Randolph, Vance (1892-1980), Ozark Folksongs, Collection, 1919-1957 (C3774)

3.1 linear feet

RESTRICTED

INTRODUCTION

The Ozark Folksongs Collection contains the original typescript of the four volume work as published by the State Historical Society of Missouri between 1946 and 1950. The manuscript was purchased for $1000 and prepared for publication by Frances Guthrie Emberson apparently in consultation with, or at least with encouragement from, Henry M. Belden, professor of English at the University of Missouri and founder of the Missouri Folk-Lore Society. Photographs from the book are included, as is a typescript of Chapter XIV, "Unprintable Songs" which was left out of the four volume work. In addition, there are two volumes entitled "Unprintable' Songs From the Ozarks" sold to the Society in 1956 for $50. These "unprintable" songs appear to be copies of those for which Randolph sold publication rights to Gershon Legman.

RESTRICTIONS

Contact the reference staff for more information.

DONOR INFORMATION

The Ozarks Folksongs Collection was transferred from the State Historical Society of Missouri on 21 April 1971 (SHS Accession No. 836).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Vance Randolph was born in Pittsburg, Kansas, 23 February 1892, the son of Theresa Gould and John Randolph. In 1914 he received his degree in education from the State Manual Training Normal School, now Pittsburg State University. He received an M.A. in psychology from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1915, after which he lived for a time in Greenwich Village, working as a ghostwriter, primarily for Vanguard Press.

By 1916 he was back in Pittsburg, teaching in the high school. He was drafted in October 1917 at the age of 26 but received a medical discharge in December of the next year. In 1919 he moved to Pineville, Missouri, and met and married Marie Wardlaw Wilbur there in 1930. By 1936, the year that Marie died, he was assistant state supervisor of the Federal Writers Project in Missouri. In 1941 he assisted Rose O'Neill in the writing of her memoirs (which were never published) and between then and 1943 he was a field worker for the Archive of American Folk Song of the Library of Congress.

Randolph spent many years ghostwriting and producing pseudonymous works for the Haldeman-Julius "Little Blue Book" series. After the mid-1940s he began to see publication of numerous volumes of his collected folklore. Ozark Folksongs appeared in 1946, followed by Ozark Superstitions in 1947, We Always Lie to Strangers in 1951, and many others.

At age 70, in 1962, he married Mary Celestia Parler of Fayetteville, Arkansas. He died in Fayetteville on 1 November 1980.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection contains the complete typescript as it was prepared by Frances Guthrie Emberson and sent to the printer. During the editorial process, musical scores were clipped from the pages and sent to the engraver. Other materials, including song titles, introductory notes, identification of contributors, and variations of the songs were reassembled and pasted to full sheets of paper from which the type was set. Scores have been replaced in their original locations; however, a few were missing.

Since editorial changes were made by hand and the manuscript was not retyped, it is easy to discern changes made by Emberson; Floyd Shoemaker, director of the State Historical Society of Missouri; or Randolph. The order of the pages was changed in the editorial process, but Randolph's original numbers remain visible. The typescript as it has been arranged now matches song for song the work as it was originally printed.

FOLDER LIST

f. 1Title page and contents for Volume I, preface
f. 2Bibliography for all volumes
f. 3Chapter I--Introduction to all volumes
f. 4-12Chapter II--Traditional Ballads
f. 13-25Chapter III--Some Later Importations
f. 26Title page and contents for Volume II
f. 27-35Chapter IV--Songs About Murderers and Outlaws
f. 36-39Chapter V--Western Songs and Ballads
f. 40-44Chapter VI--Songs of the Civil War
f. 45-49Chapter VII--Negro and Pseudo-Negro Songs
f. 50-53Chapter VIII--Songs of Temperance
f. 54Title page and contents for Volume III
f. 55-73Chapter IX--In Lighter Vein
f. 74-82Chapter X--Play Party Songs
f. 83Title page and contents for Volume IV
f. 84-89Chapter XI--Brush-Arbor Music
f. 90-112Chapter XII--Miscellaneous Songs and Ballads.
Binder for Chapter XIII--Unclassified Songs. The latter were apparently redistributed to other locations in the book, as this binder was empty.
f. 119-122Photographs from all volumes

CLOSED
f. 113-118Chapter XIV--Unprintable Songs. This appears to be material left out of the four volume publication.
v. 1-2In 1956 Randolph put 10 volumes of bawdy folklore at the Library of Congress. In addition, he sold these two volumes of songs to the State Historical Society of Missouri. It is assumed that this material is duplicated in other collections, and that all publication rights to it and the material contained in folders 113-118 legally belong to Gershon Legman, La Cle Des Champs, Valbonne (Alpes-Mnes), France.

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

  • Architecture, Vernacular
  • Automobiles, 1930s
  • Ballads
  • Banjo
  • Bible, Lum
  • Bishop, Wythe
  • Blacks--Songs and music
  • Bone, L.D. "Ranzy"
  • Bullard, Linnie
  • Campbell, Booth
  • Carlisle, Irene
  • Check, Ada
  • Children, l930s
  • Church music
  • Civil War--Songs and music
  • Costume, 1930s
  • Cowhands--Songs and music
  • Davis, Tommy
  • Denoon, Ray R.
  • Dethrow, J.E.
  • Dogs
  • Dusenbury, Emma L.
  • Erotic songs
  • Eyeglasses
  • Facial hair
  • Fences
  • Firearms
  • Folk dancing
  • Folk music
  • Folk songs--Arkansas
  • Folk songs--Kansas
  • Folk songs--Missouri
  • Folk songs--Ozarks
  • Foster, John F.
  • Freeman, Arlie
  • Hammontree, Doney
  • Hats
  • Household equipment & supplies
  • Ingenthron, Charles
  • Jewelry
  • Jordan, Lon
  • Keithley, Joshua C.
  • Kelley, Lewis
  • Kinnard, Cinderella
  • Lamberson, Jewell
  • Little, Cass
  • McCarty, Gladys
  • McCord, May Kennedy
  • McCullough, Pauline
  • McDaniels, Sam
  • Photography, Artistic
  • Robbers & outlaws, Songs & music
  • Short, Lillian
  • Spinning
  • Temperance, Songs and music
  • Tobacco pipes
  • Trail, Arthur
  • Trail, Olga
  • Violin
  • Wagons
  • Wasson, Laura
  • White, Lucy
  • Whittaker, Judy Jane
  • Wilbur, Marie
  • Women, 1930s
  • Women's clothing, 1930s
  • Woodruff, Fred