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Indiana University Folklore Institute Hungarian-American Project records, 1915-1987, bulk 1982-1984

A Guide to the Records at the Indiana University Archives

Finding aid prepared by Chad Edward Buterbaugh

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Indiana University, Bloomington. Folklore Institute.

Title
Indiana University Folklore Institute Hungarian-American Project records, 1915-1987, bulk 1982-1984

Collection No.
C585

Extent
3 cubic feet (6 boxes)

Language
Most materials are in English; some are in Hungarian.

Abstract
The Hungarian-American project was an international undertaking of the Indiana University Folklore Institute between 1981 and 1984. Headed by IU folklorists Linda Dégh and Inta Carpenter, scholars from the United States and Hungary conducted ethnographic fieldwork to identify the uses of ethnicity among Hungarians in Hungary, Hungarian-Americans in the Calumet region of Indiana, and Hungarian-Americans in Chicago. The project led to the conference "Culture, Tradition, Ethnicity," hosted at Indiana University from March 26-28, 1984 and inspired a 1987 conference in Budapest. A special double issue of the Journal of Folklore Research printed many materials from the conference and was published later the same year. Collection consists of records relating to project personnel, fieldwork, and conferences.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.

Administrative History

The Hungarian-American project was an international undertaking of the Indiana University Folklore Institute between 1981 and 1984. Headed by IU folklorists Linda Dégh and Inta Carpenter, scholars from the United States and Hungary conducted ethnographic fieldwork to identify the uses of ethnicity among Hungarians in Hungary, Hungarian-Americans in the Calumet region of Indiana, and Hungarian-Americans in Chicago. The project led to the conference "Culture, Tradition, Ethnicity," hosted at Indiana University from March 26-28, 1984 and inspired a 1987 conference in Budapest. A special double issue of the Journal of Folklore Research printed many materials from the conference and was published later the same year.

Linda Dégh was a prominent folklorist who spent most of her professional life at the Folklore Institute. Born in Hungary, she came to Bloomington with the aid of Richard Dorson, founder of the Institute. According to her obituary on the American Folklore Society's website, her research specialty was "personal and communal identity projections of traditional rural and modern urban communities in Europe and North America. Through personal observation of creative processes in communicating folklore, traditional prose narratives in particular, taking into account historical and situational contexts of performance, she focused not on the text prototype, but on the unique, personal formulations of individuals generated by unpredictable given conditions."

Her work on the Hungarian-American project was mainly administrative. Bringing together professional contacts from both the United States and Europe, she laid the groundwork for this ambitious, multi-year project. With the help of Inta Carpenter, who at the time was the Folklore Institute's research associate, this project produced a number of notable presentations and publications. Of particular importance is the article "The Seven Strands of Tradition" by folklorist Dan Ben-Amos, a seminal monograph appearing in the 1984 issue of the Journal of Folklore Research that grew from this project.

At issue in the project were senses of communal character among Hungarians and Hungarian-Americans. Applying the notion of ethnicity as differential identity, researchers worked with informants to uncover the everyday folkloric forms that were imported from Hungary and framed in the U.S. as specialized articulations of cultural inheritance. This activity produced rich fieldwork materials, many of which are included in this collection, as well as a series of broader discussions in the field of folklore studies, such as the publication by Ben-Amos, mentioned above, and others.

The research interest in these materials lies in the recounting of Hungarian-American ethnic identity in the latter decades of the twentieth century, especially as this is articulated by members of that group. A number of ethnographic ephemera, including church yearbooks and pamphlets, are very useful in this regard. These materials recount the successes and trials of Hungarian-Americans--often pertaining to their social life, as it was framed by shared religious practice--in their own words. Some of these materials, such as the death of a beloved minister, communal concerns about the dwindling importance of ethnic heritage among generations descended from immigrants, or the efforts of a church group to beautify its worship space--are less likely to be found in broader historical surveys. Yet they add to (or perhaps center) such broader works by providing clear articulations of the memories, activities, and aspirations of the small group.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into four series: Project personnel, Project proposal and correspondence, Conferences and publications, and Fieldwork materials.

Scope and Content Note

This collection is organized into four series: Project personnel, Project proposal and correspondence, Conferences and publications, and Fieldwork materials. A number of the materials in this collection pre-date the research period. These are publications collected by ethnographers during the research phase of the project.

Arranged alphabetically by surname, the Project personnel files span 1980-1986 and document the scholars who worked on the Hungarian-American project. The Project proposal and correspondence files, spanning 1980-1986, trace the scholars' efforts in crafting an ultimately-successful proposal to undertake the research. Research design, budgets, workflows, and the proposal itself detail this process. These files are arranged to reflect the process of proposal formation, from brainstorming to final submission. The Conferences and publications series, 1982-1987, include programs, budgets, and a number of conference papers and abstracts. They also contain consent to publish forms for the issue of the Journal of Folklore Research that resulted from the conference. These are arranged to reflect conference and publication planning processes. The Fieldwork materials files, which were published between 1915 and 1984 but most likely all collected during the period of fieldwork for this project--roughly 1982-1984--contain some of the data collected by the ethnographers. This includes approximately 703 annotated photos pasted to index cards, film negatives logs of visual and audio materials, biographical notes on informants, and a variety of print ephemera produced by Hungarian-American groups. These files are arranged in alphabetical order by first letter of the folder title. Most files are in English; some are in Hungarian.

Photographs Pulled

Approximately 703 fieldwork photos pasted on index cards and annotated with contextual information and photographer's name; 17 strips of film negatives encased in three 8.5" x 11" plastic sheets (folder "Film negatives"); all located in Box 6

Related Material

Additional records such as newsletters, annual reports, bulletins, and publications may be accessed in the Archives of Institutional Memory.

Related photographs may be available in the University Archives Photographs Database .

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information
Accession 2003/055, 2010/065
Usage Restrictions
Copyrights for records originating with Indiana University administrative units, departments, and other offices are held by the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.

The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.

Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.

Preferred Citation
[Item], Indiana University Folklore Institute Hungarian-American Project records, Collection C585, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Provenance
Transferred from the Indiana University Folklore Institute, May 8, 2003 and July 12, 2010.
Appraisal
A number files have been recycled. These were either duplicate materials, listed travel arrangements, or described minor expenses incurred during the project. They did not include any information about the methods, content, or results of the research project.
Processing Information
Processed by Chad Edward Buterbaugh.

Completed in 2015

Folder List


Series: Box 1 Project personnel, 1980-1987 

Erdely, Steven, 1983-1986 

Fejos, Zoltan, 1984-1987 

Hoppal, Mihaly, 1984-1985 

Huseby, Eva, 1983-1985 

Niedermuller, Peter, 1984-1986 

Sozan, Michael, 1984-1986 

Fieldworkers' vita, etc., 1980-1982 

Series: Box 1 Project proposal and correspondence, 1981-1983 

Conference - 1981, 1981 

Hungary Trip ('81), 1981 

Ethnographic Museum, 1983 

Skaggs, 1982 

Project rewrite, 1981-1983 

Box 2 Proposal,

Workplans, 1982-1986 

Rough drafts, 1980-1986 

Final draft - 6/4/82, 1982 

Hungarian-American proposal notes, 1980-1982 

Meeting, May 21, 1984 

NEH proposal, 1984-1985 

Proposal correspondence, 1981-1983 

Hungarian-American revision - Feb. 1, 1983, 1981-1983,  undated 

Protocol, 1983-1984,  undated 

Project agreement copies, 1984 

Misc. papers, 1981-1986 

Round Robin, 1984-1985 

Progress reports 5.21.84, 1984 

Proposal for Continuation, undated 

1983 Commission Meeting at Princeton, 1983 

American Conference of Learned Societies/Hungarian Academy of Sciences Meeting - Princeton, NJ, 1983 

Related articles, 1982,  undated 

Proposal - Degh - "Kakasd Revisited", undated 

Hungary paper/trip, 1981-1983,  undated 

Institute for Culture (Budapest) Newsletter, 1984 

Series: Box 3 Conferences and publications, 1983-1987 

Conference participants, 3/25 - 3/28, 1983-1984,  undated 

Conference Bureau Banquet Lists, 1983-1984,  undated 

Luncheons, 3/26, 3/27, 1984,  undated 

Tomas Hofer, 1984-1986 

Carol Silverman, 1983-1984 

Mihaly Sarkony, 1983-1984 

Domotor, 1984,  undated 

Voight (PAP), 1984 

Tape Transcript of Conference, undated 

Richard Vidutis - photo logs, slide logs, 1984 

JFR, consent to publish forms, 1982-1985 

Budapest conference 1987, 1986-1987,  undated 

Series: Box 3 Fieldwork materials, 1915-1984 

Autobiography Of Jozsef Plajer, S. Bend, IN, undated 

Chicago Church Anniv. Bks., 1934-1982 

Box 4 Dr. Magyar Jozsef - A Chicagoi Szent Istvan Templam Elefebol, 1930-1982 

Fieldworkers' inventory, 1984 

Film negatives, undated 

(Housed in Box 6)


ITT-OTT (Here and There; Hungarian Communion of Friends),

1967-1973 

1967-1977 

1978-1979,  undated 

1982-1983 

Box 5 Misc. files, 1984,  undated 

More church, anniversary publications, 1968-1982 

Photo logs - Z Fejos; slide logs - Zoltan Fejos, 1984 

Rerfy Geya, uj Magyar Ferfikarak Zsebkonyve, 1915 

South Bend - Ethnic Heritage Studies Program, 1975,  undated 

William Penn Association, other anniv. bks., 1961-1984 

Zoltan Fejos,

cassette log + ATL Sheets, 1984 

key contributor sheets, 1984 

Box 6 Photographs - Folklore Institute Special Projects '84 Hungarian-American Project,

SPHA-84-006, 1982-1983 

SPHA-84-007, 1982-1983 

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