Academic Affairs. Dean, College Of Liberal Arts And Sciences. Maine Folklife Center (University Of Maine) Records
Scope and Contents
The records mainly contains textual information created by the University of Maine's Maine Folklife Center, but there are also photographic material, audio recording on vinyl records, CDs, and cassettes, and also computer disks containing programming material.
The record series Administrative Records contains copies of various departmental reports and policies, fund raising information, Board of Advisors meeting material, and publicity material. Also, includes information regarding Ives' employment at the University of Maine including salaries and promotions and equipment needs. Also details of the official recognition of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History by UMaine and a proposal for a department of anthropology.
The record series Grant Projects & Programming Records contains copies of various proposals, background information, and reports for grants the Maine Folklife Center received from different funding bodies. Also, includes items regarding and used in various Maine Folklife Center exhibits and events including correspondence, publicity material, and audio recordings.
The record series Subject Files are mostly Edward D. “Sandy” Ives’ personal and business files on a range of subjects, generally specific people (including colleagues, friends, and students) and organizations. The files predominantly contain correspondence between Ives and the subject, but some files also contain resumes, articles, grant applications, conference proceedings, reports, reference material, greeting cards, photographs, slides, brochures, guides, and newspaper clippings. Boxes 14-16 includes files more personal in nature and research material used in publications authored by Ives and articles from the publication Northeast Folklore. Box 15 include lyrics and scores of various folk songs particularly and various information regarding the Bonny Earl of Murray Ballad which Ives wrote a monograph on.
The record series Publication Records contains copies of Northeast Folklore which is an annual publication issued by the Maine Folklife Center, formerly the Northeast Folklore Society and folders on specific Northeast Folklore authors that contain certificate registration of a claim to copyright, correspondence regarding their paper, contracts, supporting material, proofs, and biographical profiles. There are also brochures and catalogs regarding Maine Folklife Center publications and copies of Maine Folklife Center newsletters.
The record series Folk Festival Records contains various information regarding the Maine Folklife Center’s involvement in organizing various incarnations of the festival including: contracts, schedules, planning meeting material, promotional material, and vendor and performer information.
The record series Biographical & Historical Files contains information regarding the history of the Maine Folklife Center and the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History and biographical information regarding Edward D. “Sandy” Ives including his employment at the University of Maine, retirement and death.
Dates
- Creation: 1820-2016
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1957-2012
Creator
- Maine Folklife Center (Organization)
- Ives, Edward D. (Person)
- MacDougall, Pauleena (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval
Conditions Governing Use
Information on literary rights available in the Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department.
Biographical / Historical
The Maine Folklife Center was founded in 1992 by University of Maine Professor of Folklore Edward D. “Sandy” Ives to integrate the operations of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History and the Northeast Folklore Society and to add in a public folklore component. Its mission is to document, interpret, present and preserve the folklore, folklife and oral history of Maine and Atlantic Canada, and encourage the appreciation of diverse cultures and heritage of the region.
The Maine Folklife Center also housed (in South Stevens Hall) the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History. The Archives were founded 1957-1958 by Ives and officially recognized by UMaine in 1971 (as part of the Anthropology Department) as a research facility and repository for tape recordings, transcripts of tapes, and related photographs and manuscript material related to the folklore and folklife of Maine and the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Research material, tapes and transcriptions of interviews carried out by Ives in Maine, New Hampshire, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island from 1956-1970) formed a significant part of the collection.
The Center has been the recipients of a number of grants including in 1998 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make preservation copies of the endangered portion of their collection.
The Center delivers public programming including exhibitions (on a range of subjects) at events such as the Common Ground Fair. The Center was also one of the organizers of the National Folk Festival (later becoming the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront) which was first held in Bangor in 2002.
Northeast Folklore is an annual publication issued by the Maine Folklife Center, formerly the Northeast Folklore Society. Each year they publish a collection of regional material or a comparative study. The first editor of the publication was Sandy Ives and starting in 1990 Pauleena M. MacDougall was managing editor.
Much of the material in this record group comes from the files of Professor Ives who was born September 4, 1925 in White Plains, New York. Ives attended Hamilton College as an undergraduate, received a Masters of the Arts degree in medieval history literature at Columbia University. He received his doctorate in folklore from Indiana University in 1962. During his tenure at the University of Maine Ives would teach in both the English and Anthropology departments. Ives would stay at the University of Maine for 44 years during which time he authored a number of scholarly monographs and journal articles, lectured at academic institutions across North America and the UK, and received numerous awards and honors. Ives is recognized as a pioneer in folklore and oral history. Ives retired from UMaine in 1999 and was succeeded as director of the Maine Folklife Center by James Moreira. Ives died in 2009.
Extent
15 boxes (15 linear feet)
1 boxes (Half size box)
1 box (Cassette box)
1 box (Index card box)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The Records Group is broken down intellectually into the following record series: 1. Administrative Records, 2. Grant Projects & Programming Records, 3. Subject Files, 4. Publication Records, 5. Folk Festival Records, and 6. Biographical & Historical Files. Physically the material is arranged by subject. The Ives Subject Files in boxes 6-11 are arranged alphabetically by subject. Material was separated and divided into multiple sub-folders where necessary. Material were rehoused into archival quality storage.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the Maine Folklife Center in South Stevens to the Library Annex in May 2017 by Katrina Wynn, Archivist, Maine Folklife Center.
Appraisal
The processing archivist appraised the records and destroyed duplicate and damaged copies of items and blank sheets. Financial statements and draft budgets for specific grants, miscellaneous employment information for student workers and researchers, and student papers (submitted to Edward D. "Sandy" Ives) were destroyed because the archivist felt these materials were not appropriate for permanent retention in Fogler Library’s Special Collections.
Accruals
Accruals from the University of Maine's Maine Folklife Center are anticipated.
Separated Materials
Copies of interviews and transcripts are managed separately as part of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History.
Processing Information
Processed by Matthew Revitt, September-November 2017, Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department. Processing involved a collection survey and intellectual arrangement into series and the creation of this finding aid. Material still needs to be rehoused in appropriate archival folders (where needed) and the boxes and folders numbered and titled added using information from ArchivesSpace.
Genre / Form
- Brochures
- Clippings
- Correspondence
- Folk art
- Manuscripts for publication
- Photographs
- Publications
- Reports
- Research notes
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- University Of Maine. Maine Folklife Center Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Matthew Revitt
- Date
- November 14, 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Raymond H. Fogler Library University Archives Repository
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207-581-1686
