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Indiana University Folklore Institute’s Columbian Project records, 1977-1995, bulk 1987-1990

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’s Columbian Project records, 1977-1995, bulk 1987-1990

Collection No.
C587

Extent
.4 cubic foot (1 box)

Language
Most materials are in English; some are in Spanish or Portuguese.

Abstract
The Columbian project was a grant-funded, multi-sited, ethnographic research project organized by Indiana University’s Folklore Institute and undertaken between 1987 and 1990. Titled "Hispanic Folk Poetry in Performance," the project focused on the influence and persistence of Spanish forms of folklore in Latin America five centuries after the landing of Christopher Columbus and subsequent conquests. Folklore researchers from IU and elsewhere completed fieldwork for the project, which occurred in tandem with the quincentenary of the Columbian voyage.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.

Administrative History

The Columbian project was a grant-funded, multi-sited, ethnographic research project organized by the Folklore Institute and undertaken between 1987 and 1990. Titled "Hispanic Folk Poetry in Performance," the project focused on the influence and persistence of Spanish forms of folklore in Latin America five centuries after the landing of Christopher Columbus and subsequent conquests. Folklore researchers from Indiana University and elsewhere completed fieldwork for the project, which occurred in tandem with the quincentenary of the Columbian voyage.

According to a press release included in the collection, specific foci included “the Brazilian romance, the décima in Panama, and the corrido and pastorela in Mexico.” The same report notes that “previous research on these genres has been primarily text-centered and historical in focus. The current project, based on prior and ongoing research, will examine the continuing appeal and social utility of these poetic forms to the people among whom they have remained living forms of experience.”

The Folklore Institute—as well as the associated Ethnomusicology Institute, which is housed in the adjoining Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology—has a strong history of supporting the study of Latin American expressive culture. Retired faculty like Richard Bauman, along with current faculty like John Holmes McDowell, have completed significant portions of their research among Latin American and indigenous populations. McDowell, who was involved with this project, was a student of Américo Paredes, the folklorist whose ballad studies along the Texas-Mexico border proved instrumental in identifying the folkloric value of existing expressive culture in that region. Paredes served as a consultant on this project.

This collection represents the persistence of Latin American folklore studies at the Folklore Institute. As it did not lead to a discrete volume or conference, but rather a variety of works used in scholars’ various individual projects, the materials included here are one of a kind. Fieldwork reports illustrate researchers' initial impressions of their ethnographic experiences. These could serve as standalone observations or as complements to works that came later.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into two series: Project proposal and correspondence, and Fieldwork materials.

Scope and Content Note

The collection is organized into two series: Project proposal and correspondence, and Fieldwork materials. The Project proposal and correspondence files, spanning 1977-1995, detail the project's movement from proposal to budgeting to advertising. Correspondence among project personnel illustrate how the project was revised and publicized in various media outlets. This series is organized to reflect the progress of the project. The fieldwork materials files, spanning 1987-1990, include written reports of researchers' trips to the field, along with metadata regarding their activities there. This series is organized in alphabetical order by the researcher's last name. It also includes a folder including a summary report of all fieldwork. Most materials are in English; some are in Spanish or Portuguese.

Related Material

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

Archived web sites for this unit may be included in Archive-It.

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’s Columbian Project records, Collection C587, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Provenance
Transferred from the Indiana University Folklore Institute, May 8, 2003 and July 12, 2010.
Appraisal
One file listing travel expenses and reimbursement information has been recycled. No files pertaining to the project’s proposal process, methodology, or reports, have been removed.
Processing Information
Processed by Chad Edward Buterbaugh.

Completed in 2015

Container List


Series: Box 1 Project proposal and correspondence, 1977-1995 

Columbian Budget Drafts, 1977-1989 

Columbian: Correspondence, 1988-1995 

Columbian Meeting Notes, 1977-1989,  undated 

NEA reviewers comments, c. vitas, 1987 

Columbian Initiative, 1987-1990,  undated 

Columbian Publicity, 1988,  undated 

Columbian Quintcentenary Drafts, 1987,  undated 

Columbus 92, 1989 

Series: Box 1 Fieldwork materials, 1987-1990 

Gross, Joan manuscript, 1990,  undated 

McDowell, John, 1989-1990,  undated 

Fieldwork report, 1991 

Seeger, Judith - Preliminary Report & Materials, 1987-1989 

Smith, Ronald, undated 

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