Folklore Commons^™

Res Historica, Volume 5, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette Phd

Res Historica

The 2026 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, Julia Ackerman, Callyn Wright, Logan Davis, and John Hinton. Cover art by Mary Beth Lee.

Interpreting “Vampire” Burials In Medieval Eastern Europe, Arleen Chau

Undergraduate Research Posters

Since the early twentieth century, various atypical or deviant graves have been excavated across Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland. These discoveries have prompted much speculation, as the individuals were interred with items such as sickles placed over their necks or abdomens, along with other mortuary artifacts not considered normative compared to those found in typical community burials. Such practices suggest that these individuals were regarded as deviant or pariahs within their social contexts. Consequently, many have been quick to label these as “vampire burials,” interpreting them as measures intended to keep the dead from rising. However, this definition is problematic, …

Georgia Ghosts: History, Folklore, And The Roots Of The Southern Gothic, Katherine M. Mcdowell

Master's Projects

There is something quintessentially human about ghost stories, yet particular regions tend to be more powerfully associated with haunted folktales than others. One of the regions is the southeastern United States. In fact, these oral traditions appear to have influenced the area's best-known literary subgenre: the Southern Gothic.

Why is the South considered haunted? Are there particular qualities in historical events that make them more likely to engender ghost stories? What makes the South's folkloric spirits so powerful that they appear even in modern literature? Most of all, what connects the region's history and folklore with the Southern Gothic? By …

Witches On The Wind: Weather Magic In New England Folktales, Zephyros Quinn Craven

Thinking Matters Symposium

The English language folktales collected from coastal New England in the 19^th and 20^th centuries display a prominence of weather magic motifs compared with folktales from other regions of the United States. This paper aims to explain the success of the weather magic theme in New England folklore collections and to serve as a starting point for scholarly discourse on the subject, which has hitherto been sparse. This study utilizes climate research, both scholarly and popular collections of folktales, local travel guides, and colonial and labor histories. Through a combination of historical analysis, comparative study, and textual analysis, …

Dancers Of The Book: Yemenite, Persian, And Kurdish Jewish Dance, Quinn Bicer

Anthós

Despite the cultural significance of dance in Jewish communities around the world, research into Middle Eastern Jewish dance outside of the modern nation-state of Israel is sorely under-researched. This article aims to help rectify this by focusing on Yemenite, Persian/Iranian, and Kurdish Jewish dance and explores how these dancers have functioned and been received within the societies they have been a part of. The methods that have gone into this article are a combination of analyzing primary source recorded dances and existing secondary source research into the dance of these communities. Through these methods, this article reveals how Yemenite, Iranian, …

An Amazonianist And His History, Victor Cova, Juan Pablo Sarmiento

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Res Historica, Volume 2, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2023 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg. Johnathan Sorce, and Helen Smith. Cover art for this volume by Helen Smith.

Animal-Human Vocabulary Builder, Domenick Acocella, Rene Cordero

Open Educational Resources

The assignment helps students individually build a usable, expanding vocabulary of terms and concepts, enabling each to further contribute to the ongoing, evolving written, oral, and visual conversations centered on the use of and thought about animals for food, clothing, work, entertainment, experimentation, imagery, and companionship.

The Poetry Of History: Irish National Imagination Through Mythology And Materiality, Ryan Fay

English Honors Theses

The thesis culminates in the twentieth century and yet it begins with the Ulster Cycle, a period of Irish mythological history that occurred around the first century common era. Indeed, since the time frame was before the arrival of the Gaels, Normans, or Christianity, the extent of this mythology’s relevance today is whatever extent it is conceptualized as “Irish.” As such, the first chapter locks onto an aspect that could feasibly transcend time and resonate with modern Irish society: gender. Of course, the epistemological dynamics of gender^[1] in the first-century common era are vastly different than the twentieth century …

Branham, Mary Lou (Fa 1340), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of collection (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 1340. Local lore collected in Barren County, Kentucky by Mary Lou Branham for a folk studies class at Campbellsville College, Campbellsville, Kentucky. Survey sheets include a brief narrative, date, informant’s name and location.

Clarke, Kenneth Wendell, B. 1917 (Fa 1304), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1304. Project titled “Place Names [Clark County, Indiana],” which includes details about the folk names of sites in Clark County, Indiana. The paper may include the traditional name of the site, the history of the site’s folk name, and its location.

Kimbler, Jewel (Fa 1303), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1303. Student folk studies project titled: “History of Columbia, Kentucky, 1920’s and 1930’s,” which includes interviews with Mason Judd and Callie Huff about their early lives in Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky. Interviews are found on cassette tapes 1420 and 1422, which are also stored in the Sound Archives.

Antle, Ruth Ann (Fa 1302), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1302. Student folk studies project completed by Ruth Ann Antle titled: “Parvin Reece History Project,” which includes an interview with Parvin Egbert Reece about his life in Montpelier, Adair County, Kentucky. Interview is found on cassette tape 1451, which is also stored in the Sound Archives.

Grape, Virginia (Fa 1301), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1301. Student project titled “Place Name Legend: Lickskillet, Kentucky,” which includes a project with a brief description of the history of Lickskillet in Logan County, Kentucky. Project includes descriptions of sites, photos, and the names and addresses of the informants.

Wheeldon, Jeffrey (Fa 1256), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1256. Student project titled “Origin of Place Names [Pulaski County, Kentucky],” completed for a geography class at Campbellsville College. Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of Pulaski County, Kentucky, sites. Sheets may include name of the site, location, history, and informant’s name and age.

Cox, Hilda-Gay (Fa 1239), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1239. Student folk studies project titled “Sequent Occupance of the Main Business District of Hodgenville, Kentucky,” which includes a list of illustrations with brief descriptions of residents and buildings in the main business district of Hodgenville, LaRue County, Kentucky. List entries may include a brief description of building, resident, location, donor, and photo.

Warren, Kaye (Fa 1150), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1150. Student folk studies project titled “From Slavery to Freedom for the Negro Race in Logan County [Kentucky]” which includes survey sheets with a brief description of African American life in Logan County, Kentucky. Sheets may include interviews, written records, photographs, informant’s name, age, and address.

Hines, Joseph R. (Fa 1077), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project FA 1077. Paper titled “The Saga of the Navigable Green and Barren Rivers” by Joseph R. Hines in which he discusses the development of the rivers for slack water navigation and anecdotal information, collected from individuals familiar with the history, culture and lore of the two rivers.

Reesor, Gary (Fa 1068), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1068. Paper titled “Legends and Tales of Bullitt County” by Gary Reesor based on an interview with Ivy McBride of Bullitt County, Kentucky. McBride provides tales, legends, ghost stories, and information about traditional folk ways in Bullitt County, Kentucky.

Molden, Roy (Fa 963), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 963. Project titled: “The Chestnut Farmstead.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions ofbuildings and implements on the Chestnut family farm in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description and photo.

Watson, Betty Lou (Fa 959), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 959. Paper titled: “Under the Waves.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of the valley and its farm life to be flooded by the Green River Reservoir in the Pennyroyal Region of Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, informant’s name, illustrations, and photos of the area.

Early, Laura (Fa 888), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folkilfe Archives Project 888. Title: “Spirit of the Ohio.” Project includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of buildings in Meade County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description of each building.

Walker, Joyce (Fa 868), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 868. Paper titled: “Possum Hunters: A Vigilance Committee.” Project includes a short interpretive paper and interviews with one former member (unidentified) and several people who remembered the Possum Hunters in Muhlenburg County, Kentucky. Sheets include transcribed interviews and informant’s name. The Possum Hunters was a common name given to vigilante groups in the Green River valley.

Walker, Edith (Fa 870), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 870. Project titled: "Joe Coleman: A Local Legend." Includes typescripts of interviews and survey sheets collected by Edith Walker about Joe Coleman, an accused murderer in Cumberland County, Kentucky. Survey sheets includes lines of a ballad about Coleman and various informant's memories of the ballad or the veracity of the incident in Adair County, Kentucky.

Fish, Dianne (Fa 859), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 859. Paper: “A Collection of Breckinridge County Folklore.” This project was conducted by Dianne Fish for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

The Heritage Of The Mississippi County Nurse-Midwife Service, Charles Zenon Baclawski

Student Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi County Nurse Midwife Program began during a conversation between two people in 1974. The agency was originally organized to improve access to medical care for women in Blytheville, Arkansas. However, it quickly evolved into a tool of changing deep seated attitudes of mistrust of male dominated orthodox medicine among poor and minority women. The effectiveness of the agency is founded in the acceptance of nurse-midwifery into the family of orthodox medical practice. This was a significant change from the decades-long narrative developed by orthodox medicine in Arkansas. The contributions of the nurse-midwife service are also found in the …

Knott County, Kentucky - Cultural Resource Survey (Fa 640), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 640. This collection features information and oral histories gathered from traditional artisans of Knott County, Kentucky.

Kentucky State University - Frankfort, Kentucky - Homecoming (Fa 639), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 639. This collection features documentation of the October 2007 Kentucky State University (KSU) Homecoming festivities, as well as KSU's presentation at the Kentucky Folklife Festival.

Eighth Of August Homecoming Emancipation Celebration - Paducah, Kentucky (Fa 635), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 635. This collection features information about the Eighth of August Homecoming Emancipation Celebration held in Paducah, Kentucky. At this celebration, African Americans pay tribute to their heritage with a memorial service, homecoming picnic, a salute to black music, and other activities.

Caldwell County, Kentucky - Cultural Resource Survey (Fa 622), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

This collection features information and oral histories gathered from residents of Caldwell County, Kentucky collected for a cultural survey of the county.