Folklife Projects & Folklorists

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Old white man playing a fiddle on stage with old white woman and white guitarists
Arkansas Folk Festival
The annual Arkansas Folk Festival takes place on the third weekend in April in Mountain View (Stone County). H...
Older white woman in maroon checkered dress playing a banjo
Ollie Eva Woody Gilbert (1892–1980)
Both a local and national celebrity, Ollie Eva Woody Gilbert, known popularly as Aunt Ollie, performed with Ji...
white man in large beaded necklace
Fred High (1878–1962)
aka: Fredrick Green High
Fredrick (Fred) Green High, who lived in Carroll County from birth ...
White man with glasses sitting with open book at table in library
W. K. McNeil (1940–2005)
aka: William Kinneth McNeil
William Kinneth (W. K.) McNeil was a prominent folklorist and histo...
Round polygonal stone building with wooden shingles and steps leading up to it.
Ozark Folk Center State Park
The Ozark Folk Center State Park at Mountain View (Stone County) may be the only state park in Arkansas dedica...
Middle-aged white man posing in suit and tie
Ozark Folklore Society
aka: Arkansas Folklore Society
The Ozark Folklore Society was founded on April 30, 1949, at an inf...
Front view of two-story rock building
Ozark Folkways
Originally known as the Ozark Native Craft Association, Ozark Folkways—located on Scenic Byway 71 south of W...
Candid photo white woman in glasses dress hair bun brushing hair over ear
Mary Celestia Parler (1904–1981)
Mary Celestia Parler was responsible for developing and implementing the most extensive folklore research proj...
Group photograph of white musicians with their instruments on signed cover of "The Rackensack Volume 1" album
Rackensack Folklore Society
The Rackensack Folklore Society was organized for the purpose of perpetuating the traditional folk music of t...
One white woman
Rackensack Folklore Society, Pulaski County
The Rackensack Folklore Society, Pulaski County (RFSPC) was founded in mid-1963 by noted political cartoonist ...
White man with mustache wearing a fedora hat and suit smoking a cigar
Vance Randolph (1892–1980)
Vance Randolph was a folklorist whose wide-ranging studies in the traditional culture of the Ozarks made him f...
Two white men talking outside log cabin
Otto Ernest Rayburn (1891–1960)
Otto Ernest Rayburn was a writer, magazine publisher, and collector of Arkansas and Ozark lore. Vance Randolph...
Irene Robertson (1893–1959)
Irene Robertson was an interviewer and writer for the 1930s Federal Writers’ Project in Arkansas. She preser...
Smiling white man with brown hair and slightly crooked teeth in suit jacket and tie
Fred Starr (1896–1973)
Fred Starr was an educator, farmer, sometimes-politician, and writer who spent the second half of his life wor...
Samuel Shinkle Taylor (1886–1956)
Writer and educator Samuel Shinkle Taylor was one of only two African-American interviewers for the Arkansas F...
Two white men in suits with dog and house behind them
John Quincy Wolf Jr. (1901–1972)
A college professor and self-trained folklorist, John Quincy Wolf Jr. left a lasting legacy in the mid-South ...
WPA Slave Narratives
aka: Slave Narratives
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the largest agency in F...