The James Tidwell American Folklore Collection primarily consists of examples of American folklore, and was created by James Tidwell.  It includes folklore in various genres, including stories, sayings, figures of speech, moral tales, anecdotes, legends, jokes, riddles, and music, among others.  The collection also contains some student work from Tidwell's San Diego State College courses, and note cards documenting music and sayings.  It is filed alphabetically by genre.

Dr. James Tidwell was born in Texas in 1911. He earned his doctorate in English from the Ohio State University, and enlisted in the Navy during World War II. He taught at Ohio State University and Westminster College prior to joining the faculty at San Diego State College in 1947. He was a Fulbright Professor of American Literature and Language at the University of Athens in Athens, Greece from 1956-57.

2.17 linear ft

The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.  Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.

This collection is open for research.