| FOLK-LORE STUDY IN AMERICA. |
By LEE J. VANCE.
IN the summer of 1887 a circular letter containing a proposal for the formation of a Folk-lore Society in America was quietly, perhaps timidly, sent to a faithful few. Again, in October of the same year was issued a second letter, subscribed with a hundred and four names, representing different parts of the United States and Canada. Briefly stated, it was proposed to form a society for the study of folk lore, of which the principal object shall be to establish a journal of a scientific character designed—
1. For the collection of the fast-vanishing remains of folk lore in America—namely, (a) relics of old English folk lore (ballads, tales, superstitions, etc.); (b) lore of negroes in the Southern States; (c) lore of the Indian tribes in North America (myths, tales, etc.); (d) lore of French Canada, Mexico, etc.
2. For the study of the general subject and publication of the results of special students in this department.
The outcome was that, on the 4th of January, 1888, a goodly number of persons interested in folk-lore study assembled in University Hall, Harvard University. Then and there The American Folk-lore Society was born and baptized. Prof. Francis J. Child was chosen president, an honor merited by his long and splendid service in the field. Fourteen persons were named as a council to conduct the affairs of the new society. Mr. William Wells Newell was elected secretary. At the same time a committee, consisting of Prof. T. Frederick Crane, Dr. Franz Boas, Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, and the secretary, was appointed to make arrangements for the publication of a journal.
The first number of the Journal of American Folk Lore made its appearance in April, 1888. The five volumes already issued are ample evidences of the wealth of popular traditions in this country. They form a perfect mine of information for the study of folk lore. The contributions which have been printed in the Journal touch on almost every side of the subject. They include myths and tales of the Indians, negroes, and Creoles, strange and curious customs, superstitions of all kinds and all shades, beliefs in witches and goblins, queer practices, magic and divination, songs, dances, games, nursery rhymes, riddles, wise saws, and dialect words.
Few persons, even those who were directly interested in the study, had any adequate idea of the body and bulk of folk-lore materials extant in North America. First in quantity and quality come the collections of the lore of the Indian tribes. This, of course, was to be expected. The contributions by Prof. Hale, Dr. Boas, Mr. Beauchamp, Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, Mr. Chamberlain, Dr.
