Ellen Stekert Explained

Ellen Stekert (b. 1935) is an American academic, folklorist and musician.[1] [2] [3] [4] Stekert is a Professor Emerita of English at the University of Minnesota and a former president of the American Folklore Society.[5]

Early life and education

Stekert was born in New York City in 1935 and grew up in Great Neck on Long Island.[6] She survived polio as a child. Stekert began performing folk music in high school and has recorded several albums.[7] [8] [9]

Stekert attended Cornell University, where she took classes taught by the folklorist Harold Thompson, whom she also assisted in teaching. As her interest in folklore grew, Stekert began doing fieldwork, collecting folksongs from traditional singers in upstate New York. The songs Stekert collected from Ezra "Fuzzy" Barhight, a retired lumberjack from Cohocton, New York, she recorded and released as Songs of a New York Lumberjack in 1958.[10]

After graduating in philosophy at Cornell, Stekert began a Masters degree in folklore at Indiana University.[11] There she continued her fieldwork, collecting folk songs in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. On completion of her M.A., Stekert began research for a Ph.D. in folklore at Indiana. She completed her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia due to the attitude towards her work of her supervisor at Indiana, Richard Dorson. Stekert completed her Ph.D. in 1965.

Career

Stekert's first teaching position was at Wayne State University in Detroit. There, Stekert built upon the pioneering work of Thelma G. James in the collection of urban folklore traditions.[12]

From there, she moved to the University of Minnesota where she was based for the rest of her academic career.

Recognition

Stekert served as president of the American Folklore Society for the year 1977.[13] [14] She was also appointed Minnesota's state folklorist.

Selected publications

Books

Articles

Selected discography

As primary artist

Compilations and other appearances

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: von Bernewitz . Robert . Ellen Stekert - Folklorist, Folk Singer and Educator . Musicguy 247 . 26 October 2021.
  2. Web site: Poppick . Laura . Ellen Stekert: Trailblazer . . 26 October 2021.
  3. Web site: Aloi . Daniel . Peter Yarrow '59 leads 'Rompin' good time in Bailey . . 26 October 2021.
  4. Web site: Folklorist Ellen Stekert performs and shares stories from folklore . PRX . . 26 October 2021.
  5. Web site: Faculty . University of Minnesota . 26 October 2021.
  6. Web site: Biography: Ellen Stekert . Allmusic . 26 October 2021.
  7. Web site: Songs of a New York Lumberjack . Smithsonian . 26 October 2021.
  8. Web site: Rare Folk - Ellen Stekert "Ballads of Careless Love" . Popsike . 26 October 2021.
  9. News: Ellen Stekert To Give Folksong Concert . 26 October 2021 . . 7 February 1962.
  10. Web site: Songs of a New York Lumberjack . 2022-05-30 . folkways.si.edu . en-US.
  11. Rosenberg . Neil V. . Judith Binkele McCulloh (1935–2014) . Journal of American Folklore . 1 January 2016 . 129 . 511 . 97–98 . 10.5406/jamerfolk.129.511.0097. 163826664 .
  12. Web site: Stekert . Ellen J. . The Wayne State University Folklore Archive: In Process .
  13. Web site: Past AFS Presidents . 26 October 2021 . American Folklore Society.
  14. Web site: Stekert . Ellen . Crying Wolf - The Wolf as Symbol in Folklore . 26 October 2021 . Wolf Song of Alaska.
  15. Book: Paredes . Américo . Stekert . Ellen Jane . The Urban Experience and Folk Tradition . Published for the American Folklore Society by the University of Texas Press . Austin, Texas. 1971 . 0-292-70122-5 . 209262 .
  16. Stekert . Ellen . Fairy Palace . . JSTOR . 18 . 1 . 1959 . 0043-373X . 10.2307/1496903 . 50. 1496903 .
  17. Stekert . Ellen . The Hidden Informant . . Indiana University Press . 13 . 1 . 1963 . 21–28 . 0544-0750 . 4318009 .
  18. Stekert . Ellen . December 1963 . The Snake-Handling Sect of Harlan County, Kentucky: Its Influence on Folk Tradition . Southern Folklore Quarterly . 27 . 4 . 316–321 . 2023-08-13.
  19. Book: Stekert, Ellen. Two Penny Ballads and Four Dollar Whiskey: A Pennsylvania Folklore Miscellany . Byington . Robert H. . Goldstein . Kenneth S. . Pennsylvania Folklore Society . 1993-01-01 . 15-32 . Four Pennsylvania Songs Learned Before 1900, From the Repertoire of Ezra V. Barhight .
  20. Stekert . Ellen J. . Foreword: The Urban Experience and Folk Tradition . . American Folklore Society . 83 . 328 . 1970 . 0021-8715 . iii–iv. 539099 .
  21. Stekert . Ellen J. . Focus for Conflict: Southern Mountain Medical Beliefs in Detroit . . University of Illinois Press . 83 . 328 . 1970 . 115–147 . 0021-8715 . 10.2307/539101 . 539101 .
  22. Dorson . Richard M. . Baker . Ronald L. . Byington . Robert H. . Carey . George . Georges . Robert A. . Green . Thomas A. . Stekert . Ellen J. . Teske . Robert T. . The Academic Future of Folklore . . University of Illinois Press . 85 . 1972 . 104–125 . 0021-8715 . 10.2307/539353 . 539353 .
  23. Stekert . Ellen J. . The False Issue of Folklore vs. "Fakelore": Was Paul Bunyan A Hoax? . Journal of Forest History . University of Chicago Press . 30 . 4 . 1986-10-01 . 0094-5080 . 10.2307/4004733 . 180–181. 4004733 . 163902042 .
  24. Hennigar . Mary Jane . Hoffman . Daniel . Stekert . Ellen J. . The First Paul Bunyan Story in Print . Journal of Forest History . University of Chicago Press . 30 . 4 . 1986-10-01 . 0094-5080 . 10.2307/4004730 . 175–177. 4004730 . 163432546 .
  25. Stekert . Ellen J. . Autobiography of a Woman Folklorist . . University of Illinois Press . 100 . 398 . 1987 . 579–585 . 0021-8715 . 10.2307/540915 . 540915 .
  26. Stekert . Ellen J. . Umpierre . Luz María . 1992 . Deviance and Power: Malleable Realities in Manuel Puig's Use of Folklore and Cinematic Sources in Kiss of the Spider Woman . . 11 . 155–65 . 2023-08-15.
  27. Book: 1993 . Encyclopedia of American Social History . New York . Scribner . Folk Song and Folk Music . 1743-1756 . Kupiec Cayton . Mary . Gorn . Elliott J. . Williams . Peter W. . 2023-08-12.
  28. Book: Stekert, Ellen J.. Rosenberg . Neil V. . Transforming Tradition . Urbana: University of Illinois Press . 1993-01-01 . 978-0-252-01982-1 . 84-106 . Cents and Nonsense in the Urban Folksong Movement: 1930–1966 .
  29. Web site: Ellen Stekert - Ozark Mountain Folk Songs Volume One . 19 October 2022. . 32895997 . 2023-07-14.
  30. Web site: Ellen Stekert - Ballads Of Careless Love . . 7332222 . 2023-07-14.
  31. Web site: Milton Okun and Ellen Stekert - Traditional American Love Songs . . 53818536 . 2023-07-14.
  32. Web site: Ellen Stekert - Songs Of A New York Lumberjack . . 50921919 . 2023-07-14.
  33. Web site: Everybody Sing! American Folk Songs Specially Selected For Children, Volume 1: Songs For Cubs . 18 September 2022. . 2023-07-14.
  34. Web site: Everybody Sing! American Folk Songs Specially Selected For Children, Volume 2: Songs For Juniors . 2 May 2022. . 2023-07-14.
  35. Web site: Everybody Sing! American Folk Songs Specially Selected For Children, Volume 3: Songs For Seniors . . 2023-08-11.
  36. Web site: Various – Our Singing Heritage Volume I . . 2023-07-14.
  37. Web site: Various – Songs Of The Civil War . 1963. . 3281938 . 2023-07-14.
  38. Web site: Sarah Ogan Gunning – Girl Of Constant Sorrow . 1965. . 2023-07-14.
  39. Web site: Various – O Love Is Teasin' (Anglo-American Mountain Balladry) . 1984. . 2023-07-14.
  40. Web site: Various – The Riverside Folklore Series Volume Three: Singing the New Traditions: Songs, Singers, and Instrumentalists of the Folk Revival . 1996. . 2023-07-14.
  41. Web site: Various – Constant Sorrow (Gems From The Elektra Vaults) . . 2023-07-14.
  42. Web site: Various – Classic English And Scottish Ballads From Smithsonian Folkways . . 2023-07-14.