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Indiana University Folklore Institute legends, 1959-1980, bulk 1969-1973

Finding aid prepared by Jesse Fivecoate

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 legends, 1959-1980,  bulk 1969-1973

Collection No.
C605

Extent
3.8 cubic feet (5 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
The Indiana University Folklore Institute has a long history with the collection of oral verbal literature and arts. This collection consists of legends, ranging from local historical legends to urban legends, collected by students taking courses in the Folklore Institute.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Advance notice is required. Papers with student grades have been redacted and grade sheets are stored seperately.

Administrative History

The Folklore Institute at Indiana University began as an eight-week program in the summer of 1942 under the directorship of Professor Stith Thompson. From June 29 to August 22 of that year residential and visiting faculty taught courses, which carried university credit, on a number of topics. Course topics ranged from an introductory course on folklore to field collecting and recording to the folk tale and similar forms. Others covered folk song and folk music as well as Native American folklore.

The Folklore Institute grew into a stable research branch of Indiana University's College of Arts and Sciences in 1949 and received departmental status with an independent faculty in 1963; however, the Graduate School first listed M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Folklore for the academic year of 1949-1950. Since the academic year of 1971-1972 the Institute has offered an undergraduate degree in folklore as well. The Institute has also had a long history with research and teaching interests in ethnomusicology. In 2000 the Ethnomusicology Institute was created and merged with the Folklore Institute to become the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, which now offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in both fields.

Arrangement

This collection consists of one series of legends collected by students within the Folklore Institute and Department of Folklore.

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains a range of legends collected by students at the Folklore Institute and the Department of Folklore at Indiana University, Bloomington. The boxes are arranged numerical order (which was originally assigned by the Folklore Archive at the time of accessioning) with diverse legends groups represented in each folder. A number of legends represented are about local towns and cities in Indiana such as Spencerville, Carmel, Chesterton, La Porte. Legends from other states and countries are found in this collection as well. There are also supernatural, historical, and urban legends represented. Among these are legends of the "House of Blue Lights" in Indianapolis, the first recorded variation of "The Boyfriend's Death," "Killer in the Backseat," "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs," "The Roommate's Death," "The Vanishing Hitchhiker," "The Hook," ghost legends, Paul McCartney conspiracy theories, phantom ships, haunted ships, World War II legends, haunted hospital, South American legends, returning loved ones, graveyard and cemetery legends, legends involving the Devil, fraternity and sorority legends, hazing legends, haunted bridges, Armenian legends, monster legends, Bloody Mary legends, Belle Gunness legends, local character legends, local haunted house legends, revenants.

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
Usage Restrictions
The donor(s) of this collection have not transferred their copyrights for the materials to 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 legends, Collection C605, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Provenance
Transferred to the IU Archives in 2003 by John McDowell, Chair of Folklore Department.
Processing Information
Processed by Jesse Fivecoate.

Completed in 2016

Container List


Series: Legends,1959-1980 

Box 1 Legends 70:

Paul McCartney 1-30 (3 folders)

1-120 (12 folders)

Legends 71: 1-599 (70 folders)

Box 2 Legends 71: 600-760 (5 folders)

Legends 72: 1-112 (10 folders)

Legends 73: 1-10

IU Legends 1-2000 (42 folders)

Box 3 IU Legends 2001-3749 (33 folders)

Box 4 IU Legends 3750-4099 (7 folders)

Box 5 IU Legends 4100-4712B (16 folders)

Restricted records

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