Oral recollections concerning dating, courtship, marriage and related attitudes were collected from a single informant, Mrs. Blanche Story of Butte, Nebraska. Through in-depth questioning during twelve tape-recorded interview sessions, value- and attitude-oriented accounts were secured for the years 1885 to 1910, the late frontier period in northcentral Nebraska. These detailed reminiscences focus on common life experiences related to interpersonal relationships and the institutions related to them, resulting in a personal or folk history. The single greatest problem in research was the lack of documentation for the attitudinal content of the texts. Corroboration of both specific information and broad patterns of behavior was accomplished through the use of the local newspaper (Butte Gazette, 1885-1911), folklore journals, Plains social histories, and standard reference volumes. This presentation of one woman’s beliefs and attitudes is academic, yet uniquely individual. The information within this thesis is valuable not only as research material, but also as a personal view of three basic human institutions and the attitudinal system that encompasses them.

A science fiction (“sf”) fan is an individual whose interest in this literary genre has extended past reading into involvement in such things as local science fiction clubs, fan magazines (“fanzines”), and sf conventions (“cons”). Science fiction fandom is the loosely-structured, geographically-dispersed organization of these fans. Drawing on both written sources and field interviews with eight informants, the history, composition and structure of sf fandom is examined from a folkloristic viewpoint. The forms of folklore which serve to bind the individual fan to the larger social entity of fandom are detailed. Despite its literary orientation, fandom is primarily a social organization. The primary motivation of individuals for becoming involved in fandom proves to be a desire to communicate and meet with others who share interests. Through participation in fandom, the individual fan may gain social acceptance, peer recognition, opportunities for self-expression and creativity and aid in becoming a professional creator of science fiction. Fanzines provide the geographically-dispersed body of fandom with a mass of indirect communication. These magazines – written, illustrated, edited and published by fans on a non-profit basis – provide their readers with information and commentary on both science fiction and fandom. Participation in this communication network is shown to fulfill individual psychological needs, with the amount of fulfillment achieved being related to the amount of participation. The sf conventions provide an arena in which fans may directly interact with each other. The relationship of these conventions to the local groups which sponsor them is explored and the organization, membership and financing of such events are discussed. The formal and informal behaviors found at cons are described and compared with activities at South American religious fiestas and academic conventions. The concepts of convention as a period of license and as a form of folk festival are discussed. The linkages between the fans and the professional creators of science fiction – many of whom once were fans – are examined. The relationships and contrasts between sf fandom and groups such as Star Trek fans and mystery fans are presented. Filksinging – the singing of songs with a science-fictional theme – is discussed and texts of three songs are presented in an Appendix. A Glossary of the esoteric terminology, acronyms and neologisms of fandom is provided.

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The subject of this thesis deals with instances where members of the community dig the grave for the grieving family. This thesis is limited to Unicoi County. Looking at past and present occurrences of this practice, this project will explain how it came to be and why it is still being exercised. The primary sources for this project include newspaper articles from the Erwin Record, interviews with members of the community. Secondary sources were used to frame the overall context and draw comparisons with the rest of Appalachia. The digging of the grave by the community began as a necessity in the rural areas of Unicoi County. Due to the growing economic prosperity of these areas, and the eventual easy access to roads, the tradition began to waver and was preserved and practiced only by the small, isolated community churches.

Thomas Burton, Jack Schrader, and Ambrose Manning of East Tennessee State University began documenting the Appalachian region in the 1960s. Together they came to know many mountain people now recognized as Appalachian Masters. In this DVD we are introduced to Ray Hicks along with his family and friends from Beech Mountain, North Carolina. Thomas Burton serves as our guide. Included are two Burton/Schrader films in their entirety: A film about Ray Hicks and another about Buna Presnell Hicks and Bertha Hubbard Baird, along with video excerpts of Stanley Hicks and Hattie Presnell recorded by Burton and Manning. Please be aware that the film quality of the remastered excerpts reminds us of a time before the digital age. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1095/thumbnail.jpg

This thesis uses qualitative ethnographic research methods to present a case study that explores the multiplicity of meanings and representations that are attached to the Old Deery Inn & Museum in Blountville, Tennessee. Within the community, the Inn functions as a center for cultural memory, with the physical structure itself acting as an artifact that holds community identity. This community narrative contrasts with the official narrative used by tourism entities that markets the Inn as a part of the Appalachian region, situating the Inn within a complex and intricately constructed identity of place that is shaped by lived experiences as well as perceived cultural markers. By unraveling the narratives, this study unpacks the ways that the Inn’s various identities figure into the development of current interpretation and management efforts, and the way that this locally important historical site fits into the larger narrative of tourism marketing in East Tennessee.

Singing school teachers, who teach rural church congregations to sing from shape-note gospel songbooks, are still working in southcentral Kentucky, but the demand for them is smaller than it was in the first half of the twentieth century. The interdependence network in which singing school teachers, songbook publishers, and community singing events were key parts began to weaken in the 1940s as a result of the growth in popularity of professional gospel quartet concerts and gospel record albums. Many gospel music enthusiasts who once looked to songbooks as a major source for new material and for developing singing skills turned to albums and concerts in the 1940s. Singing school teachers began to be called on less frequently. The first three chapters of this thesis contain an overview of the gospel singing events, the songbook publishers, and the singing schools. The nature of the relationship between these three gospel music institutions is established. In the fourth chapter, I profile three singing school teachers of southcentral Kentucky. In the conclusion, the development of popular religious music since the early 1800s is summarized and the importance of researching Southern white gospel music as a step toward a greater understanding of Southern music traditions as a whole is examined.

Using the techniques of oral history, residents of the Cypress Creeks area of southwestern middle Tennessee were questioned about their perceptions of the social change since 1940. In that year, the National Park Service hired men in the area to help snake out logs for the Natchez Trace Parkway's right-of-way. For most men in the area, the temporary positions on the Trace were the first "public" jobs they ever had. After these positions were no longer needed, outmigration brought residents north to factory-cities; thus, the building of the parkway remains a watershed in residents' memories as the benchmark when change began. In this study I examined oral material concerning pre- and post-change periods, to see how social change is articulated in people's talk about changes in social folk custom. Moreover, it was found that residents today regret the sense of loss associated with the "good old days" and that this abstract loss is most easily expressed by talking about the concrete changes in the area's customs.

Every American knows some of Stephen Collins Foster's songs, but not everyone who sings My Old Kentucky Home and Old Folks at Home realizes that it was he who wrote those songs. Of the two hundred songs and compositions which Foster published, at least fifteen are constantly sung. Since these songs voice emotions which are fundamental to mankind, they have become more important than the composer himself. For this reason they may be called folk-songs, and because they voice so truly the spirit of America, America is proud to claim them as her own. The title of this thesis, Stephen Collins Foster & His Folk-songs, aptly describes the objective of the work, namely, to present the life of the man as a key to his works and to point out his distinctive contributions to the folk-song of America. To the text illustrations have been added that are intimately related to the subject-matter of the chapters in which they appear. Although much intensive and splendid research has been done by the Foster Hall staff in this field, the writer has no knowledge of an individual work which treats the subject in the manner that she has chosen. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter I considers the life of the composer as a background for his works and the influences which were predominant in molding his melodies. His works form an autobiography of the man himself, representing him in his different moods. The laughing, buoyant song Oh! Susanna depicts the Foster who loved the minstrel show and the serenading parties with friends. The homesick songs Old Black Joe, Old Kentucky Home and Old Folks at Home are probably the greatest of his works because they speak of the emotion that was deepest in the heart of their creator, the love for home. Chapter III takes up an individual treatment of the world-sung melody The Old Kentucky Home, Goodnight. Chapter IV points out the Foster shrines in America. Chapter V undertakes to summarize his distinctive contributions to American music and represents him as the creator of songs strictly American in origin, nature and treatment.

This collection project is concerned with traditional paper objects made by students in fifteen classes in one elementary school in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Chapter I describes the school and classroom environments and the procedures followed during the collection project. Chapter II differentiates between the play and ornamental items collected, describes the different items and their variants made by the students, and attempts to show what persons (relatives, teachers, other children) or other factors (mass media, the students' environment) affected the paper items made by students. Chapter III statistically evaluates the collected paper items according to the sex, race, and grade of their makers and points out the significance of these variables to the items collected. This chapter also summarizes the study and its limitations.