Date Original
1954-1957
Description
This collection contains programs, letters, and postcards.
Biographical/Historical Note
The Ozark Folklore Society, aka. Arkansas Folklore Society, was founded on April 30, 1949, at an informal meeting convened by poet John Gould Fletcher, who was then serving as artist-in-residence at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County), and held in the study of folklorist Vance Randolph in Eureka Springs (Carroll County). Fletcher was named president and Randolph vice president. Just over a year later, on May 10, 1950, Fletcher drowned himself in a pond near his house in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Randolph assumed the office of president. In the first issue of its newsletter, Ozark Folklore Society, Randolph stated the mission of the society: “We believe that the Ozark region of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma has a richer store of traditional culture than any comparable area in the United States. The purpose of the Ozark Folklore Society is to collect such material and deposit it in the archives at the University of Arkansas.” The society went dormant about 1960 despite its membership of nearly 300. It was reorganized in 1978 with Dr. Tate C. “Piney” Page, former professor at Western Kentucky University, as president; David Newbern, an early administrator of the Ozark Folk Center, as vice president; and Robert Cochran, Parler’s successor as folklore professor at UA, as secretary. The announced intention was to provide a framework for folklore research, continuing to use the University of Arkansas Libraries as a clearinghouse and archival repository. Since that time, with the deaths of many of the original members and supporters of the society, work in Ozark and popular culture has been subsumed into the activities of the university’s Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Arkansas
Language
English
Identifier
SMC.099.004
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Arkansas Folklore Society papers, SMC.099.004
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Arkansas Folklore Society papers, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
