Transcript Exploring the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Collection

Teaching Students Primary Source
Research Using Archival Materials
Appalachian College Association Summit
October 15, 2011
Carol Boggess, Professor of English
Shannon Lucas, Reference/ Instruction Librarian
Karen Paar, Director Ramsey Center/ Archivist
Mars Hill College
Exploring the
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Collection
A Hart-Melvin
Archival Research Project
Fall 2010
Carol Boggess & Kristina Blackford
“Minstrel of the Appalachians”
Born in Mars Hill, 1882
Graduated, MHC 1914
His many talents, interests:
• Lawyer, folklorist,
lecturer, singer, dancer
• Pioneer of the American
Folk Festival
• Collector of folksongs and
ballads
photo by Juanita Wilson
From the SCRAPBOOK
These photos are at Mars Hill College in
the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Collection.
photo by Walt Damtoft , Asheville Citizen
The SCRAPBOOK
Ballad Swap at the
Lunsford Festival, 2010
Photos by Joshua Doby, MHC student
Ballad Collection in the Archives
Peggy Harmon helps Blackford.
Lunsford watches.
Boxes of Ballads
Boggess and Blackford select original
ballads which Paar then scans.
Archival Research Project
Making the archive collections available
English 112: freshman research and writing
Hands-on research activity
4 one-hour class periods
Available to future classes
We wanted students to learn about:
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primary and secondary sources
the Ramsey Center archives
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
oral history and the ballad form
at least one particular ballad
the culture of the area
Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Exercise
• Gave students the handout on source types
• Reviewed definitions and examples
• Students worked in groups of 3 or 4
• Each group worked with packet of 15 sources
• Students sorted the sources by type
• Each group presented 2 examples of each type
Interdisciplinary Packet Topics
• Climate and carbon
• School violence
• Leonardo Da Vinci
• The Mormons
• Ernest Hemmingway
• [Sports and the economy]
Learning Outcomes
• Critical thinking about information sources
• Familiarity with primary, secondary, tertiary
• Differentiating various types and formats
– Especially in electronic format
• Framework for research instruction sessions
• Understanding of role of tertiary sources
How We Prepared
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Explored whole ballad collection
Selected specific ballads (6)
Located versions for each ballad
Scanned the selected versions
Copied them so they look original
Organized the packets
Wrote instructions
Barbara Allen -- the Model
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Listen to a recording
Summarize the story
List alternative titles
Find published versions in books or online
List “BA” samples in the Lunsford collection
Find variations among samples and speculate on
what caused them
• List aspects that do not change
• Identify enduring qualities
Betty Smith Sings “Barbara Allen”
Story in the Ballad
• A man is in love with Barbara Allen.
• He falls ill and sends his servant to fetch her.
• She arrives at his bed; he expresses his love.
• She rejects him; he dies.
• She hears his death bells and feels guilty.
• She dies and is buried near him.
• A rose growing on his grave joins with a briar on hers
to make a love knot.
“Barbara Allen”
• Alternate Titles:
“Bonny Barbara Allan,” “Barbra Allen,”
“Barbary Allen,” “A Song of Sweet William”
• Recordings:
Both Sides Then and Now by Betty Smith;
My Dearest Dear by Sheila Kay Adams
Sources of Printed Versions
“The Personal Folksong Collection of Bascom
Lamar Lunsford: A Thesis” by Anne Beard
(vol. 1, 73-6).
Jane Hicks Gentry by Betty Smith (153).
English Folk Songs from the Southern
Appalachians by Cecil Sharp (183-95).
Six Different Collection Samples
Copy 5 “Bonny Barbara Allan” by Beatrice Dorsey
Copy 7 “Barbra Allen” by Bessie Littrell
Copy 8 “Barbara Allen” by Annis Boyd
Copy 13 “Barbara Allen” by Aileen Neill
Copy 22 “Barbara Allen” by Gorman Brown
Copy 23 “A Song of Sweet William” by Lula Browning
Variations in Opening Stanzas
• Copy 7, 8: London City or Scarlot Town
• Copy 5, 8, 22: Martinmas time, May, June
• Copy 13: “There were three maids”
• Copy 23: “Dark and gloomy was the town”
Variations in Endings
• Copy 8: A warning to virgins
• Copy 7, 8: Rose and briar form a love knot
• Copy 22: A white rose & French briar
Plot Variations
• Copy 5, 22: The man slighted Barbara in the
tavern.
• Copy 13, 23: She admits she could have
saved him.
• Copy 8, 22: Barbara laughs after he dies.
(from madness or grief?)
Smaller Variations
• Names
– Copy 5: Sir John Graime
– Copy 13: Young William
– Copy 22, 23: Sweet William
• Words:
– Copy 5: “O hooly, hooly rose she up”
– Copy 13: “So slowly, slowly rose she up”
– Copy 23: “Solely, solely she got up”
What Accounts for Differences?
• London City/Scarlot Town: origin of the song
• A warning to virgins: a moral
• “Sir John Graime”: original Scottish name
• “Holy/Slowly/Solely”: misheard lyrics
Aspects That Do Not Vary
• A man loves Barbara Allen.
• She leaves him to die.
• She then feels guilty for rejecting him.
• She dies after she finds out that he is dead.
Enduring Qualities
• Part of local or family tradition
• Universal topic – Young Love
• Interesting story ending in tragedy
• Good melody ; well-known song
Students exploring their ballads
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Blackjack Davey
Butcher Boy
Little Mathy Groves
Omie Wise
Pretty Mohea
Working on the Ballad Project
Students Presenting
Student Reactions to Project
They learned about
They especially enjoyed
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• Listening to the ballads
• Learning about the
county and the music
• Learning about Lunsford
• Doing something
different
The archives
B. L. Lunsford
Ballads/oral history
Using primary sources
Some life lessons!
My favorite student quotes
“I loved getting to see the copies and working
with my heritage.”
-- student from the area
“This project was not only very enjoyable but
it gave us a break from so many dang essays
and assignments.”
-- anonymous