Folklore and Folklife

Ann Pittman Missouri Folklore Project, 1997 (S0598)
0.4 cubic foot, 7 folders, 11 audio tapes

 Finding Aid

This collection contains an oral history project documenting the life of Ann Washington Pittman, an African American song folklorist and singer.

Sherman Lee Pompey Papers, no date (C3493)
0.5 cubic feet (8 folders)

 Finding Aid

The papers contain articles by Pompey on Ozark people, their religions and folk music, and the Civil War in Missouri. Lines and verses of songs are included.

"The Rambles of a School Boy in Saint Louis--1865," Charles P. Deatherage, no date (C1712)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Reminiscences of life in St. Louis in the 1860s. Deatherage wrote about the families on Madison Street, children's pastimes during summer vacations, and the construction of the Eads Bridge.

Ramsay Place Names File, 1928-1945 (C2366)
6 cubic feet (12 boxes), 4 rolls of microfilm

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Card file of origins of Missouri place names, compiled by students of Robert L. Ramsay, University of Missouri professor of English. Cards are in alphabetical order by place name.

Robert L. Ramsay Papers, 1918-1953 (C3230)
2.5 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, notes, rough drafts, revisions, and proof sheets for place names series with emphasis upon Missouri place names. Newspaper clippings about Ramsay and the place name articles. Small volumes of notes and prints pertaining to his academic classes, and sample student themes and bibliographies.

Vance Randolph Letter, 1934 (C2049)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

To Warren Douglas Meng, Jefferson City, MO, from Pittsburgh, KS, Oct. 16, 1934.

Answer to letter from Meng concerning crime songs sung by Negroes in a Missouri penitentiary.

Lyle Reed Collection, 1874-1998 (C4382)
1 cubic foot (52 folders)

 Finding Aid

Rare fiddle books, magazines, and other items related to the history of fiddle music collected by Lyle Reed and his wife, Marjorie Reed.

Reppy-Frissell-Drake Family Papers, 1860-1930 (C0155)
0.1 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Personal correspondence of a DeSoto, Missouri, family concerning the Civil War, relatives in the east, and family news. Additional Frissell family papers are available at the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis.

John W. Roberts Folklore Collection, 1975-1985 (CA4756)
6 cubic feet, 1 card file

 Finding Aid

Student papers and related materials received by a former University of Missouri-Columbia folklore professor.

Saint David's Welsh Society of Greater Kansas City Records, 1966-2015 (K1201)
2 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Organizational records including minutes, newsletters, memorabilia, rosters, photographs and two bound volumes. Also files for the 61st Annual Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu, held in Kansas City, MO.

Schrader-Holtschneider Family Papers, 1868-1959 (C3773)
0.8 cubic feet (38 folders)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains papers of the Schrader and Holtschneider families of Rich Fountain, Osage County, Missouri. They were farmers, merchants, postmasters, and county judges. Papers include correspondence, business and legal papers, post office records, and school district records.

Adolf E. and Rebecca B. Schroeder Collection, 1550, 1800-1804, 1913-2012 (C4483)
19.0 cubic feet (458 folders), 233 audio cassettes, 28 audio discs, 41 audio tapes, 80 video cassettes, 1 CD, 2 rolls microfilm, 1 film, 8 oversize items, 104 KB of digital files

 Finding Aid

The papers of Adolf Schroeder, professor of German at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and his wife Rebecca, editor of the Missouri Heritage Readers, including their work with European-American oral histories and Missouri folklore and folk music.

Adolf E. and Rebecca Schroeder Folk Song and Folklore Collection, 1957-1987 (C3826)
0.2 cubic feet (9 folders), 184 audio cassettes, 2 audio discs, 23 audio tapes, 2 video cassettes

 Finding Aid

The collection contains recordings and related material of Missouri and Ozark folk musicians and folklor­ists, primarily Max Hunter, Loman Cansler, and R.P. Christeson. The recordings include songs and discus­sions on many aspects of folk song collecting and folklore.

Art A. Schweighauser Collection, 1713-1945 (C3762)
0.35 cubic feet (9 folders, 1 volume)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains items from the Bezold family of Montgomery and Gasconade Counties in Missouri. There are many school-related items from 1879-1917. Also included are sermons in German by Reverend Niedhammer and a family history of John Jacob Meunzenmayer, who lived in Franklin County.

Elvira Ascenith Weir Scott Diary, 1860-1887 (C1053)
0.2 cubic feet

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Typescript photocopy of diary of a woman from Miami, Missouri, including descriptive observations on the themes of home, family, and religion, as well as the impact of the Civil War on life in her own community and region.

"Seeing the Light," Arthur E. Holbrook, 1950 (C2135)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Account of photographing "The Light at Hornet," an unidentified light in Newton County, MO, August 11, 1950.

Sheppard Family Papers, 1844-1877 (C0429)
0.13 cubic feet (6 folders)

 Finding Aid

Miscellaneous letters from Philadelphia; Tennessee; Cincinnati; Springfield and St. Louis, MO; and England. A letter from Paris, TN, describes local preaching techniques.

Originals on microfilm; typed copies in folders.

Belle C. Sinclair Letter, 1890 (C0563)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

To Allie Minter, LaBelle, Missouri, from Alvinston, Ontario, February 5, 1890. Gives an account of a Scotch wedding.

Slavic Folk Music Collection, 1973-1979 (K1194)
0.20 c.f. (8 folders)

Includes a project outline entitled "An Oral History of Slavic Cultures in Kansas City, Kansas and Sugar Creek, Missouri," and programs and books relating to Slavic folk music.

Thomas Adams Smith Papers, 1798-1864 (C1029)
1 cubic foot; also available on 2 rolls of microfilm

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, letterbooks, and official papers of a professional soldier, who served in Florida and on the Canadian front and later was commander of the 9th Military Department at Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, MO. From 1818 to 1829 Smith was receiver of public monies at the land office in Franklin, MO.

"St Louis in Former Years", 1893 (C1130)
0.1 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

The typescript contains a history of the St. Louis German community written by E.D. Kargau and translated by William G. Bek.

Gustavus St. Gem Papers, 1901-1904 (C1642)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The papers of Gustavus St. Gem contain speeches, essays, and songs about the St. Gem family, Ste. Genevieve, MO, and the Louisiana Territory. Subjects include settlement of Missouri, Kaskaskia, IL, Louisiana Purchase, pioneer conditions, and holiday celebrations.

State Historical Society of Missouri Audio Cassette Collection, 1976-2000 (C3963)
0.3 cubic feet, 34 audio cassettes, 1 8mm film

 Finding Aid

The State Historical Society of Missouri Oral History Project is a collection of miscellaneous interviews, lectures, and speeches collected over the years.

State Historical Society of Missouri Typescript Collection, 1814-1962 (C0995)
14 rolls of microfilm

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The State Historical Society of Missouri Typescript Collection consists of typescripts of articles and manuscripts donated over the years to the Historical Society.

"Steamboat Days on the Missouri, 1856-1882," Cora Kinney Hurt, no date (C1127)
0.03 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

The typescript contains anecdotes of steamboats on the Missouri River.

Stevens Family Papers, 1913-1946 (CA6114)
0.3 cubic feet, 1 CD

Collection contains audio recordings of songs, stories, and poems compiled by storyteller Benjamin Stevens of Russellville, Missouri. Also includes photographs and a Master's thesis based on Stevens' work written by his daughter Marilewan Mahan in 1946 at Louisiana State University and miscellaneous Hardin College papers, 1913-1915. 

Walter Barlow Stevens Scrapbooks, 1870-1937 (C1424)
8.0 cubic feet (61 volumes), 18 oversize volumes

 Finding Aid

"The Story of Daniel Yoacham," Adrienne Tinker Christopher, no date (C2927)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Traces the Yoacham family of Westport, Missouri, through three generations, and discusses fur trading in Missouri. Includes anecdotes and legends of fur traders of the 1820s and 1830s.

Pauline H. Stratton Papers, 1841-1870 (C0842)
0.15 cubic feet (7 folders)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The papers contain a typescript of a diary of Pauline Stratton’s life in Virginia and Missouri. She writes of spinning, weaving, soap making, rearing her children, enslaved people, the Civil War, and business difficulties after her husband’s death. Also included is a photostat letter written by her to her husband in 1841 before their marriage.

Rosa Schaefer Sutter Diaries, 1875-1920 (C0843)
0.16 cubic feet (8 folders)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains a series of diaries written by a housewife near Billings, Missouri, about home activities and family affairs; notes kept on correspondence from 1885 to 1920; and recipe book giving recipes for cakes and pies, and remedies for illnesses and rheumatism.

Warren Swain Papers, 1820-1842 (C0173)
0.13 cubic feet (6 folders)

 Finding Aid

Diary mentions weather, plantation, sugar, corn, Negroes; high Mississippi River, 1821; Andrew Jackson's arrival in New Orleans on April 24, 1821; the 33-day sail from New Orleans to Boston; sickness of 1825. Two letters by Freegrace Raynolds discussing religious feelings; questions about Clarksville, MO; comments on slavery, 1837; and loss of bank money, 1842.

Al Swigert Collection, no date (CA5135)
5 audio cassettes

 Finding Aid

Fiddle music and folk tunes played and recorded by Swigert.

Peter Tamony Collection, 1890-1985 (C3939)
877.6 cubic feet (798 folders, 865 boxes, 6 card files), 14 audio discs, 89 audio tapes, 2 audio cassettes

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, articles, research files, personal papers, audio tapes, and word files of a noted etymologist and neologist of San Francisco. The collection primarily relates to the study of American colloquial language and neologisms but also includes rare jazz journals and materials on sports.

Howe Teague Collection, no date (CA5113)
3 audio discs, 1 audio cassette

 Finding Aid

Recordings of fiddle music by Teague.

Harry E. Thaxton Letter, 1961 (C0962)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

To Lewis Atherton, Columbia, MO.

Recollections of lumbering activities in the Doniphan, MO, area.

James T. Thorp Scrapbooks, 1840-1955 (C1429)
1.5 cubic feet

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Materials collected and organized by Thorp as histories of the Missouri River, steamboats, and Miami, MO. Includes photographs, newspaper clippings, bills, receipts, excerpts from the MIAMI WEEKLY NEWS, and miscellaneous items.

Fred Trent Collection, 1960s-1980s (CA5060)
1 folder, 60 audio cassettes

 Finding Aid

Recordings of Missouri area fiddlers. Includes programs, promotional materials, newspaper clippings, and articles.

S.C. Turnbo Clippings, 1899-1907 (C0821)
0.1 cubic feet (5 folders)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains clippings of articles written by S.C. Turnbo of southern Missouri. They give accounts of hunting wild animals, such as panthers, bears, and wolves, in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, also a bit about pioneer life.

U.S. Work Projects Administration, Historical Records Survey of Missouri, 1935-1942 (C3551)
302 cubic feet (24,282 folders); also available on 817 rolls of microfilm

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, records, and working files. Originally designed to survey and inventory all county government records, the survey finally included inventories of church records, manuscript collections, vital statistics, American imprints, and federal archives. Incorporates records of the Federal Writers Project for Missouri.

University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri Cultural Heritage Center Records, 1978-1992 (C4053)
15.0 cubic feet (402 folders), 39 audio cassettes, 3 video cassettes, 72 audio tapes

 Finding Aid

The Missouri Cultural Heritage Center records contain the correspondence, grants, working files, and research materials that support Center projects and publications.

University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri Folk Arts Program Records, 1982-2012 (C4035)
32.0 cubic feet (1000 folders), 2132 audio cassettes, 69 audio tapes, 82 video cassettes, 3 oversize volumes

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The records of the Missouri Folk Arts Program contain documentation of the annual work and various programming administered by the organization. The records include fiscal information, contracts with artists, press clippings and releases, publications, exhibit documentation, correspondence, working files, and files on folk and traditional artists. The records also include photographs, audio, and video that document folk and traditional arts, artists, and events.

Lucile Morris Upton Papers, 1823-1986 (C3869)
1 cubic foot, 25 rolls of microfilm (599 folders, 71 volumes), 1 video cassette

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The personal and professional papers of a Springfield, Missouri, journalist and writer consist of newspaper clippings, correspondence, research notes, manuscripts, pamphlets, photographs, and scrapbooks.  The papers are especially strong in the history of Springfield and the Ozarks region, and in Ozark folklore.

Kathleen Van Buskirk Papers, 1845-2003 (SP0096)
7 cubic feet (294 folders, 1 video cassette, 21 audio cassettes, 2,271 photographs, 2,607 negatives, 327 slides)

 Finding Aid

The Kathleen Van Buskirk Papers contain manuscripts, correspondence, research, genealogy, cemetery records, publications, and photographs from Kathleen Van Buskirk, a journalist and regional historian who spent most of her career writing about the people, culture, and history of the Ozarks and White River Valley.

Charles Van Ravenswaay Collection, 1820-1971 (C2668)
1.2 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Material relating to the Trigg family of Boonville, MO; the papers of Harvey Bunce, Cooper County civic leader and vice-president of the Tebo and Neosho Railroad; and Charles Van Ravenswaay's correspondence and research notes on various families, institutions, historic sites and events in Cooper and Howard Counties, and miscellaneous material related primarily to Boonville, MO.

Charles Van Ravenswaay Papers, 1841-1990 (C3873)
21.8 cubic feet (1,359 folders), 1 audio cassette

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, research notes, photographs, and literary manuscripts of historian and author Charles van Ravenswaay, former director of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis; Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Massachusetts; and the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum and Gardens, Wilmington, Delaware.

Susan D. Vanarsdale Diary, 1847-1855 (C1283)
0.06 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

Written in Mexico, MO, and various locations in Illinois and Indiana about family and personal affairs; local people; religious activities; and her own writing efforts, some of which she sold to newspapers.

No information is available about the location of the original of the diary.

William L. Vandeventer Papers, 1883-1890 (R1428)
0.2 cubic foot (3 folders)

 Finding Aid

The William L. Vandeventer Papers contain the unpublished manuscript Justice in the Rough on the Bald Knobbers written in 1937. The collection contains the typed manuscript and accompanying photographs.

"Walkin' Preacher of the Ozark Mountains," Guy Howard, 1940 (C0120)
0.2 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Original draft of autobiography of a rural preacher and teacher of southern Missouri. Describes family and social life of the hill people, rural churches and communities, and a transient camp near Branson, MO.

Warren County (Mo.) Schuetzen Company No. 1 Records, 1893-1950 (C3647)
1 roll of microfilm (5 volumes)

 Finding Aid

Minutes, treasurer's reports and account books of a German social club established in Warren County in 1856. Books contain membership lists and records of the Schuetzenfest sponsored annually since the club was founded.

Carl Withers Papers, 1929-1972, bulk 1939-1942 (SP0081)
2.1 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The Carl Withers Papers are field notes, drafts, and correspondence pertaining to Carl Withers' book, Plainville, U.S.A., a social survey of the town of Wheatland, Hickory County, Missouri, and materials for an unpublished follow-up book on Plainville folklore and history.