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Carey Woofter, Compiler, Folklore of West Virginia 5.8 Linear Feet Summary: 5 ft. 10 in. (11 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 records carton, 15 in.)

Woofter, Carey.
Folklore of West Virginia collected by Woofter, who was a student of John Harrington Cox and Louis Watson Chappell. The collection consists of a card file of approximately 10,000 folklore items, including superstitions, sayings, riddles, remedies and tales, as well as a pair of unpublished bound volumes entitled FOLKLORE OF WEST VIRGINIA containing folklore and folksongs with musical notation by Woofter's protege Patrick Gainer. While Woofter never published his discoveries, he did supply materials to important publications by John Harrington Cox and Josiah Combs.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Charles E. Pittman, Author, Manuscripts of Short Stories 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in. (1 folder)

Pittman, Charles E.
Two unpublished West Virginia-related short stories authored by donor, Charles E. Pittman. 'The Westernfield' and 'Simon and the Mystic' are works of fiction based on interviews conducted by Pittman with West Virginians. Both are set in the Seneca region, center around main character 'Simon McElvoy,' a simple mountain man, and highlight rural West Virginian culture and folklore. Onego, West Virginia, McElvoys hometown, is located in the Seneca region. Also includes a photographic portrait of Simon McElvoy.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Jack W. Preble Papers 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Preble, Jack W.

Original manuscript of Land of Canaan. Plain Tales from the Mountains of West Virginia (1960) by Jack Preble.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Jack W. Preble Papers 0.19 Linear Feet Summary: 2 1/4 in. (1 folder, 1/2 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Preble, Jack W.

Material includes a clipping scrapbook of Preble's column on hunting and fishing published in the Steubenville Herald Star, 1939-1942; miscellaneous clippings on Tucker County local history published in the Davis News, 1939; correspondence, 1940-1941, 13 items concerning the Mountain Lake, Maryland folk music festival, and the David H. Strother Memorial. Other newspaper clippings deal with Preble's spelunking activities and snake hunting. Correspondents include Felix G. Robinson and Jennings Randolph.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

John Harrington Cox, Collector, Papers regarding West Virginia Folklore 8.7 Linear Feet 8 ft. 8 in. (20 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 flat storage box, 1 1/2 in.)

Papers of John Harrington Cox, collector of West Virginia folklore material. Includes manuscripts, typescripts, printed material, sheet music, and newspaper clippings regarding folk songs and folk tales collected by John Harrington Cox and the West Virginia Folklore Society. Some of this material was used by Cox in his Harvard University dissertation of 1923, titled The Ballads and Songs of West Virginia, as well as in his book Folk-Songs of the South, published in 1925 by Harvard University Press. There are also book draft typescripts, dissertation typescripts, and correspondence pertaining to the collection of folklore material by Cox and the West Virginia Folklore Society. For more detail, see the Scope and Content note. For more information on John Harrington Cox and his work with the West Virginia Folklore Society, see the Historical note.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Marion County, White Day Creek History 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 2 1/2 in. (1 document case)

White Day Creek Watershed Association

Records regarding the history of the White Day Creek region of Marion County, WV. There are also photocopies of primary sources of information supplementary to the White Day Creek book, including: letters and financial ledger of the Watson family (1820-1890); essay titled "Smithtown Local History" (1922); business ledger of George Washington Stevens, a cobbler (1890s); deeds and estate sale documents of William Morris (1854); grist mill business ledger of Sam Smith (1894); financial ledger and "folk wisdom" of Levi Devault (ca. 1875-1900); and the history of the Weaver family, including estate sale information (1854). The history of education in Marion County is documented in the photocopied "1992 Dedication of the Snodgrass One-Room Schoolhouse Museum; October 30, 1992." (Original in Printed Ephemera Collection.) This dedication program also features a reminiscence of Ethel Ferrell (b. 1898), a Marion County school teacher.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Milspaw Folklore Collection, Typescripts, Tapes, and Films 3.3 Linear Feet Summary: 3 ft. 4 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each)

Milspaw, Yvonne
A collection of student term papers, submitted to a class in American Folklore, taught by Yvonne Milspaw of West Virginia University. The papers relate to legends, ghost stories, ballads, folk medicine, recipes, crafts, social customs, and games. A card file indicating the subject matter of each paper is included with the collection.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Monroe County Reminiscences 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (10 pages in 1 folder)

Hardy, Billy Meredith, Collector
Typescripts of the reminiscences of several residents of Monroe County, including Isaac Wilson, which Billy Meredith Hardy recorded in 1933 in Indian Creek. The reminiscences are both humorous and serious. Subjects include a murder and hanging, the naming of Buzzard's Run, women's sad stories, and typhoid fever, among others. Also includes an essay which describes high school commencement week in Greenville in 1933, with particular attention to the first ever junior-senior banquet .
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

New River Symposiums Proceedings 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in.

New River Gorge National River (Agency : U.S.)
Compact disc of a searchable database of 1200 facsimile pages of New River Symposium Proceedings dating from 1982-1999. Articles in the Proceedings discuss the natural and cultural features of the New River region of West Virginia, including the following topics: botany, Civil War, coal mining, environmentalism, folklore, folk music, geology, Green Sulphur Springs, historic preservation, iron industry, native Americans, railroads, rivers (Bluestone, Gauley, New), transportation, and Mary Draper Ingles.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

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