Fife American Collection
Scope and Contents
Transcriptions of oral sources (vols. 1-10) -- Transcriptions of manuscript sources (vols. 11-16) -- Transcriptions of printed sources (vols. 17-28)-- Songs of the cowboys by N. Howard Thorp (vol. 29) -- Song Companion of a Lone Star cowboy by Chas. A. Siringo (vol. 29) -- Songs of the hills and mesas by Laurence White (vol. 29) -- Extracts from the Pacific Northwest Farm Quad collection (vols. 30-32) Extracts from the Edwin Ford Piper Collection (vols. 33) -- Extracts from Stella M. Hendren Collection (vols. 34-40) -- Extracts from Gordon Oregon Collection (vols. 41-43) -- Extracts from John Lomax Papers (vols. 44-46).
Publication: Walker, Barbara. Index to the Austin and Alta Fife fieldwork recordings of cowboy and western songs. (M.A. thesis, Utah State University, 1986). [Logan, Utah: Utah State University Fife Folklore Center, 1993] (FOLK COLL 3 no. 363).
Forms part of the Austin and Alta Fife fieldwork collection.
Dates
- Creation: 1940-1976
Language of Materials
Material in English
Restrictions
Open to public research. To access the collection a patron must have the following information: collection number, box number, folder number and item number. The materials do not circulate and are available in USU's Special Collections and Archives.
Copyright
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.
Permission to publish material from the Austin E. and Alta S. Fife collection on American folklore must be obtained from the Curator of the Fife Folklore Archives and/or the Special Collections Department Head.
Historical note
The Austin E. and Alta S. Fife collection on American folklore is comprised of the original fieldwork (acetate discs, reel-to-reel field recordings and field notes) and slides gathered/taken by the Fife's between the 1940s and late 1970s. Using summer vacations and weekends, the Fifes traveled all over the west–most intensively in their native Utah–with a camping trailer, recording equipment, camera and stenographic materials to collect the folklife of the American West, including cowboy songs, Mormon folklore and slides of vernacular architecture. On their fieldtrips, typically, one of them would interview someone while the other took notes or operated a recording device. They also visited libraries throughout the west, taking notes and making copies of songs and stories housed in regional and archival collections. Austin Fife took the slide images.
Extent
48 bound items (3 linear feet)
Abstract
Tapes, transcriptions of interviews, and musical notations of western songs, ballads, and poetry. Also includes bound typescripts of extracts concerning western folksongs from other collections: John Lomax papers (originals housed at the Texas Historical Society); Gordon Oregon collection (originals housed at the Library of Congress and Univ. of Oregon); Stella M. Hendren collection of western folksongs clipped from periodicals; Edwin Ford Piper collection (originals housed at University Archives, State University of Iowa); collection of folksongs from the Old Songs column of the Idaho Farmer, published by Pacific Northwest Farm Quad; and a typescript of three published works: Songs of the cowboys by N. Howard Thorp; The Song Companion of a Lone Star cowboy by Chas. A. Siringo; and Songs of the hills and mesas by Laurence White.
Organized into the following series:
- I. Transcriptions of oral sources;
- II. Transcriptions of manuscript sources;
- III. Transcriptions of printed sources;
- IV. Extracts from other collections.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
In 1966, the Fife's deposited their extensive fieldwork collections at Utah State University Library. In 1972, the Library established the Fife Library of Western Folklore (later renamed the Fife Folklore Archives) under the administration of the Special Collections Department.
Processing Information
Originally processed by Alta Fife and Barbara [Garrett] [Walker] Lloyd and updated by Randy Williams. Finding aid created by Randy Williams and Susan Gross, April 2004; updated by Randy Williams, March 2012.
Geographic
Topical
- Ballads, English--West (U.S.)--Texts.
- Cowboys' writings, American--History--Sources.
- Cowboys--West (U.S.)--Folklore.
- Cowboys--West (U.S.)--Poetry.
- Cowboys--West (U.S.)--Songs and music--Texts.
- Folk songs, English--West (U.S.)--History--Sources.
- Folklore
- Folklore--West (U.S.)
- Songs--West (U.S.)--Folklore.
- Title
- Guide to the Austin E. and Alta S. Fife collection on American folklore1940-1976
- Author
- Finding aid created by Randy Williams and Susan Gross, April 2004.
- Date
- ©2008
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English.
- Sponsor
- Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
Revision Statements
- 2009: Template information was updated to reflect Archives West best practice guidelines.
Repository Details
Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)
scweb@usu.edu