Collection number: MC 295 [Offsite Storage]
Size:
(13 boxes)
(13 cu.ft.)
About Linda Morley
Folklorist Linda Morley was active in New England and specifically New Hampshire from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. In addition to collecting and supporting community involvement in folklore and folklife, she spearheaded the creation of RSA-19, which established the New Hampshire Commission on the Arts. She served as NH’s Folklorist-in-Residence from 1979 through the late 1980s.
Significant Professional Work
- 1969: PhD from University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Folklore and Folklife
- 1972-1982: Study of ballad singer Margaret McArthur
- 1973-1983: Professor of Folklore, New England College
- 1975-?: Artist-in-Residence, NH Elementary/Secondary Schools
- 1979-1983: NH State Folklorist in Residence at New England College
- 1979-?: Director, NH Folklife Archive, NH Commission on the Arts
- 1979: “Omer Marcoux: Franco-American Fiddling Styles in New England and Quebec” [Northeastern Anthropological Association]
- 1980-1983: National Endowment for the Arts grant; designed and implemented NH Folk Arts program
- 1981: Worked with American Folklife Center, Library of Congress and U.S. Department of Interior to create RSA-19, which established a state government funded Council on the Arts in New Hampshire.
- 1981-1982: “No Foot, No Horse: The Art of 7 NH Traditional Farriers” (Book published 1985)
- 1983-?: English lecturer, UNH
- 1983: “We All Have Tales” – 30 minute radio shows on occupational storytelling
- 198-: “Bob McQuillen: Tune Man”
- 198-: Research on Frances James Child; Performance Analysis of Shippey Family singers of West Dover, VT.
About the Linda Morley Folklore Collection
This collection contains a wide cross-section of folklore and folklife in 1970s-1980s New Hampshire. There is a particular emphasis on Franco-American culture in New Hampshire, immigrants’ experiences, farrier work, storytelling, contra dance musicians, visual arts, singers, textile arts, occupational folklore, and the town of Deerfield. Field notes are in Box 3.
Lesser represented subjects include Native American experiences, Shaker folklife, Jewish folklife, New England College, New Hampshire Folk Festival, the creation of the New Hampshire Farm Museum, iconography, children’s folklore, and women’s studies.
Artists include:
- Aucoin, Therese Broussard (storyteller)
- Bardwell, Cora (storyteller)
- Cormier, Joe (fiddler)
- Danck, Karolina (iconographer)
- Ives, Edward “Sandy” (folklorist)
- Laufman, Dudley (contra dance musician and caller)
- Marcoux, Omar (fiddler)
- McArthur, Margaret (ballad singer)
- Paola, Tomie de (children’s author)
- Pomerleau, Joe (guitar/fiddle)
- Readpath, Jean (folksinger)
- Robidas, Marcel (fiddler)
- Washburn, Newt (Abenaki basket maker)
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection has restrictions: Several folders are marked by the creator as "Confidential".
This collection is housed in the Library Storage Building; access requires 48 hours’ notice. Please contact the Special Collections staff prior to visiting the library.
Copyright Notice
Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Linda Morley Folklore Collection, 1975-1995, MC 295, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Acquisition, 2008
Separated Material
2 cubic feet of audio cassette tapes were separated for preservation reasons.
Collection Arrangement
Collection is not in original order due to processing time restraints. Original order consisted of two alphabetical series: Subjects and People. Remenants of original order remain and are notated.
Collection Contents
| Box 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Works Progress Administration NH Folklore, "No Foot, No Horse"
materials, etc.
25 folders. Includes WPA folklore for New Hampshire, Linda Morley's curriculum vita and some writings on Joe Cormier, negatives and photographs of farriers, writings of Dudley Laufman, and more. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 1 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 2 | ||
| Worklore, Iconography, Gaming, Farrier Tools, etc.
26 folders. Contents include a series of photographs of bingo, cribbage, pool, Latino/a, and cambodian immigrant games in Manchester (1994), interviews/photographs/correspondence with Karolina Danek, iconographer, worklore scripts for "We All Have Tales", harvest tales, popular belief papers, and a census of Franco-American artists in New Hampshire in 1981. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 2 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 3 | ||
| Calling Us Home project (Deerfield, NH), NH Folk Festival
Materials, Fieldnotes, etc.
50 folders. Contents include reminiscenses of Hosmer Allen Johnson (1822-1891), Margaret McArthur singing material, Morley's song compositions, farrier material, Deerfield NH community folklore collecting materials ("Calling Us Home"), Mary Lyscars (Polish folk artist) Ed Moody (wooden sled maker), the Vu sisters (Vietnamese dancers), and New England Native Americans such as Newt Washburn (Abenaki basket maker). 4 volumes of Morley's fieldnotes are included within this box. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 3 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 4 | ||
| Contra Dance Musicians, Photography, etc.
118 folders. Contents include material related to contra dance musicians Carolyn Parrot, Joe Pomerleau, Milt Appleby, Bob McQuillen, Omar Marcoux, Rod Miller, Randy Miller, and Ralph Page. Other individuals include storytellers Maggie Peirce, Therese Broussard Aucoin, Helene Laliberte Bickford, and Chip Ordman, photographers Gary Samson, George Samuels, and Marc Peloquin. Other subjects include basket making, wooden bird decoy carving, mental health in Concord, and Irish folklore. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 4 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 5 | ||
| Folk Singers, Poets, Children's Literature, etc.
170 folders. Contents include mostly material related to folk and ballad singers from the US and British Isles, including Gale Huntington, Erik Ilott, Edward "Sandy" Ives, as well as bluegrass, klezmer, jazz, Italian songs, and more. Poets include Donald Hall and Niki and John Hildebilde. Contra dance musicians include Dudley Laufman and Joe Cormier. Misc. topics cover herbalism, pottery, carving, painting, and miming. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 5 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 6 | ||
| New Hampshire Subject Files, Women's Issues, etc.
222 folders. This box contains clippings files for all the NH counties and several towns, as well as a myriad of other topics from body language to Halley's Comet to gravestone art to Ocean Born Mary to humanities theory. Several craftspeople and artists are included as well. Used book stores, psychic readers, and post office lore are also included. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 6 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 7 | ||
| New Hampshire Farm Museum, Morley Writings, Folksong Notation,
etc.
49 folders. Contents include the NH Farm Museum, Morley's own writings (including her 1977 Ph.D. dissertation), UNH student folklore, and Franco-American topics. There is about 4 linear inches' worth of folksong transcriptions. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 7 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 8 | ||
| Folklorists in New England, Inc. (FINE), New England Task Force
on Folklife (NETFOF), etc.
68 folders. Most material relates to FINE and NETFOF, with which Morley was very involved. Also included is a thematic checklist of publications relating to Franco-Americans, some country dance material, and various other unrelated topics. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 8 Folder Listing. | ||
| Box 9 | ||
| Singing, Weaving, Instrumental Groups, etc.
108 folders. Contains mostly ballad singer and singer/songwriter materials, as well as some instrumental groups such as the contra dance band Applejack. Non-musical topics include weaving, boatbuilding in Newington, sugar houses, woodcuts, women in folklore/mythology, historical house floor plans, basket making, needlework, and Jewish history. Download this box's folder listing here: Box 9 Folder Listing. | ||
