John
Brenton Wolford, Ph.D.
[Contact
information] [References]
RECENT POSITIONS
Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Missouri
2003 -
Manager, Center for Oral
History Programs
Oral Historian
Director, Internship
Program, MHS
2002 - 2003 Director, Research and Publications, MHS
1993 - 2002 Urban Anthropologist
University of Missouri-St. Louis
1999 -
Faculty, Pierre Laclede Honors College
1993 - Museum Assistant
Professor, Department of
Anthropology
- Fellow, Center for Metropolitan Studies
- Faculty, Graduate School
- Board member, American Studies Committee
- Internship Director, Anthropology Department
- Library Liaison, Anthropology Department
ACADEMIC DEGREES
1992
Ph.D., Folklore and American Studies (Minor in
Public History), Indiana
University-Bloomington [IU]
Dissertation:
The South Union, Kentucky, Shakers
and Tradition: A Study of Business, Work, and Commerce
1982
M.A., Folklore, with
Distinction: IU
1979 B.A., English, magna cum
laude: University of Louisville
ARTICLES, NOTES,
ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES
"St. Louis," in Simon Bronner, ed., Encyclopedia
of
American Folklife (NY: Sharpe, 2006).
Museum review: The John Brown Memorial
Park (Kansas State Historical Society), Osawatomie, Kansas, for
The Public Historian [National
Council on Public History] 27:4 (Nov 2005): 91-95.
Review essay (Robert Johnson books):
Robert
Johnson: Lost and Found, by
Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch; and
Robert Johnson: Mythmaking and
Contemporary American Culture, by Patricia R. Schroeder, for
Western Folklore 64: 3/4 (Summer/Fall
2005): 339-342.
Review essay (Eskimo books):
Eskimo
drawings, ed. by Suzi Jones; and
Upside down: seasons among the
Nunamiut, by Margaret B. Blackman, for
Western Folklore 64: 3/4 (Summer/Fall
2005): 353-355..
“Travel on western waters,” article under consideration,
Indiana Magazine of History (2004).
“A moving experience,”
Gateway
Heritage 23:4 (January 2003): 64.
o Note: Memoir written as inaugural
Back Story feature, requested
by editor
“St. Louis,” in S. Bronner, ed.,
Encyclopedia
of Folklore (NY: Sharpe, 2004 ); submitted 2003.
“The future of urban ecosystem education from a social scientist's
perspective.” Article solicited for inclusion in book,
Understanding Urban Ecosystems: A New
Frontier for Science and Education, eds. A. R. Berkowitz, C.
Nilon, K. Hollweg (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003).
Review essay (Oral History books):
In
our own words: stories of North Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1900-1960
and
Crossroads: stories of Central
Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1912-2000, compiled by Sarah
Boyer,
Oral History Review
(2002).
“People and place in Twentieth-Century St. Louis,”
Gateway Heritage 19:4 (Spring
1999): 56-62.
(Co-author with Van Reidhead) “Context, conditioning, and meaning of
time-consciousness in a Trappist monastery.” In S. Hameroff, A.
Kaszniak, and A. Scott, eds.,
Toward
a Science of Consciousness II: The Second Tucson Discussion and Debates.
Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: MIT Press, 1998: 657-665.
“Creve Coeur Lake Legend,” within the article: “The Legend of the
Lake,”
Gateway Heritage, 18:
3 (Winter 1997/1998): 41.
Review essay (Shakers) : Thrasher,
Kindred
Spirits; Pearson & Neal,
The
Shaker Image; Nicoletta,
The
Architecture of the Shakers; in
Material Culture 28:3 (Fall 1996):
43-50.
General editor, “Experiences in the Voluntary Integration Programs at
St. Louis Cultural and Educational Institutions: A Missouri Historical
Society Oral History Research Project,” by Dr. Seena Kohl, Dr. Kathleen
Cook, Dr. Sharon Lee, Alfreda Bady, and Alyssa Royse; 1995.
“Dorson, Richard Mercer,” in
Encyclopedia
U.S.A. Vol. 22. Donald W. Whisenhunt, ed. Gulfbreeze, Florida:
Academic International Press, 1995: 203-204.
Review essay (Shaker folklife): Emlen,
Shaker Village Views and Grant
& Allen,
Shaker Furniture Makers,
in
Communal Studies 11
(1991): 94-99.
"Shaker Studies and Folklore: An Overview,"
Folklore Forum 22:1/2 (1989):
78-107.
"Folklore Institute Slide Archives Established," AFS Archiving Section
Newsletter 7 (1989): 1.
"Memories, Dreams, Recollections: A Sampler from Studebaker Oral
Histories,"
Indiana Folklore and
Oral History 14:2 (1985).
Progress report: "Indianapolis Blacks: An Oral History Research Center
Project,"
Black History News &
Notes no. 12 (1983).
MUSEUM
EXHIBITS AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY PROJECTS
Oral historian, Unnamed project on the
disabled community in St. Louis, Missouri Historical Society, 2006-ca.
2009.
Oral History Specialist,
Take
Flight! [A component of the
Flight City: St. Louis Takes to the Air exhibit], Missouri
Historical Society,: IMLS grant, 2006-2007.
Oral historian,
Flight City: St.
Louis Takes to the Air, Missouri Historical Society; Exhibit
[project: 2004-2007; opens: June 2007].
Researcher and oral historian,
The
1904
World's Fair: Looking Back at Looking Forward, Missouri
Historical
Society [project: Jan 2003 - Apr 2004; open: Apr 30, 2003 – 2008.
Community Partners director for Filipino exhibit connected to this
exhibit
- Coordinated the exhibit A
Continuing Journey, in conjunction with the
St. Louis Philippine American 1904 World’s Fair Centennial Committee,
Ltd.
- Keynote speaker and MHS liaison with the Igorot Global
Organization’s
Igorot International Conference 5, biennial conference held June 2004,
St. Louis
- Keynote speaker and MHS liaison with the Filipino American
National
Historical Society national conference, August 2004, St. Louis
Project supervisor,
In the Voice of a Child
[Rockefeller Grant-funded
school/museum project] MHS; project: 2001 - 2003; Presentation: May
2003.
Exhibit director,
Memory,
local component for the Exploratorium's
traveling exhibit, MHS; project: May 2002 - February 2003; open:
February 14, 2003 - April 17, 2003.
- Team leader for MHS Exhibit Team on the local component
- Conceived and implemented the local component of this exhibit
- Wrote labels, supervised budget and schedule, supervised
educational
component
Oral History Advisor,
Through the
Eyes of a Child, MHS; research:
1995-2002; exhibit: opened March 16, 2003.
Oral Historian and Researcher,
Preživjet Ćemo/We Will Survive [Bosnian
Refugees in St. Louis], Missouri Historical Society; research:
1999-2000; exhibit: 2000-2001.
- A prime mover in the establishment of this innovative community
partners gallery
- Served as the primary oral historian and supervisor for the
Bosnian
interviews
- Worked closely with the members of the Bosnian community
Oral Historian,
Meet Me at the Fair
Memory and History of the 1904 St.
Louis World's Fair, Missouri Historical Society; research:
1993-1996;
exhibit: 1996-1999.
Principal Investigator: Pilot Project for
People and Place in
20th-Century St. Louis, Oral History project on the Grand/Oak
Hill (aka
Tower Grove South) neighborhood. Project duration: May - September
1995; 8 interviews; MHS project, 4 member team
General editor,
Experiences in the
Voluntary Integration Programs at
St. Louis Cultural and Educational Institutions: A Missouri Historical
Society Oral History Research Project , by Dr. Seena Kohl, Dr.
Kathleen
Cook, Dr. Sharon Lee, Alfreda Bady, and Alyssa Royse; 1995
BOOK REVIEWS and
REVIEW ESSAYS SINCE 1991
BOOK AND FILM REVIEWS, by Publication
American Anthropologist
Arkansas Review
Choice
The Courier-Journal & Times
The Filson Club History Quarterly
Folklore Forum
Gateway (Pre-2004: dba Gateway Heritage)
History of Education Quarterly
Journal of American Folklore
Material Culture
New York Folklore
Oral History Review
The
Public Historian
Utopian Studies
Western Folklore
Book Review Essays
Robert Johnson books: Robert Johnson: Lost and Found, by
Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch; and Robert Johnson: Mythmaking and
Contemporary American Culture, by Patricia R. Schroeder, for Western Folklore 64: 3/4 (Summer/Fall
2005): 339-342.
Eskimo books: Eskimo drawings,
ed. by
Suzi Jones; and Upside down: seasons
among the Nunamiut, by Margaret B.
Blackman, for Western Folklore
64: 3/4 (Summer/Fall
2005): 353-355.
Oral History books: In our own
words: stories of North Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1900-1960 and Crossroads:
stories of Central Square,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1912-2000, compiled by Sarah Boyer; in
Oral
History Review (2002).
Shaker books: Thrasher, Kindred
Spirits; Pearson & Neal, The
Shaker
Image; Nicoletta, The
Architecture of the Shakers; in Material Culture
28:3 (Fall 1996): 43-50.
Shaker books: Emlen, Shaker Village
Views and Grant & Allen, Shaker
Furniture Makers, in Communal
Studies 11 (1991): 94-99
Book Reviews (1993 to present)
Organ theft
legends,
by Véronique
Campion-Vincent, in Choice (February 2007).
Archive
stories: facts, fictions, and the writing of history, by
Antoinette Burton, in
Oral History Review (submitted October
2006).
Staging tradition: John Lair and Sarah Gertrude Knott, by
Michael
Ann Williams, in
Choice (submitted September 2006)
Cannibal talk, by
Gananath Obeyesekere, in Western Folklore
(submitted June 2006).
Funeral festivals in America:
rituals for the living. by
Jacqueline S. Thursby, in Choice
(June 2006).
The Shaker spiritual,
edited
by Daniel Patterson (Second, corrected
edition), in
Journal of American
Folklore 119: 472 (Spring 2006).
Coming to the edge of
the circle: a
Wiccan initiation ritual, by Nikki Bado-Fralick, in
Choice
(February 2006).
Immigrant
faiths: transforming religious life in America, ed. by Karen I.
Leonard et al.
, in
Choice (January 2006
).
Frozen
in time: the fate of the
Franklin expedition, by Owen Beattie and John Geiger, in
Gateway
25:4 (Spring 2005): 62.
In a hungry country: essays by Simon
Paneak, ed. by John Martin
Campbell with contributions by Grant Spearman, Robert L. Rausch, and
Stephen C. Porter.
Choice
42:7 (March 2005): 1271.
Witching culture: folklore and
neo-paganism in America, by Sabina
Magliocco, in
Choice 42:7
(March 2005): 1271.
Tobacco harvest: an elegy, by
Wendell Berry, in
Journal of
American
Folklore (submitted January 2005).
Engaged surrender: African American
women and Islam, by Carolyn Moxley
Rouse, in
Choice 42:2
(October 2004): 377.
Solicited review of
The order has
been carried out: history, memory,
and meaning of a Nazi massacre in Rome, by Alessandro Portelli,
in
Oral
History Review 31:2 (Sep 2004): 120.
Crafting Tradition: The making and
marketing of Oaxacan wood carvings, by Michael Chibnik
, Journal of Folklore Research (July
2004
).
Narratives of Mexican American women:
emergent identities of the second
generation, by Alma M. García, in
Choice 41:10 (June 2004): 921.
Eight words for the study of
expressive culture, ed. by Burt Feintuch,
in
Choice 41:7 (March 2004):
1280.
Roadside crosses in contemporary
memorial culture, by Holly Everett
Denton, in
Journal of Folklore
Research (Internet site review) (January
2004).
Graceful women: gender and identity
in an American Sikh community, by
Constance Waeber Elsberg, in
Choice
41:5 (January 2004): 999.
Southern heritage on display: public
ritual and ethnic diversity within
southern regionalism, ed. by Celeste Ray, in
Choice 41:3 (November 2003):
609.
Memory in black and white: race,
commemoration, and the post-bellum
landscape, by Paul A. Shackel, in
Choice 41:2 (October 2003): 405.
Folk nation: folklore in the creation
of American tradition, by Simon
Bronner, in
Choice 40:7
(March 2003): 1242.
The politics of storytelling:
violence, transgression, and
intersubjectivity, by Michael Jackson, in
Choice 40:6 (February 2003):
1021.
Surviving through the days:
translations of native California stories
and songs: a California Indian reader, ed. by Herbert W. Luthin,
in
Choice
40:5 (January 2003): 868.
Chicana traditions: continuity and
change, ed. by Norma E. Cantú
and Olga Nájera-Ramírez, in
Choice 40:4 (December 2002): 668.
Haunted houses and family ghosts of
Kentucky, by William Lynwood
Montell, in
Filson Club History
Quarterly 76:4 (Fall 2002): 590-592.
Food for the dead: on the trail of
New England's vampires, by Michael
E. Bell, in
Choice 39:11/12
(July 2002): 2022.
Storied lives: Japanese American
students and World War II, by Gary Y.
Okihiro, in
Oral History Review
(2001)
Badger and Coyote were neighbors:
Melville Jacobs on Northwest Indian
myths and tales, ed. by William R. Seaburg and Pamela T. Amos,
in
Choice
38:6 (February 2001): 1120.
Polish American Folklore, by
Deborah Silverman, in
Choice
38:4 (December
2000): 747.
The St. Louis Veiled Prophet
Celebration: Power on Parade 1877-1995, by
Thomas M. Spencer, in
Arkansas Review
(2000).
When we say we're home: a quartet of
place and memory, by W. Scott
Olsen, in
Choice 37:2
(October 1999): 384.
God among the Shakers: a search for
stillness and faith at Sabbathday
Lake, by Suzanne Skees, in
Choice
37:2 (October 1999): 347.
Solicited review of
In search of
authenticity: the formation of
Folklore studies, by Regina Bendix, in
American Anthropologist (1998).
Bodies of life: Shaker literature and
literacies, by Etta M. Madden,
in
Choice 36:2 (October
1998): 317.
The end of the world as we know it:
faith, fatalism, and apocalypse in
America, by Daniel Wojcik, in
Utopian
Studies (1998).
The labyrinth of memory,
edited by Marea Teski and Jacob Climo, in
Journal
of American Folklore Vol 111: 439 (Winter, 1998): 95-97.
High art down home: an economic
ethnography of a local art market, by
Stuart Plattner, in
Gateway Heritage,
Vol. 18: 1 (Summer 1997): 46-47.
Artisans in the North Carolina
backcountry, by Johanna Miller Lewis,
in
Filson Club History Quarterly
71:1 (January 1997): 98-100.
Monsters, tricksters, and sacred
cows: animal tales and American
identity, ed. by A. James Arnold, in
Choice (October 1996).
The gas station in America, by
John A. Jakle & Keith A. Sculle,
in
Choice (March 1995): 707.
Folklore and fascism, by
Hannjost Lixfeld, trans. by James Dow, in
Choice
(Nov 1994): 544.
American folklore and mass media,
by Linda Dégh, in
Choice
(Jul/Aug
1994): 412.
Dearest chums and partners, by
Hugh Keenan, in
History of Education
Quarterly 34: 4 (Winter 1994): 498-499.
Masquerade politics: explorations in
the structure of urban cultural
movements, by Abner Cohen, in
Journal
of American Folklore (1994).
Spiritual spectacles: vision and
image in mid-nineteenth century
Shakerism, by Sally Promey, in
Choice
(Oct 1993): 629.
African-American gardens and yards in
the rural South, by Richard
Westmacott, in
Material Culture
25:3 (Fall 1993): 53-56.
Creativity and tradition in folklore:
New directions, ed., Simon
Bronner, in
Journal of American
Folklore 106: 422 (Fall 1993): 504-505.
Rock fences of the bluegrass,
by Carolyn Murray-Wooley and Karl Raitz,
in
Filson Club Historical Society
Quarterly 67:3 (July 1993): 404-406.
Cultural history and material
culture: everyday life, landscapes,
museums, by Thomas J. Schlereth, in
Journal of American Folklore 106:
421
(Summer 1993): 353-355.
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE: TEACHING
1993- Museum Assistant Professor: "The
Culture of
Cities," "Introduction to Folklore," "Cultural Diversity through
Literature," "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology," "American
Folklore," “Internship in Folklore,” “Internship in Cultural
Anthropology,” and “Oral History of the City,” Dept of Anthropology,
UM-St. Louis
2005 Faculty,
Independent Study on Oral History, for Ryan Stockwell, Ph.D. student,
Rural Sociology, University of Missouri-Columbia
1999-2000 Co-Chair, Master’s Committee, for Julie
Maio Kemper, MA in History (Museum Studies), UM-St. Louis: A Path
Through Crisis: The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942 (A Traveling
Interpretive Exhibit)
1999 Admitted to Faculty of the Pierre Laclede Honors
College, UM-St. Louis
1995 Admitted to Graduate Faculty, UM—St. Louis
1994-2002 Intern Director: Supervised dozens of
interns after establishing the Anthropology department’s internship
program
1993 Instructor and designer: "Indiana Folklife"
(F360), Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
1985-86 Instructor: "The Hero in American Culture"
(A201), Program in American Studies, IU (3 semesters)
1984-85 Instructor and designer: "Introduction to
American Folklore" (F220), at 1) Folklore Institute, IU and 2) School
of Liberal Arts, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
1984 Associate Instructor: "Childhood and Youth in
America" (A202), Program in American Studies, IU
1983 Associate Instructor: "Religious Diversity in
America" (R432), Department of Religious Studies, IU
1982 Associate Instructor: "Introduction to Folklore"
(F101), Folklore Institute, IU
1982 Teacher: "Family Folklore" (for 10-12 year
olds), Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library with the Louisville Art
Gallery
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE: APPLIED RESEARCH
Oral History
Unnamed project on the disabled community,
Missouri Historical Society,
(2006-ca.
09)
Description:
As envisioned, this project will begin
locally but will grow in focus to include national and international
topics and
activities. MHS convened a conference in 2005 to discuss what needs to
be
covered about the disabled community in order to bring greater
awareness to the
public. We are beginning our local project by focusing on people with
spinal
cord injuries and with Multiple Sclerosis, and the activities and
agencies that
deal with this community. My part is to cover the MS community for
2006-2007,
and then identify other communities in 2007.
o Will
interview ten people involved in the MS community, 4 in 2006, 6 in 2007
o Will
archive all of the oral history materials
o Working
with a team to develop the project
o Will
result in an exhibit and most likely, a national or international
conference
Flight City:
St. Louis Takes to the Air, Missouri
Historical
Society, (2004-08)
Description:
A comprehensive history of aviation in
the St. Louis
region, covering all things aeronautic, from early ballooning to the
X-Prize.
This project covers businesses, air fields, airports, governmental
agencies,
astronauts, model airplane constructors, trainers and instructors,
weather
personnel, and airlines. The focus is on social history of aviation in
the St. Louis
region, so the
oral history covered people who worked the line at McDonnell Douglas to
airline
executives. The only exception is that we did not cover Lindbergh,
since w
already have an exhibit up on him and his history.
o Also
received an IMLS grant [Take Flight!]
to create oral history kiosks within the exhibit, for which we hired a
videographer
o Conducted
about 20 oral history interviews and nearly 30 pre-interviews
o Archived
all of the oral history materials
Unknown
Soldiers, Unsung Heroes: Youth
Activism in the St. Louis Civil Rights Movement, (2004-06)
Description: Part of the Liberty’s Legacies grant awarded to the
Missouri Historical Society and the Cooperating School District of St.
Louis, this component focuses on a short time period [1948-1961] in
local civil rights activities that featured the burgeoning of a young
student movement advocating civil rights for African Americans. This
period is relatively unknown in local or national consciousness, and
the intent is to have the material available for use by students and
teachers.
o USDE Teaching American History grant
o Oral history supervisor of Gwen Moore, oral historian
o Supervisor of two teacher interns (Regina Gleason and Deborah Becker)
o Over a dozen groundbreaking interviews
In the Voice of a Child
(2001-2003)
Description: An oral history project collaboration between the
Missouri
Historical Society, the St. Louis city school district, and community
arts organizations, to train middle school African American children in
oral history and methods of public presentation of their projects.
o Funded by Rockefeller Foundation
o Team project advisor 2001-2002
o Assumed supervision in 2002-2003
o Supervised budget, projects, and staff work
o Resulted in a video production, two plays, a handcrafted book, a
radio program, and a museum exhibit
Through the Eyes of a Child
(1995-2003)
Description: An oral history project dealing with the lives of
African
American children in historically black neighborhoods in the St. Louis
region, from the 1930s through the 1980s.
o Funded in part by the Whitaker
Foundation
o Team oral historian
o Focus Group leader
o Exhibit team member
o Video production team member
o Historyonics Theatre Company drama team member
People and Place in 20th-Century St.
Louis (1993-2001)
Description: A long term research project attempting to document
the
residential, business, political, social, and cultural life of St.
Louis in twelve communities throughout the metropolitan region. The
twelve communities represent differences in locale, socioeconomic
levels and development, and demographics, as well as differences in
time periods covered. All areas of the city and county areas are
covered. The intent is to begin a research project that will shed light
on reasons for the societal dynamics in St. Louis over the 20th century.
o Principal Investigator, oral history
project:
o St. Louis and St. Louis County: CDA
Neighborhoods of Hyde Park, North
Point, Benton Park, Princeton Heights, and Skinker-DeBaliviere, and
Paddock Woods in St. Louis County; co-worker, Jacqueline K. Dace,
Assistant Researcher: 1993 - 2001
o Coordinator of the teams involved over the years, including staff
members, interns, Research Fellows, and Exchange Scholars.
o Oral historian for the neighborhoods covered.
o Created collaboration through a course I taught at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis
o over three years, UM-St. Louis
students conducted oral histories in the
Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood while learning oral history method and
theory
o these oral histories are part of the MHS project oral history
collections
o Wrote an article for Gateway Heritage on this project
o Presented papers and gave talks to community groups on this topic
o Featured on a local news station discussing this project
[Bosnian
Refugees in St. Louis] (1999-2001)
Description: A groundbreaking exhibit on Bosnian refugees in the
St. Louis region, which at the time numbered about 25,000 and has since
grown to over 50,000. The initial influx of refugees came primarily as
a result of the slaughter of Bosnians at Srebrenica in July, 1995. We
documented the history of Bosnia, the massacre at Srebrenica, and the
story of the refugees's flight and resettlement in St. Louis.
Currently, the Bosnian population in St. Louis is the largest Bosnian
population in the United States and the largest population of Bosnians
anywhere in the world outside of Bosnia.
o Primary oral historian, leading a
team of graduate students
o Incorporated the use of Bosnian language (Serbocroatian) translators
for the interviews, as well as for the exhibit labels
o Engaged the local Bosnian community through community meetings and
eventually forming a Bosnian advisory council
o Inaugural exhibit in MHS's Community Gallery
o Exhibit team member
Seeking St. Louis (1996-2000)
Description: A comprehensive view of St. Louis from late
prehistoric
times (Cahokia era) to the modern day. Exhibit centered in three large
galleries at the Jefferson Memorial Building, Missouri History Museum.
o Team oral historian
o Exhibit team member
All Shook Up [project on the
1945-1965 period] (1995-1998)
Description: Research project documenting life and culture in
St. Louis
during the post-World War II period, which was a boom time in St. Louis
that had lasting social and cultural effects, not all of them positive.
Project concluded research without applying for the follow-up grant
because of new initiatives at MHS.
o NEH Planning grant
o member and contributor to the grant planning committee
o Oral history advisor
o Focus Group designer and moderator
Meet Me At the Fair: Memory, History
and the 1904 St. Louis World's
Fair (1993-1996)
Description: A comparative view of the regionally significant
Louisiana
Purchase Exposition of 1904, contrasting the Fair as we can reconstruct
it from factual history to the Fair as remembered by St. Louisans in
story and legend. The exhibit was featured in the large West Gallery on
two levels at the Jefferson Memorial Building, Missouri History Museum.
o Principal oral historian, conducting
interviews with actual visitors
to the Fair as well as descendants of fairgoers
o Researcher into the narrative folklore of the Fair, primarily of the
legends surrounding Dogtown, a residential neighborhood close to the
historic fairgrounds
Oral history Pilot Project for the
People
and Place project; focus on
Tower Grove South neighborhood (1995)
Description: The test program for the longer People and Place of 20th century St. Louis
project. Conducted in this mid-city urban neighborhood because of its
diversity and centrality.
o Principal Investigator, designer, and
team leader
o Supervised Jackie Dace, MHS Assistant Researcher and Gail Ramspott,
graduate intern from St. Louis University
o Conducted full-schedule oral history project of a CDA neighborhood,
May-September 1995
o Wrote up a summary report for internal use
Cultural Desegregation Programs in St. Louis, 1981-1994; project
conducted 1994-1995
Description: Documentation of the students, teachers, and
administrators of the landmark decision to desegregate St. Louis city
public schools. The intent was to gather the social history to help
determine the personal and social effects of the desegregation effort,
as well as to determine some of the unknown facts surrounding its
implementation.
o Supervisor
o Wrote and received $45,000 grant from Schlafly Foundation
o Designed the project and in charge of hiring the researchers
o Resulted in over two dozen archived interviews and a final report
Project developer, Interviewer for various Oral History Research Center
(IU) projects,
including:
o The Whiting, Indiana, Project on American Memory (1992)
o Oral historian of ethnic steel workers
o Exit poll interviewer for 1992 Presidential election
o Studebaker Corporation Project (1984-1985)
o Primary interviewer and architect of
project
o Oral historian of factory workers, union officials, and administration
o History of the IU School of Music (1983)
o Originator of the project and main
architect
o Interviewer of Wilfred Bain, former dean of the school
o People of Indianapolis: the Black Community (1983)
o Team project leader and oral historian
Grant writer, Louisville Blues Legacy Project, KYIANA Blues Society,
Louisville, Kentucky from Kentucky Oral History Commission (1991), for
oral history project documenting Louisville's blues tradition
Archival Work
Folklife Slide Archivist,
Folklore Institute, IU: 1988-91
o Personal archivist for Henry
Glassie’s slide archives, mainly his work in the Southwest,
Turkey, and Bangladesh
Folklore Archives Assistant, Folklore Institute: 1982
Selected Field Studies: Folklore, History, and Anthropology
St. Louis Filipino-American community,
2002-2004
Korean War veterans, 2002-2003
St. Louis Bosnian refugee community, 1999-2000
Community cultural study, based on St. Louis neighborhoods;
co-sponsored by Missouri Historical Society and Center for Metropolitan
Studies (UM—St. Louis): 1996 -2001
Trappist monastery studies, with a focus on time and space; with Dr.
Van Reidhead, 1995 - 1996
Shaker dissertation research, with foci on tradition, commerce,
folklife, and the built environment; October 1987 - August 1992
"The Gilliland House: A Two-Story Dogtrot," directed by Dr. Warren
Roberts, IU: 1983
o winner of the 1984 Graduate Student
Paper Award, Indiana University
"Indiana Gemlore Project," directed by Dr. John W. Johnson, IU: 1981
"Kentucky Shaker Furniture," directed by Dr. Warren Roberts, IU: 1981
Research Fellowships
Center for Metropolitan Studies, UM—St.
Louis; appointments for 1997-1999
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE: ADMINISTRATIVE
Division of Research and Publications, Missouri Historical Society,
2002-2003
Research Department
o Supervised a staff of two professionals
o
Accreditation
review team during AAM re-accreditation
(2002-2003)
o Projects produced:
1.
Memory exhibit
2.
Through the eyes of a child
exhibit (African American history)
3.
In the voice of a child
school collaboration and public presentation
4.
African American History
Talk Series
5.
Looking back at looking forward:
the 1904 World’s Fair (team participation)
Publications
Department
o Supervised a staff of four
o
Accreditation
review team during AAM re-accreditation
(2002-2003)
o Products created:
1. 4 issues of Gateway Heritage, including the
Lewis & Clark
Bicentennial issue
2. Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide,
by Carolyn Gilman
3. The Enemy Among Us: POWs in
Missouri During WWII, by David Fiedler
4. A Song of Faith and Hope: The
Life of Frankie Muse Freeman, by
Frankie Muse Freeman with Candace O’Connor
5. St. Louis in the Century of Henry
Shaw: A View beyond the Garden
Wall, edited by Eric Sandweiss
o Products begun during but finished after my tenure:
1. St.
Louis Metromorphosis, edited by Brady Baybeck and E. Terrence
Jones
2. Bill Clay: A Political Voice at
the Grass Roots, by Bill Clay
3. “Point from which creation
begins”: The Black Artists’ Group of St.
Louis, by Benjamin Looker
Administrative
Duties
o Staff supervision, evaluation; set rates of promotion and pay raises
o Creation and administration of division budget
o Determination of division projects, schedules, and assigned duties
o Participation in institutional executive meetings and implementation
of institutional policy
Manager, Center for Oral History Programs, Missouri Historical
Society, 2004-present
Administrative
Duties
o Create plan for establishment of oral history as a core activity at
MHS
o Create variety of proposals for executive consideration for
implementation
o Research best practices standards and models of established programs
nationwide
o Create plan to train volunteer staff in oral history methodology
Related
Certification
o Completed tax professional
certification course,
H&R Block (Fall 2006)
o IRS-registered tax professional (Fall 2006)
Director of Internship Program, Missouri Historical Society,
2002-present
Administrative
Duties
o Staff supervision of an administrative assistant
o Establish internship periods
o Create internship opportunities list and send it out to schools,
professors, and interested students
o Create and update intern mailing list
o Create, disseminate, and monitor the completion of all forms
o Maintain the records of the internship program, or ensure that they
are maintained
Director, Research in Progress talk series, Missouri Historical
Society, 1994-2000
Administrative
Duties
o Staff supervision of an administrative assistant
o Create a nine-month schedule of scholarly talks to be held at MHS
o Arrange for room reservations, food, and setup
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE: SERVICE
Anthropology Department, University of Missouri-St. Louis
Anthropology representative,
rotating, for university functions
Thomas Jefferson Library Liaison:
recommending books, updating the serials collection
Internship Coordinator:
o Created the dept.'s program
o Drafted the departmentally approved guidelines
o Placed guidelines and forms on the Internet
o Identified potential institutions to work with
o Connected students with academic supervisors
Museum Studies Committee
Executive Committee
Arts & Sciences
Center
for the Humanities
American Studies Committee
Paper
presentation on folk art,
Folk Art, Popular Culture, and
Contemporary Art,
for Gallery 201 opening, Robbie Barker: Speaking in the
Vernacular (March 10-13)
Planning committee,
Center for the Humanities, What is a
city?
MHS/UMSL planning committee for Museum Studies
Master's Program
Non-University Professional Service (Including service with
Missouri Historical Society)
2006-09
Book Review Editor,
Oral History
Review, Oral History Association
2006-09
Publications Committee, Oral
History Association
2006-
Subcommittee,
Oral history and community
pamphlet,
Oral History Association
1998-
Panelist, Folk Art Projects,
Missouri
Folk Arts Program Advisory Cmte
1993-
Missouri Folk Arts Advisory
Committee
and
field evaluator for
the
Traditional Arts Apprenticeship
Program
1993-
Article peer reviewer for
Gateway (formerly
Gateway Heritage)
1983-
Choice reviewer for books on Shakers, folklore,
oral history,
ethnic history
2006
Traditional
Arts Apprentice Program Site
Reviewer:
•
Linda
Hickman's klöppelei
work; two apprentices, Ann Prater and Cindy Collins; Missouri Folk Arts
Program; at Maifest in Hermann,
Missouri
2005
Invited Participant,
Missouri
Folk Arts
Summit, Missouri Folk Arts Program
2005
Invited Participant,
Missouri Folk Arts Summit, Missouri Folk Arts Program
2005
Panelist, National Endowment for the Arts, Folk and
Traditional Arts
2002 - 2005 Founding Board Member, St. Louis
Metropolitan
Research Exchange
2003 - 2004
Board Advisor for Oral
History Project, Focus St. Louis
2002 - 2004
Director, MHS Fellowship Program
2003
LeadershipPlenty class, Pew Charitable Trust
2002-2003 Secondary
School Award Committee, Oral History Association
1989 - 2002 Modern Language Association:
Field Bibliographer, volume 5 (Folklore Bibliography)
• indexer for Louisiana Folklore Miscellany, Mississippi Folklife, North Carolina Folklore Journal, Southern Folklore, and a variety of
books of scholarly articles
1999-2000 Project Reviewer:
National Endowment for the Humanities,
Division of Preservation and Access
1994 - 2000 Director,
Research in Progress talk series,
MHS
1998-1999 Project Reviewer:
National Endowment for the Humanities,
Division of Preservation and Access
1999
Manuscript evaluator (
Muffler Men),
University Press of Mississippi
1998
Neighborhoods
Presentation for SLACO
(
St. Louis Association of Community
Organizations), April 18.
1997
(With Bob Duffy, Post-Dispatch) Program
on
Civic Celebrations, radio
show with Mark Menelli, FM 90.7 (KWMU)
1997
(With Bob Duffy, Post-Dispatch) Program
on
Civic Celebrations, public
program at MHS
1997
Workshop on
Religion and spirituality in
contemporary America, MHS/OASIS collaborative program
1996-1997 Judge for graduate
student paper contest, Folklore and History section,
American Folklore Society
1996
Presentation on Winter holidays, MHS
1996
Workshop on oral history and family
history, MHS
1996
Coordinator,
African American Participation in St.
Louis Museums, Dr. Gene Robertson, director
1995
Oral History presentation: Prof.
Rosemary Thomas's English class, Meramec Community College
1995
Oral History presentation: Prof. Rosemary
Thomas's Landmarks class (for area secondary teachers)
1995
Oral History presentation: 4th
grade class, Hawthorn Elementary School, Rockwood School
District
1989-1992 Panel ist, Indiana
Arts
Commission: Expansion Arts/Folk Arts/Multi-Arts
PROFESSIONAL
COLLABORATIONS WITH EXTERNAL ENTITIES
- Career centers and internship contacts at higher educational and
cultural
institutions, 2002 – present
- Focus St. Louis, 2002 - present
- St. Louis Internship Program, 2002 - present
- St. Louis Metropolitan Research Exchange, 2002 - present
- Various regional housing and neighborhood organizations, both
non-profit and governmental, including African American,
church-related, and ethnic [Bosnian primarily], 1993 - present
- Professors in history, anthropology, American studies, English,
music history, art history, psychology, and education at all of the
local universities, colleges, and community colleges (Washington
University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Saint Louis University,
Webster University, St. Louis Community College, Maryville University,
Lindenwood College, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and
Fontbonne College), 1993 – present
- Centers at local universities, 1993 – present
- UM-St. Louis: Pierre Laclede Honors College, Humanities Center,
Center for Metropolitan Studies, Program in American Studies, Center
for Disabilities, Distance Learning Program, and Center for Public
Policy Studies
- Washington University: Center for the Humanities
- Saint Louis University: the Islamic Center, Public Policy Center)
- Igorot Global Organization [for their biennial conference in St.
Louis], 2003 - 2004
- Civic organizations: The Philippine American 1904 World’s Fair
Centennial Committee, Ltd., Focus St. Louis, St. Louis Area Community
Organization [SLACO], 1996 – 2004
- Korean War Veterans Association [for a jointly sponsored
MHS-Washington University symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of
the armistice], 2002 - 2003
- St. Louis Public School System [In
the Voice of a Child project],
2001-2003
- Bosnian Advisory Committee [Preživjet Ćemo/We Will Survive], 1998
- 2000
- St. Louis Public Library [People
and Place in 20th-Century St.
Louis project], 1994- 2001
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE: SELECTED GRANT INVOLVEMENT
- Institute of Museum and Library Sciences ($113,000), Take Flight! [A component of the Flight City: St. Louis Takes to the Air
exhibit], 2006
– 2007. Funded.
- US Department of Education, Teaching American History grant
($200,000), Liberty’s Legacies:
Unknown Soldiers, Unsung Heroes: Youth
Activism in the St. Louis Civil Rights Movement, 2004-2006.
Funded.
- Rockefeller Foundation ($100,000), In the Voice of a Child, 2001
– 2003. Funded.
- University of Missouri Research Award ($5,180), Cultural Bases of
Community in St. Louis Neighborhoods, March 1998 - August 1999.
Funded.
- Whitaker Foundation ($150,000), Through
the Eyes of a Child,
1996-1999. Funded.
- National Endowment for the Humanities, ($250,000), People and
Place in 20th-Century St. Louis, 1995-1998. Not Funded.
- National Endowment for the Humanities, Planning Grant ($100,000),
All Shook Up, 1995-1996.
Funded.
- Adelaide and Tom Schlafly Family Foundation ($45,000), Desegregation in St. Louis,
1981-1994, 1994-1995. Funded.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS
American Folklore Society Conferences
2005 Literature, Environmentalism, and Tradition
Chair: Perspectives on Folklore and the
Environment
2004 Doing History
While Thinking Folklore
2003 Museum Work
As Folkloristic Negotiation
2002 Exhibiting
Bosnians In St. Louis
1999 Public
Historian, Academic Anthropologist, Alien
Folklorist
1996 Using Memory:
Folklorist, Anthropologist,
Historian
1994 Urban Folklore
1993 The Flatboat
Trader’s Dilemma
1992 The
Regionality of Shaker Architecture
Chair: Narrative
Images of Place
1989 Dickens and
the Shakers: Interaction of
Worldviews
1988 The
Occupational/Organizational Folklore Debate
1985 Living
Traditions among the Elders: Memories of
Studebaker
1982 Shaker Spirit
Drawings
Oral History Association (1996-2003)
2003 Chair, Agency
and Identity: A Community of Voices
2002 Bosnians In
St. Louis: Using Oral History To
Exhibit A Refugee Population In A Community Gallery
2000 Workshop, with Jacqueline K. Dace: Making a
Product from Oral Interviews
1999 Chair and Presenter, The Question of Danger in
Oral History Fieldwork
1997 Roundtable Discussion: Institutions Documenting
Minority Communities
Selected Local, Regional, and Other National Conferences
2006 Workshop Chair and
Co-Presenter, Oral History
Workshop, Association of African American Museums (National
conference held in St. Louis)
2005 Invited
presenter, Living Rivers: People and Their Responses to the Rivers
Around Them, Hanover College, Rivers Institute
2005 Museum
Collaborations with Ethnic Communities in St. Louis, National
Conference on Public History
2004 Chair and commentator, Ethnic Community/Museum
Collaboration in St. Louis, American Association of State and
Local
History
2004 Chair and presenter, Preserving Community
Through Oral History, Association of Midwest Museums
2004 Plenary Speaker, The 1904 World’s Fair and the
Filipino Experience, Filipino American National Historical
Society
(FANHS) annual conference, St. Louis, MO
2004 Keynote Speaker, Igorots and the 1904 World’s
Fair, International Igorot Consultation 5 (Igorot Global
Organization)
1999 Poster: Urban
cultural ecology and anthropology:
what they contribute to an understanding of urban ecosystems,
Institute
for Ecological Studies, Cary Conference 8, Millbrook, New York
1998 Folk Art,
Popular Culture, and Contemporary Art,
for Gallery 210 opening, Robbie Barker: Speaking in
the Vernacular (March 10-13)
1998 St. Louis
Neighborhoods and Community, St. Louis
Association of Community Organizations
1997 Chair and commentator, Panel on Henry Glassie’s
Folklore Contributions, Missouri Conference on History
1996 (co-author with Van Reidhead), Context,
conditioning, and meaning of time-consciousness in a Trappist
monastery, Toward a Science of Consciousness: Tucson II
1996 Chair, Public
Spectacle, Public Memory:
Representations of the 1904 World's Fair, Mid-America American
Studies
Association
1995 People And
Place In St. Louis: The
Anthropological Perspective, Central States Anthropology Society
1993 The
Liminality of Shaker Traders, Communal
Studies Association
1990 The Shakers
of Kentucky, Beargrass-St. Matthews
(Ky.) Historical Society
1988 Studebaker
Remembered, Great Lakes American
Studies Association Conference
1984 Kentucky
Shaker Furniture, Folklore Student
Association Colloquium, IU
1983 An
Indianapolis African American Community,
Indiana Historical Society Annual Meeting, Indianapolis
1983 Shaker Spirit Art,
American Studies Graduate Students Colloquium,
IU (1982)
1982 Shaker Spirit
Drawings, Folklore Student Association Student
Papers Conference III, IU
Conference Honoraria
2004 Plenary speaker,
Filipino American National Historical
Society annual conference, St.
Louis, Missouri
2004 Keynote speaker, International Igorot
Consultation, St. Louis, Missouri
1999 Invited participant, Institute for Ecological
Studies, 8th Annual Cary Conference,
Millbrook, New York
1987 Invited participant, Shaker Furniture and Design
Symposium, The Shaker Museum (Old Chatham, New York)
1984 Invited participant, Shaker Studies Conference,
Pleasant Hill, Kentucky
Conference Planning Committees
2001
Local
Committee Co-chair, Oral History Association national conference, St.
Louis
1993-2000 Director,
Research in Progress
monthly talk series, Missouri Historical Society
1999
What is a City? conference,
Center for the Humanities, UM-St. Louis, Local and Coordinating
Committees
1998
What is a City?
conference, Center for the Humanities, Local committee
1997
Missouri Conference on History, National Committee
1994
Missouri Conference on History, Local Committee
SELECTED
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
American Anthropological Association
American Association of Museums
American Assn. of State and Local History
American Folklore Society
American Studies Association
Association of Midwest Museums
California Folklore Society
Central States Anthropological Assn.
Communal Studies Association
Hoosier Folklore Society
Kentucky Folklore Society
Mid-America American Studies Assn.
Missouri Folklore Society
Missouri Historical Society
National Council on Public History
Oral History Association
Organization of American Historians
- Book Review
Editor, 2006-09
- Publications
Committee, 2006-09
- Subcommittee, Oral
history and community, 2006-
- Secondary
Schools Award Committee, 2002-2003
- Co-coordinator,
Local Arrangements Cmte, OHA national
conference, 2000-01
Pi Lambda Theta [inducted 1992, Indiana University chapter]
Pioneer America Society
Society for Urban Anthropology
Society for Utopian Studies
State Historical Society of Missouri
created: January 2005; last revised: December 19,
2006
this
revision: January 17, 2007