Fifty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the American Folklore
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FIFTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY The fifty-ninth annual meeting of the American Folklore Society was held at the Hotel Tuller, Detroit, Michigan, on December 28-29, 1Q47. Meetings were held in conjunction with the Modern Language Association of America. The President, Joseph M. Carrire, presided. The following papers were presented: Horace P. Beck, "The Animal That Can't Lie Down"; Levette J. Davidson, "Hermits of the Rockies"; Robert E. Gard, "To- ward a Folklore Theatre"; GertrudeProkosch Kurath, "Mexican Moriscas:A Prob- lem in Dance Acculturation"; Duncan Emrich, "The London and Paris Folklore Conferences"; Jane I. Zielonko, "The Nature and Causes of Ballad Variation"; Haldeen Braddy, "Pancho Villa, Folk Hero of the Mexican Border"; Herbert Halpert, "Our Approach to American-EnglishFolklore"; Thelma James, "Mosar- dine-jo Tales Found in Detroit." Following the annual banquet and the Presidential Remarks, the International Institute of Detroit, under the direction of Alice L. Sickels, presented a program of songs and dances, in costume, of the various ethnic groups in Detroit. At the business meeting officersfor the year 1948 were elected. (These are printed in full on Cover II of the Journal.) At the meeting of the Council the following reports were read and approved: Secretary's Report The Secretary reports the membershipof the Society as follows: 1947 1946 1945 Honorary Members 7 6 6 Life Members 10 8 8 Old Members 760 648 577 New Members 141 154 135 Total Active Members 911 8io 690 During the year 42 members were removed from the rolls because of non-payment of dues, resignations, or death; 64 were dropped in 1946, and 36 in 1945. The President appointed the following committees in 1947:- Committeeon Research:A. H. Gayton, Chairman, George M. Foster, Herbert Hal- pert, Weston La Barre, Vicente T. Mendoza. Nominating Committee:Morris E. Opler, Chairman,George Herzog, J. Alden Mason. Local Committeeon Arrangementsfor the 1947 Meeting: Thelma James, Chairman, Levette J. Davidson, Richard M. Dorson, Ferdinand Galante, Herbert Halpert, Edwin C. Kirkland. Program Committee:Louis C. Jones, Chairman, MacEdward Leach. The Society was represented by its Secretary at the Conference of Secretaries, American Council of Learned Societies, January, 1947, and by its delegates at the general meetings, January 30-3 I, 1947. J. M. Carrire, Jane I. Zielonko, and MacEdward Leach represented the Society at the first general conferenceof UNESCO in Philadelphia, May, 1947; R. S. Boggs represented the Society at the meetings of the Second National Conferenceon Inter- national Educational Reconstruction(CI ER) in Washington, October3 i-November 2, 1947; Duncan Emrich represented the Society at the London and Paris Folklore Conferences. The Secretary, acting on authority delegated by the Council at its meeting in De- cember, 1946, has made arrangements to distribute to European libraries surplus stock of publications now in Germany. 203 204 Journal of American Folklore The Executive Committee, acting under authority delegated to it at the meeting of the Society in December, 1946, voted to ratify the new By-Laws of the American Council of Learned Societies. The Secretary wishes to thank Dr. Carrire, Dr. Hand, and other members of the Society who have given counsel and aid during the year, and also the Trustees and Officers of the University of Pennsylvania for continuing to supply office and store- room and other services to the Society. MACEDWARD LEACH, Secretary Treasurer's Report Receipts 1947 1946 Dues.$3,606.94 $2,839.91 Gifts, Interest, etc.677.06 1,747.51 Sales.806.46 859.57 Total Receipts.$5,090.46 $5,446.99 Expenditures Journal.$3,275.45 $3,338.39 Memoirs..1,405.07 Treasurer's Bond.25.00 25.00 ACLS Dues.25.00 25.00 Refunds.17.50 13.84 Insurance.7.50 4.37 Reprints.193.35 193.23 Committee on Research.50.00 50.00 Meeting Expenses, 1946.41.38 35.00 Editor's Expenses.100 .00 100 .00 Review Editor's Expenses.8.89 General Administration.213 .88 232.62 Supplies, Mailing, etc.95.00 137.57 Advance to J. J. Augustin.25.00 Purchase of Back Stock.7.00 Total Expenditures.$4,084.95 $4,394.96 Balance.1,005.51 Balance 1/1/47.3,077.63 General Fund Cash Assets.4,083.14 Permanent Fund Invested in B/L Bonds.5,000.00 io Shares Mortbond Corp.50.00 Total Ne Worth.$,133.14 MACEDWARD LEACH, Treasurer Editor's Report Volume 6o of the Journal of American Folklore, constituting numbers 235-238, and containing 455 pages, was published in 1947. In addition to the usual number and variety of articles and departmental features, this volume contains the proceed- ings of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Meeting, a new feature, entitled "Work in Progress: 1946," and a 68-page survey of "Folklore Research in North America," by ten spe- cialists representing various fields of folklore. Numbers 235 and 237 contain musical notation and photographic plates, respectively, and tabular material appears in Numbers 235 and 236. Memoir 41, Gladys A. Reichard's An Analysis of CoeurD'Alene Indian Myths Fifty-Ninth Annual Meeting of American Folklore Society 205 (216 pages), has suffered unusual delay in manufacture, but will be ready early in 1948 for distribution to members of Society as a Memoir for 1946. The sudden death of Robert F. Barton last spring, together with the Society's in- ability to obtain adequate financial backing for his monograph, necessitated the temporary withdrawal of his manuscript on The Mythology of the Ifugao, a 450-page study scheduled to be Memoir 42 (rg). FolkloreFrom In and Near Kirksville, Mis- souri, a collaboration of Ruth Ann Musick and John W. Ashton, has been substi- tuted. This work is in its final stages of preparation, and will be submitted for pub- lishing bids early in 1948. Sharp rises in publishing costs within the year have posed serious problems of editorial policy, which the editors are discussing at the present time in conjunction with the Secretary. Among other things, the Editor is planning a trip to Menasha, Wisconsin, on January -6, to acquaint himself more fully with the technical aspects of bringing out the Journal. Close cooperation with the George Banta Publishing Company will help effect savings in manufacturing costs. Grateful acknowledgment on behalf of the Society is made to Ruth Ann Musick, who defrayed the costs of plates for her article in Number 237 and to The American Council of Learned Societies for substantial financial aid in publishing the surveys, "Work in Progress," and "Folklore Research in North America." The Editor is indebted to the Editorial Board for unfailing help and encouragement and to Dr. Erminie W. Voegelin, former editor of the Society, and Mr. Adolph J. Hyson, of the George Banta Publishing Company, for much practical assistance in his new assign- ment. Finally, he wishes to thank MacEdward Leach for help and advice, and es- pecially for his kind forebearance when the last two numbers of the Journal for the year were unseasonably delayed. John W. Ashton kindly consented to continue as Review Editor until his successor was named in April. WAYLAND D. HAND, Editor Committee on Research in Folklore: 1947 The Committee on Research continued this year with its survey of folklore re- search in the Americas and with its duty of compiling an annual list of folklore proj- ects in progress. It will be recalled that in 1945-1946 the Committee succeeded in covering the areas and fields of folklore research in North America. The next region to be considered was Mexico, and the Committee was appointed with this primary end in view. Since it also is desirable to explore some of the less known topics, the relation of psychology to folklore was selected as a subject which is still in need of assessment. Therefore, as finally constituted, the Committee consisted of the following persons: Drs. Vicente T. Mendoza, George M. Foster, Weston La Barre, Herbert Halpert, and the Chairman, A. H. Gayton. Drs. Mendoza and Foster agreed to report on the current status of folklore research in the general region of Mexico. Dr. La Barre undertook to appraise some of the work which has been done on the psychological aspects of folklore. Dr. Halpert assumed charge of the "Work in Progress" department, for which he solicited and compiled all the data. Although the Committee Members had only a few months time in which to work (May through October), they achieved laudatory results. The following reports are in hand: "Estado Actual y Problemas del Folklore en Mexico" (6 pages), by Vicente T. Mendoza "The Current Status of Mexican Indian Folklore Studies" (29 pages), by George M. Foster "Psychology and Folklore" (is pages), by Weston La Barre 206 Journal of American Folklore The compilation, "Work in Progress: 1947" (22 pages), by Herbert Halpert was submitted to the Editor in November for publication in the first issue of the Journal of American Folklorein 1948 (Vol. 6i, No. 239). Reverting to the Report of the Committee on Research for 1945-46, we are glad to announce that it is now in press. Thanks to financial assistance from the American Council of Learned Societies and the American Folklore Society, the report, sub- titled "Folklore Research in North America," will appear as additional pages to the October-December, 1947 issue, of the Journal (Vol. 6o, No. 238). In order to make the manuscript fit our limited funds, drastic condensation had to be made. This was done by the Chairman, who turned the edited report over to Dr. Hand in July. It is hoped that the current report of the Research Committee also can be pub- lished soon.