. Dodge discusses the Knott family, but the majority of the interview focuses on Sarah's personal and professional life, including her work with the National Folk Festival.

Interview With Joe Hickerson Regarding Sarah Gertrude Knott (Fa 459), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Joe Hickerson at the Library of Congress regarding Sarah Gertrude Knott and the National Folk Festival. Also includes discussions about folk music, folk musicians, and the National Council for the Traditional Arts.

The Altered Mobile Home: A Stationary Image Of Work And Value, Gregory Kendall Jenkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As the medium cost of conventional housing rises, many people unable to incur such an expense look for alternative forms of adequate housing. In rural areas surrounding Bowling Green, Kentucky, several families have utilized the mobile home as a base to expand, embellish, and personalize, creating a larger more conventional-looking home. Many of these altered homes possess gabled roofs, rock exterior walls, and expansive interior space. Of primary concern is: why have these families undertaken a project of this nature?

As material culture scholars and folklorists examine our built environment, they find relationship between construction and the builders. What can …

Interview With Randall Grider And Ginnie Mae Grider About The Float Building Tradition In Tompkinsville, Kentucky (Fa 401), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of an interview of Randall and Ginnie Mae Grider conducted by Nancy Clay Hundley about the float building tradition at Tompkinsville High School in Tompkinsville, Kentucky. The Griders describe the whole float making process and the activities created through the building of a float. The emotions of the people involved in the process were also discussed. This project was completed as part of a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Freak Show Images From The Ron Becker Collection, Robert Bogdan

The Courier

This article details the rise of freak shows from 1840 to 1940 in America, drawing from the extensive collection found in the Ron Becker Collection in the Syracuse University Special Collections. The exhibits played upon the superstitions and prejudices of popular American culture, and every exhibit was a fraud of some sort. The photographs of these "human curiosities" fascinated Ron Becker, who amassed a collection of the photos, mostly from the photographers Charles Eisenmann and Frank Wendt.

Interview With Irene Taylor Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Irene Taylor conducted by Christopher Carey for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." In this brief interview Taylor discusses a general store in Hancock County, Kentucky called the Duncan store as well as one-room schools and the consolidation of schools. She also mentions the Chestnut Grove school in Hancock County.

Interview With Mittie Dame Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Mittie Dame conducted by Judi Hetrick for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Dame discusses her life and times including information about growing up in Calhoun, McLean County, Kentucky, her early marriage, entertainment, rural electrification, radios, refrigerators, social life and customs, Halloween pranks, moonshining, and farming.

Interview With Oda Shouse, Sr. And Clara Shouse Regarding Their Lives (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Oda Shouse, Sr. and Clara Shouse conducted by Keith Smith for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Mr. Shouse does most of the speaking. He discusses his life and times including information about floods, the Great Depression, tobacco farming, rural medicine, rural electrification, automobiles and telephones.

Interview With Mary Bryant (Benton) Fitts Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Mary Brant (Benton) Fitts conducted by Karen Owen for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Fitts discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in Utica and Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky, her children, social life and customs, race relations, World War II, and sundry other topics. Mrs. Fitts was a housewife and mother of two.

Interview With Gwendolyn Johnston Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Gwendolyn Johnston conducted by Keith Smith for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949."   Johnston discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in West Louisville, Kentucky, education, games, a tornado that struck Louisville in the 1890s, automobiles, the Ku Klux Klan, Ronald Wilson Reagan, and parochial schools.

Interview With Allyene Gregory Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Allyene Gregory conducted by Steve Vied for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Gregory discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in Sorgho, Daviess County, Kentucky, education, childhood games, her father's farm, African Americans, social customs and historic events in the community, as well as her teaching career.

Interview With Lattie Edds And Essie Thomason Regarding Their Lives (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Lattie Edds and Essie Thomason conducted by Judi Hetrick for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." They discuss their life and times, including information about growing up in McLean County and Hancock County, Kentucky, social life and customs, weaving, childhood chores and games, teachers and teaching, one-room schools, farms and farming, courtship, televisions, radios, the Great Depression, floods, and influenza.

Interview With Lena Stolsworth Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Lena Stolsworth conducted by Kim Parson for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Stolsworth discusses her life and times, including information about growing up on a farm in Ohio County, Kentucky, education, social life and customs, floods, the Great Depression and World War II.

Gregory, Corinne Taylor, B. 1904 (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Corinne Taylor Gregory conducted by Charlotte Postlewaite for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Gregory discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in Ohio County, Kentucky, the Great Depression, horse racing, company stores, coal towns, courtship, and social life and customs.