Volume: 3 linear feet
Access: This collection is open to the public upon request.
Copyright: Please consult the archivist for information about duplication or publishing of any materials from this collection.
Biographical Note
Duncan Blackie MacDonald Emrich was born on April 11, 1908 in Mardin, Turkey of missionary parents. Prior to World War I, they returned to the United States. Emrich entered college preparatory courses at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 1926, and continued on to attain his BA at Brown University (1932), MA at Columbia University (1933), Doctor en Letras at the University of Spain at Madrid (1934) and a PhD at Harvard. He married Sally Richardson Seldon in 1955.
In 1939, Emrich became an English Professor at Columbia until 1942 when he served in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Military Intelligence and later achieved the rank of major as the official American historian in the Secretary of the General Staff's office, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force. In 1945 he was appointed chief of the Archives of the American Folk Song section of the Library of Congress. From 1955-66 he held various positions with American Embassies in Greece, India, Togo, then returned to a desk officer job in the U.S. Information Agency in Washington until 1969. In 1969, he returned to the teaching profession and was a Professor of American Folklore at American University until 1977. Emrich died on August 23, 1977.
For additional biographical information, consult Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, volume 9 and Current Biography, 1955.
Scope and Content Note
Emrich's papers include his collection of folklore, broken down into 35 labeled binders. In addition to the actual folklore, he has collected important journal articles, newspaper clippings, speeches, and classroom notes. He was able to attain the assistance of students, colleagues and the general public in the acquisition of American Folklore. Between October 1953, and June 1954, he participated in a weekly NBC series called "Weekend". He appealed to people to send him their particular traditions, rituals, tongue twisters, and any other folkloric influence.
The papers have been kept as close to the degree of organization that Emrich used, except a few instances. His method was topical, and so they are arranged alphabetically by topic. The same headings have been preserved with the following changes.
Folklore had been named such because there was no title on that particular binder.
Intro-class has been renamed from Touchstones for clarity. Its contents relates to what seems to be his introductory lecture on folklore.
Names-more has been changed from Names so as not to be confused with the other folder on Names.
Provenance
The Collection was given to the American University Library in September 1989 by Henry Taylor of the Department of Literature.
Box & Folder Listing
Box 1
| Folder ID | Description |
|---|---|
| Misc. Memorabilia | Memorandums and documents |
| Photos | Two military photos, one of Eisenhower |
| AU Folklore | Correspondence regarding a book on campus folklore; misc. folklore at AU |
| Beans | Compilation of folk recipes with beans as the main ingredient |
| Bibliography 1 & 2 | List of references on folklore. |
| Body | Collection of folklore regarding cures, parts of the body, sneezing, etc. |
| Christmas | Legends and myths regarding St. Nicholas, the Christmas card, and other related customs; Journal and newspaper articles related to Christmas folklore. |
| College songs | Words and music to college songs of Brown, Harvard, Yale, and Nevada |
| Cowboy Songs | Collection of popular cowboy songs and Western oriented songs particularly related to 49'ers |
| Courtship | Rough draft of book on love and courtship, article on the folklore of love, and collection of folklore from Adams County Illinois related to courtship |
| Etymology | Definition and examples of folk etymology includes a student project on Children's definitions of big words |
| Excuses | Beginning of a collection on the art and use of excuses-especially by college students |
| Folk Art | Collection of drawings |
| Folk Art-Texts | Articles and information on tattoos |
| Folklore | Riddles of Texas Mexican Children, and other folklore |
| Folklore Book | Beginning work on text for high school use |
| Frontier | Child ballads-a paper |
| Hodgepodge book | Draft of his book by that name |
| Intro. | Information regarding definition and relating to his class at AU |
| Intro. Class. | More specifically oriented to his class on American Folklore at AU; important points-touchstones, destructive forces and fields of folklore |
| Language, Speech, & Grammar | Examples of various folk language and regional speech |
| Luck, Magic, and Astrology | Collection of folklore related to topic. |
| Love Lyrics | Songs related to love; arranged alphabetically |
| Marriage | Folk customs related to marriage and weddings and rough draft of the Folklore of Brides and Bridals |
| Names-1 | Statistics and facts regarding distribution and commonality of names |
| Names-2 | Articles related to the regionality of place names |
| New Book | Few papers of what might appear to be the beginning of a new book includes directory of colleges |
| Propaganda | Articles against "psuedo-folk" singers; criticisms of Joan Baez and Pete Seeger |
| Rejects | Mostly songs |
| Rhymes | Teasing, ball bouncing and skip rope, and hopscotch rhymes |
| Riddles | Collection of Riddles |
| Songs | Collection of Folk Songs |
| Soups | Risks, rituals, omens, etc |
Box 2
| Folder ID | Description |
|---|---|
| Superstitions | Folklore of superstitions from Adams County Illinois file |
| Tongue Twisters | Collection of Tongue Twisters |
| Wishes | Collection of myths related to wishes and wish making |
Books by Duncan Emrich on file:
- Riddles and Jokes and Foolish Facts
- Who Shot Maggie in the Freckle? and other ballads of Virginia City, Nevada
- Casey Jones and other Ballads of the Mining West
- Tongue Twisters and Tricky Tanglers
- The Book of Wishes and Wishmaking
- It's an Old Wild West Custom
- The Whim Wham Book
- American Folk Poetry, An Anthology
- Nonsense Book of Riddles, Rhymes, Tongue Twisters, Puzzles, and Jokes from American Folklore
Articles by Duncan Emrich on File:
- The Legend of Avicenna, The Moslem World October 1942
- Duncan Emrich's Life of Happy Coincidences, Brown Alumni Monthly, October 1974
- Yankee gift to a Calcutta merchant, Smithsonian February 1976
- A Certain Nicholas of Patara, Catholic Digest December 1962