Harold Woodmansee Bentley folklore papers

Harold Woodmansee Bentley folklore papers, 1947-1963

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Bentley, Harold W.
Title: Harold Woodmansee Bentley folklore papers
Dates: 1947-1963 (inclusive)
19471963
Quantity: 1.5 linear feet
Collection Number: MS 0624
Summary: The Harold Woodmansee Bentley folklore papers (1947-1965) consist mainly of materials concerned with folk music and organizations and individuals promoting folk music and other forms of folklore.
Repository: University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions: Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Harold Woodmansee Bentley (1899-1980) was born in 1899 in Colonia Juarez, Mexico. He attended Utah State Agricultural College before receiving his A.B. degree from Brigham Young University in 1923 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1932. He taught English and Spanish at Columbia for 17 years. During that time Dr. Bentley was on leave of absence twice. First, he conducted a survey for the Carnegie Foundation of one hundred institutions in the United States and Canada on college athletics. Second, he directed the Benjamin Franklin Library (the American library in Mexico City) and was associated with the State Department's cultural relations program in Mexico City during World War II. As a result of his work there, Dr. Bentley was decorated by the President of Mexico with the Order of the Aztec Eagle for promoting friendship between the two countries.

Bentley came to the University of Utah in 1949 as professor of English and director of the Summer School. He was appointed Dean of Extension Division in 1950, a position he held in Emeritus status until his retirement. During that time, he helped to promote interest in folklore and folk music in the University community, including assistance in establishing the Utah Folklore Society in 1958.

In 1961 Dr. Bentley took leave from the University to accept the position of academic vice president and acting president of the newly created Haile Salassie I University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He returned to his position at the University of Utah in 1962 and remained there until his retirement. He died in October 1980.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Harold Woodmansee Bentley folklore papers (1947-1965) consist mainly of materials concerned with folk music and organizations and individuals promoting folk music and other forms of folklore.

The first box of the collection contains correspondence between Bentley and others and is concerned with different aspects of folklore and folk music. Correspondents include Wayland Hand, the editor of Western Folklore magazine; Guy Carawan, a folk music performer, and his agent; and Rosalie and Jim Sorrels, performing artists and instructors for the University of Utah Extension Division. Other correspondents are parties involved in some way with the above listed individuals or their concerns. Organizations formed to promote folklore and folk music in Utah are also located in this box. Included are various organizational papers, program agendas, and correspondence of the Folklore Society of Utah for the years 1958-1963; information concerning the Western Folklore Conference, held in Denver, Colorado, for the years 1948-1951; and miscellaneous papers concerning other folklore groups in Utah.

The second box of the collection contains song lyric sheets collected by Bentley from various sources, including courses offered by the Extension Division at the University of Utah. Also, this section contains class material from a guitar class, a collection of children's jump rope rhymes, and a listing of children's riddles. Lastly, contained here are two articles on folklore, several bibliographies and catalogues of folk music and folklore, and other miscellaneous material concerned with folklore. The third box of this collection contain information pertaining to Ethiopia which documents Bentley's position as academic Vice President and acting President of the newly created Haile Salassie I University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the University of Utah Archives in 1983.

Processing Note

Processed by Mark Jensen in 1993.

Addendum processed by Sarah Goodrich in 2006.

Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Personal Items, Correspondence, Folklore Organizations and MiscellaneousReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
1	1	Personal Materials
1	2	Correspondence	1950-1963
1	3-4	Guy Carawan	1958-1961
1	5	Wayland D. Hand	1951-1963
1	6-7	Rosalie and James Sorrels	1958-1961
1	8-11	Folklore Society of Utah	1958-1961
1	12-14	Folklore Society of Utah Newsletters	1958-1963
1	15	Folklore Society of Utah Annual Meeting	1963
1	16	American Folklore Society-Regional Conference	1963
1	17	Western Folklore Conference	1948-1951
1	18	American Folk Music Council, Utah Chapter	1960-1961
1	19	Intermountain Folk Music Council	1961
1	20	Newsletters	1955-1958
1	21	Elizabeth Pilant, Articles	1952-1953
1	22	Correspondence, Programs, and Newspaper Clippings

Song Lyrics, Guitar Music, Children's Riddles and Rhymes, Bibliographies and CataloguesReturn to Top

Folder one contains an index of songs that are found in box two.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
2	1	"Song Lists"
2	2-3	"Song Sheets"
2	4	Herbert Halpert, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads." Wayland D. Hand, "The 'Unfortunate Rake' and His Descendants: Folk Song Geography--Old World and New."
2	5	John Greenway, "Songs of Railroaders and Hoboes" Wayland D. Hand, "Songs of Miners and Mining"
2	6	John Greenway, "Industrial Folk Songs and Ballads , Songs of Protest"
2	7	Herbert Halpert, "Sailor's Songs and Songs of the Sea," "Ballads and Songs of the Northern Woods."
2	8	Sam Hinton, "Songs of Outlaws and Other Badmen."
2	9	Bess Lomax Hawes, "Folk Lyric and Songs of Love." Ed Cray, "Jealous Lover Ballads."
2	10	Bess Lomax Hawes and Herbert Halpert, "Play Party Games and Songs" and "The Chants and Singing Games of Children."
2	11	Richard A. Waterman, "Negro Folk Song: Various Genres of Song, Assessed Against the African Background."
2	12	Richard A. Waterman, "The Negro Spiritual."
2	13-16	Miscellaneous Collected Song Lyrics
2	17	Extension Division Guitar Course
2	18	Guitar Exercises
2	19	"Jump Rope Rhymes"
2	20	"Riddles Popular With Children"
2	21	Eugenia L. Millard, It's Fun to Read Folklore
2	22	Evelyn R. Sickels and Alice Lohrer, North American Folklore
2	23	Catherine Jones, American Folklore in Motion Pictures
2	24	Alice Lohrer, American Autograph Rhymes: A Bibliography of American Folklore for Secondary Schools
2	25	Sam Hinton, A Selected Bibliography of American Folk Music	1958
2	26	Folk Songs Recorded by Austin E. Fife and Alta S. Fife for Occidental College, Los Angeles, California and the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress	1949
2	27	Folk Music of the United States and Latin America: Combined Catalog of Phonograph Records	1948
2	28	Folkways Records Catalog	1954
2	29	Catalogue No. 2 of Old and New Books On Folk Song, Folklore, Folkdance and Jazz	1950
2	30	Folk Music Guide USA	1959

EthiopiaReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
3	1	Correspondence	1960
3	2	The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
3	3	National Geographic	1965
3	4	Menen	1961-1962
3	5	Middle East Journal	1955
3	6	Haile Sellassie I University
3	7	University College of Addis Ababa	1956-1958
3	8	The Confessions of Zar'a Ya'gob
3	9	Ethiopian Journal	1959-1960
3	10	Literacy and Language
3	11	Church's Revival
3	12	Programs
3	13	An Era in Progress
3	14	Genealogy of the Royal House of Ethiopia
3	15	Travel Information
3	16	Notes
3	17	Newspaper Clippings

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Folk songs, English--United States
Folklore--Bibliography
Folklore--Utah

Corporate Names

Folklore Society of Utah--Records and correspondence

Form or Genre Terms

Bibliographies
Catalogs
Correspondence
Songs (musical compositions)

Archives West Finding Aid

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