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Hawes (Bess Lomax) Student Folklore Collection
URB.BLH
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Bess Lomax Hawes Student Folklore Collection
Creator:
Hawes, Bess Lomax, 1921-2009
Identifier/Call Number: URB.BLH
Extent:
10.50 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1959-1975
Abstract: Bess Lomax Hawes is the daughter of
famed folklorist John A. Lomax. Ms. Hawes had an active musical career as a singer,
instrumentalist and songwriter. Her career as an educator began in 1954 when she became an
instructor in guitar, banjo and folk music in the extension division at the University of
California, Los Angeles. In 1963, she joined the Anthropology Department at San Fernando
Valley State College. The material contained in this collection consists of folkloric data
collected between 1958 and 1977 by students enrolled in Anthropology 309: American Folk
Music, Anthropology 311: Introduction to Folklore, and various senior seminars at San
Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge).
Language of Material: English
Bess Lomax Hawes was born in Austin, Texas in 1921 to Bess Bauman-Brown Lomax and John A.
Lomax, famed folklorist and author of
Cowboy Songs, American Ballads
and Folksongs,
Adventures of a Ballad Hunter, and
director of the Archive of American Folksong at the Library of Congress. She is also the
sister of folklorist Alan Lomax, author of
Mr. Jelly Roll, Folksongs
of North America, Folk Song Style and Culture,
and editor of the
Columbia World Library of Folk Music and the
Global Jukebox.
Ms. Lomax Hawes' education and training includes a B.A. in Sociology from Bryn Mawr
College, Pennsylvania and an M.A. in folklore from the Department of Anthropology,
University of California Berkeley. She held two honorary Ph.D.'s from Kenyon College, Ohio
and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
From 1941 to 1952 Bess Lomax Hawes had an active musical career as a singer and
instrumentalist with the Almanac Singers, a topical song group which included well-known
folk musicians Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. She also performed on a number of sound
recordings including
Talking Union, Citizen CIO and Folkways
recordings
American Folk Songs, Songs of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
and
Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs. As a parodist and
songwriter, she co-authored the Kingston Trio hit "Charlie on the MTA."
Her career as an educator began in 1954 when she became an instructor in guitar, banjo,
and folk music in the extension division at the University of California, Los Angeles. In
1961, she became a part time instructor in folk music, folklore, and ethnomusicology at
University of California, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley State College (now California
State University Northridge), and Los Angeles State College. In 1963, she joined the
Anthropology Department at San Fernando Valley State College as an assistant professor. She
received tenure in 1968, and became a full professor in 1974.
Throughout her career, Bess Lomax Hawes' ongoing research interest as a folklorist and
ethnomusicologist focused on child lore. She produced and directed the 1968 film titled
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O, a film on traditional African American
children's singing games. She authored a number of books and papers including;
Step it Down: Games, Plays, Songs and Stories from the African American
Heritage,
co-authored with Georgia folk singer Bessie Smith Jones, "Law and Order
on the Playground," and "Folksongs and Function: Some Thoughts on the American Lullaby." For
a complete listing of Bess Lomax Hawes' published works, honors and positions please see her
vitae included in the published works file at the end of the collection.
The
Bess Lomax Hawes Student Folklore Collection consists of
folkloric data collected between 1958 and 1977 by students enrolled in Anthropology 309:
American Folk Music, Anthropology 311: Introduction to Folklore, and various senior seminars
at San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge). The
collection was developed primarily as a teaching tool and secondarily as an archive. No
standard formula for data presentation was required; students were urged to organize their
material according to the problem which concerned them. In addition to the data itself,
students were required to provide the names and biographical information of the informants,
data and collecting contexts, a description of the collecting method, explanatory
information provided by informants, and an analysis of the information gained.
In the culture-specific file, so-called "ethnic lore" is generally combined (e.g. Swedish
and Swedish-American). In a major exception, African American folklore is located in the
North American section, while lore from African nations is filed under the geographical
name. Jewish cultural material has been treated as its own subseries. However, material that
originates from a specific geographic location (Israel, Ethiopia, etc.) will be found filed
under the geographic region. The collection is arranged in three series:
Adult Folklore
(1960-1974),
Children's Folklore
(1959-1974), and
National Origin/Culture Group (1960-1975).
Series I,
Adult Folklore, consists predominantly of folklore
reported from adult informants and is divided into two subseries:
Adult
Song
(1960-1973) and
Adult Verbal Folklore (1961-1974).
The subseries are then arranged by genre into groups such as Blues, Love Songs, Cowboy
Songs, etc. The files are arranged alphabetically.
Series II,
Children's Folklore, primarily consists of folklore
reported from child informants, or adult observation of children's games and stories. All
data in the series are grouped by age of informant. The series is divided into the three
subseries:
Children's Song (1965-1972),
Children's Play (1968-1972), and
Children's Verbal Folklore (1959-1973). The subseries are arranged by genre into
groups such as Lullabies, Song Parodies, TV Jingles, etc. The files are arranged
alphabetically.
Series III,
National Origin/Culture Group, is comprised of
folkloric data which originates from a specific national origin or cultural group. The
series is divided into ten subseries, each reflecting a different geographical region. The
regions are arranged as follows:
Africa (1965-1973),
Latin America (1963-1975),
North America
(1962-1973),
Asia (1967-1974),
Eastern Europe
(1964-1974),
Northern Europe (1960-1972),
Western Europe (1964-1973),
Jewish Tradition [Old
and New World]
(1960-1975),
Middle East (1961-1974), and
Oceania (1968-1972). The files are arranged alphabetically. In
cases where the subseries is large and contains a sizable amount of raw data, the
information has been arranged into smaller groupings which reflect genre.
The collection is open to research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright
status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the
written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bess Lomax Hawes, 1996.
Series I: Adult Folklore 1960-1974
Subseries A: Adult Song, 1960-1973
Subseries B: Adult Verbal Folklore, 1961-1974
Series II: Children's Folklore, 1959-1974
Subseries A: Children's Song, 1965-1972
Subseries B: Children's Play, 1963-1974
Subseries C: Children's Verbal Folklore, 1959-1973
Series III: National Origin/Culture Group, 1960-1975
Subseries A: Africa, 1965-1973
Subseries B: Latin America, 1963-1975
Subseries C: North America, 1962-1973
Subseries D: Asia, 1967-1974
Subseries E: Eastern Europe, 1964-1974
Subseries F: Northern Europe, 1960-1972
Subseries G: Western Europe, 1964-1973
Subseries H: Jewish Tradition [Old and New World], 1960-1975
Subseries I: Middle East, 1961-1974
Subseries J: Oceania, 1968-1972
Other Information:
Funding for this project was provided in part by a grant from the College of Social and
Behavioral Sciences, California State University Northridge.
The descriptive finding aid was revised in October 2004, in part under a generous gift
from the J. Paul Getty Trust.
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Robert G. Marshall, Deborah L. Atwell; 1998
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiovisual materials
Documents
Photographs