Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Regional Folk Beliefs, Edward D. Ives

Dr. Edward D. Ives Papers

This accession contains over 4,000 folk beliefs organized on individual, 4x6-inch index cards. A majority of the belief cards were collected by students participating during the 1960s as part of the American Folklore course taught by Dr. Edward D. “Sandy” Ives. Folk beliefs originate primarily from Maine and the Maritimes, but occasionally extend into other areas. Each download contains a copy of the 1965 syllabus for American Folklore, explaining the assignment given to students.

Please Note: A significant number of these cards are handwritten and are not currently available as typed transcriptions. The belief cards are organized into categories noted …

Ethnography Of Reading Comic Books, Azadeh Najafian

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis explores why adults read comic books. This research used the ethnographic method and interviewing eleven people, four women, seven male, as its primary source. Based on information and common themes gathered from interviews, I built this thesis into one introduction, three body chapters, and a conclusion.

In the first chapter, I argued that comics could function the same as myths and explained this function and related examples under the “mythic effect” name. In the second chapter, I discussed how my informants use reading comics as a means to escape their everyday lives and how sometimes this escapism carries …

La Llorona, Picante Pero Sabroso: The Mexican Horror Legend As A Story Of Survival And A Reclamation Of The Monster, Camille Maria Acosta

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For centuries, the relationship between Mexico and its infatuation with scary stories has been profoundly complex, but why? Perhaps it is the easiest way to communicate a Mexican culture, although proud and resilient, riddled with haunting narratives. For myself personally, the Mexican horror narrative La Llorona has served as a lens for conversation and communication that is unique and important.

In this thesis, I explore how Mexicans and Mexican Americans alike use the legend of La Llorona as a unique form of communication through personifying what truly haunts us. From using the narrative as a tool for entertainment, cautionary tales, …

Ferrell, Ann Katherine, B. 1972 (Fa 1381), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1381. Interview conducted on 11 December 2019 by Ann Ferrell with Michael Ann Williams, who discusses her education and academic career as a folklorist and vernacular architecture historian. From 1987-2018, Williams was a faculty member in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University.

Barnes, Mada (Fa 1317), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1317. Paper titled "Farming Lore" by Mada Barnes for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Barnes provides brief farming lore collected chiefly from farmers in the Monroe County, Kentucky area. Some categories include: Chickens and eggs, Cattle, Snakes, Hunting and fishing... Informant names are provided and sometimes an address.

Documenting Tradition: Images From The Kentucky Folklife Program Archives (Fa 777), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 777. Photographs and captions used for a 2013 exhibit at the Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University, titled "Documenting Tradition: Images from the Kentucky Folklife Program Archives" featuring images form the KFP Archives that were transferred to WKU in 2013.

Mccartt-Jackson, Sarah, B. 1982 (Fa 1290), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1290. Student collection titled “’Clogging’s Just Clogging’: The Richard McHargue Cloggers and Approaches to Vernacular Percussive Dance Study” in which Sarah McCartt-Jackson conducts an interview with Richard McHargue, a clogging instructor from Richmond, Kentucky. The interview contains McHargue’s early dancing memories, clogging terms, and opinions about the contemporary state of clogging. The collection also contains a partial transcript, fieldnotes, interview questions, content index, photographs, and the recorded audio interview on CD.

Brennan, Mary Kate (Fa 1284), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1284. Student interview conducted by Mary Kate Brennan with renowned Appalachian poet Jim Wayne Miller. Brennan’s focus throughout the interview is on “the cultural sensitivity and awareness that permeates Miller’s poetry.” Miller also touches on what he considers to be the central themes of his work, the struggles and triumphs of communities within the Appalachian region, and pride in cultural heritage. The collection contains a detailed index, interview summary, transcription, index cards with questions, and a reel-to-reel audio tape of the interview.

Tuell, Gwynne (Fa 1279), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1279. Student paper titled “Folktales and Sayings” in which Gwynne Tuell gathers together a small number of materials relating to popular beliefs, proverbs, and superstitions.

Kohlmeyer, Kandy (Fa 1278), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1278. Student paper titled “Texas Legends” in which Kandy Kohlmeyer gathers together two tales, one known as “The Legend of Armicosa Mission” and the other “The Legend of the Vision.” In her brief preface, Kohlmeyer explains that she collected the tales from a Mexican woman named Francis Garcia while Kohlmeyer was on vacation in Alice, Texas.

Harper, Laura (Fa 1277), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1277. Student paper titled “Beliefs, Planting and Weather Signs, and Place Names” in which Laura Harper gathers together a number of practices and ideas based on traditional folklore wisdom. Harper collected the information from family members and neighbors. The paper includes handwritten note cards arranged by theme.

Parker, Sandra (Fa 1269), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1269. Student paper titled “Dormitory Stories” in which Sandra Parker collects variants and subtypes of a popular urban legend regarding a student’s death on Western Kentucky University’s campus. Parker provides a brief historic background on the tale and addresses common motifs present in a majority of the narratives. Parker gathered stories from two other WKU students.

Williams, Pat (Fa 1270), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1270. Student paper titled “Jump Rope Rhymes” in which Pat Williams gathers together an assortment of grade-school rhymes and chants. Williams collected material from friends and family members, and the paper includes a brief biography of each informant.

George, John R. (Fa 1267), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1267. Student paper titled “Buried Alive” in which John George collects variants of a popular urban legend regarding a young woman who was buried alive with a valuable piece of jewelry, most often alarge diamond ring. George gathered stories from residents who lived in several counties throughout Kentucky.

Dailey, Jan (Fa 1268), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1268. Student paper titled “The Dorm Death: An Analysis of a Tale” in which Jan Dailey collects variants and subtypes of a popular urban legend regarding a student’s death on WKU’s campus. Dailey provides a brief historic background on the tale and addresses common motifs present in a majority of the narratives. Dailey gathered stories from multiple students living on WKU’s campus.

Watkins, Ronald (Fa 1266), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1266. Student paper titled “An Historic-Geographic Study of the ‘Face in the Wall’” in which Ronald Watkins attempts to locate the exact origins of a popular folktale. Ronald examines fifty variants of the same narrative and outlines traits found in each tale. The paper includes summaries of archetypes, characters, settings, and facial features of the apparition. Watkins gathered his stories from a volume title Indiana Folklore written by Ronald Baker in 1969.

Drake, Marilyn (Fa 1265), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1265. Student paper titled “A Historic-Geographic Study of Tale Type 990” in which Marilyn Drake attempts to locate the origins of a folktale about a woman buried with a ring on her finger. The paper examines subtypes, variants, and archetypes of the tale and includes motifs present in each narrative. Drake collected her folktales from informants in south central Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and England.

Future Of Appalachian Culture, Emily Hilliard, Travis Stimeling, Michael Kline, Carrie Kline, Trevor Mckenzie, Nancy Abrams, Torey Siebart, Chris Haddox, Mehmet Oztan, West Virginia University Press

Exhibit Panels

Appalachia is often associated with its traditional arts and culture, but that does not mean that we are stuck in the past. Local traditions often play a crucial role in galvanizing forward-thinking cultural institutions, involving artists and workers alike in making new futures that are still distinctively Appalachian. This section of the exhibit highlights this kind of work from the West Virginia Humanities Council, Arthurdale Heritage, and more, connecting to a traditional past to new traditions yet to be forged.

Bastin, Glen (Fa 1241), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1241. Collection of 38 cassette tapes featuring Glen Bastin's regional public affairs syndicated radio program, "Pondering Kentucky: The Magazine." A contents list was prepared and appears at the end of this finding aid.

Mccurry, Pam (Fa 1222), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1222. Student paper titled “Games and Toys” in which Pam McCurry examines various expressions of childhood material culture. McCurry interviewed close family and friends to gather information for her paper, which includes brief descriptions of each informant, and hand-drawn illustrations of assorted knick-knacks and trinkets.

Ohio River Survey (Fa 656), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 656. Kentucky Folklife Program project titled: “Ohio River Survey,” which includes interviews, tape logs, photographs and other documentation of folklife along the Ohio River in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Interviews may include a description of belief, traditional occupation, practice, craft, or tool, informant’s name, age, birth date, and address.

Upton, Pamela J. (Fa 1193), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1193. Student paper titled “Black and White Attitudes on a College Campus and Their Possible Relations to Folklore” in which Pamela Upton analyzes data from a survey to examine how feelings regarding race are expressed through folkloric beliefs and practices. Upton provides a copy of each type of questionnaire that was given to students and offers insight into the predominant and prevailing attitudes on WKU’s campus during the early 1970s.

Craig, Patricia (Fa 1183), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1183. Student paper titled “Folk Remedies” in which Patricia Craig gathers together traditional herbal remedies and folkloric practices as they relate to health and healing. Craig collected information from close relatives, friends, and other residents of Muhlenberg County.

Among The Palms1, Lee Haring

Publications and Research

Born out of the convergence of intellectual traditions and owning a borrowing capacity analogous to the one that engenders creole languages, the study of folklore, or folkloristics, claims the right to adapt and remodel political, psychological, and anthropological insights, not only for itself but for the humanities disciplines of philosophy, art, literature, and music (the “PALM” disciplines). Performance-based folkloristics looks like a new blend, or network, of elements from several of those. What looks like poaching, which is a common practice for folksong and folk narrative, can be examined in the PALM disciplines under names like intertextuality and plagiarism. Nation-oriented …

Ivey, Janice (Fa 1144), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1144. Student paper titled “Folklore Study: Paul Bunyan,” in which Janice Ivey collects traditional oral narratives relating to famed folk icon Paul Bunyan. Ivey, who gathered stories from family members, also touches briefly on the claims of authenticity surrounding Paul Bunyan and his relationship to lumber camps in the early 20^th century.

Clarke, Kenneth Wendell, B. 1917 (Mss 635), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 635. Manuscripts, notes, publisher’s correspondence, and photographs relating to the scholarly work of WKU English and folklore professor Kenneth W. Clarke, principally "Bud Long: The Birth of a Kentucky Folk Legend" and "The Harvest and the Reapers."

On Being Trans: Narrative, Identity, Performance, And Community, Chloe Jo Brown

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis focuses on various topics related to transgender identity and culture. Through a combination of ethnographic and secondary research, I studied transgender coming out narratives, trans media representation, transgender performance and identity, and conceptualizations of group and chosen family in a community of trans students, the WKU Transgender and Non-Binary Student Group.

The three chapters of my thesis address some of the traditional milestones of a trans person’s acculturation: coming out, constructing one’s newly discovered trans identity, and finding community. Chapter 1 explores coming out as transgender, and the way in in which coming out is valued and discussed …

Monstrous Maternity: Folkloric Expressions Of The Feminine In Images Of The Ubume, Michaela Leah Prostak

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ubume is a ghost of Japanese folklore, once a living woman, who died during either pregnancy or childbirth. This thesis explores how the religious and secular developments of the ubume and related figures create a dichotomy of ideologies that both condemn and liberate women in their roles as mothers. Examples of literary and visual narratives of the ubume as well as the religious practices that were employed for maternity-related concerns are explored within their historical contexts in order to best understand what meaning they held for people at a given time and if that meaning has changed. These meanings …

Bodylore And Dress, Amy K. Milligan

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

Bodylore includes the ways in which the body is used as a canvas for inherited and chosen identity. Bodylore considers the symbolic inventory of dress and hair, addressing a range of identities from conservative religious groups like the Amish and the Hasidim to edgy goth and punk devotees. The body is scripted in portrayals of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, and politics, including such topics as tattoos, piercing, scarification, hair covering and styling, traditional and folk dress, fashion, and body modification. The central bodylore questions are whether individuals choose consciously or subconsciously to engage with their performative body, as well …

Hay, William G. (Fa 951), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 951. Paper titled: “Hardin Springs.” Includes description, terms, beliefs, and photos of Hardin Springs and the watermill in Hardin County, Kentucky.