Richard Mercer Dorson (1916-1981)
is called the "father of folklore studies in the United States." The foundations
of his career were in Michigan, where Dorson worked as a tireless researcher
and professor at Michigan State College (University) where he taught from
1944-1957. Dorson traveled throughout Michigan documenting the folklore
and folklife of the state's citizenry for the next thirteen years.
The collections housed at Michigan State University Museum constitute
folklore collections made by Dorson and his students in the classes he
taught at Michigan State and include oral histories, local legends, folksongs,
fiddle tunes, college and high school songs and narratives, jokes, beliefs,
and folk dance. When he left MSU to head the Ph.D. program in folklore
at Indiana University, he took his collection with him but left a duplicate
copy at Wayne State University Folklore Archive which was transferred
to Michigan State University Museum in 2001.
Collectors:
Richard M. Dorson and students enrolled in his classes at Michigan State
College
Donor:
Wayne State University Folklore Archives
Publications:
Many of Dr. Dorson's voluminous number of publications drew upon the research
that formed this collection.
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