Finding Aids Collection
Browse sections of this document


Finding Aid for the Robert F. Riedl Collection, 1965-1975


MS-0954

University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN


Encoded by: Erin Lawrimore, September 19, 2006

Summary Information
Title: Robert F. Riedl Collection

Date/Date Range :    1965-1975

Extent: 10.0 linear feet

Abstract:
The Norbert F. Riedl Collection includes research files on such topics as architecture, clothing and costume, cockfighting, food and cooking, games and recreation, legends, medicines and remedies, music, quilting, snake handling, and customs pertaining to marriage, divorce, death and burial. There is also material about the mysterious Melungeons of Hancock and Hawkins Counties and there is a group of tape recordings which relate to many of the file topics.

Call number: MS-0954

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Access and Use
Aquisition Information:
Collection is property of Special Collections.
Access Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Copyright:
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of Item], Robert F. Riedl Collection, MS-0954. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Arrangement

Collection is divided into 38 series:

  1. Series I: Agriculture
  2. Series II: Architecture
  3. Series III: Clothing and Costume
  4. Series IV: Cockfighting
  5. Series V: Culture Studies
  6. Series VI: Customs - General
  7. Series VII: Customs - Death and Burial
  8. Series VIII: Customs -- Marriage and Divorce
  9. Series IX: Economics and Law
  10. Series X: Epitaphs
  11. Series XI: Festivals
  12. Series XII: Fishing
  13. Series XIII: Food and Cookery
  14. Series XIV: Games and Recreation
  15. Series XV: Geography
  16. Series XVI: History
  17. Series XVII: Legends
  18. Series XVIII: Material Culture
  19. Series XIX: Medicines and Remedies
  20. Series XX: Melungeons
  21. Series XXI: Music
  22. Series XXII: Place Names
  23. Series XXIII: Proverbs
  24. Series XXIV: Quilting
  25. Series XXV: Religion and Ritual
  26. Series XXVI: Snake-Handling
  27. Series XXVII: Speech
  28. Series XXVIII: Superstitions
  29. Series XXIX: Surveys -- General Folklore
  30. Series XXX: Tales
  31. Series XXXI: Weather Lore
  32. Series XXXII: Women and Families
  33. Series XXXIII: Correspondence
  34. Series XXXIV: Notes
  35. Series XXXV: Tapes, 7 inch
  36. Series XXXVI: Tapes, 5 inch
  37. Series XXXVII: Tapes, 3 inch
  38. Series XXXVIII: Cassettes

Biography / History

Norbert F. Riedl was born in Eisenstadt, Austria, on February 16, 1930. Through the influence of his father and a love of the cultural traditions of his native land, young Riedl majored in folkculture studies at the University of Vienna, receiving his PhD. in 1954. He was a Smith-Mundt exchange student at the University of New Mexico in 1950-1951, and not only fell in love with America but also with an American girl whom he met while they were both graduate students in Vienna.

Norbert and Joan Riedl came to the United States in 1956, and after spending six years on the staff at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton he was hired as a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee. one of the primary attractions of this position was the opportunity to study first-hand the folk culture of Southern Appalachia. Dr. Riedl had an intense interest in the folk culture of Southern Appalachia, even though he was not born in the United States. Possibly because of his European background, he seemed to have a greater insight into why and how this important part of our heritage should be preserved than most native-born Americans. His courses in Southern Appalachian Folk Culture were among the most popular in the Anthropology Department. He published several papers on his folk culture studies in the Journal of American Folklore and the Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin. Dr. Riedl was establishing a strong graduate program in folk culture studies at the University of Tennessee when his untimely death occurred on March 25, 1975.


Collection Scope and Content Note

The Norbert F. Riedl Collection includes research files on such topics as architecture, clothing and costume, cockfighting, food and cooking, games and recreation, legends, medicines and remedies, music, quilting, snake handling, and customs pertaining to marriage, divorce, death and burial. There is also material about the mysterious Melungeons of Hancock and Hawkins Counties and there is a group of tape recordings which relate to many of the file topics.

Subject Terms

  • Appalachian Region.
  • Folklore -- Tennessee, East.
  • Tennessee, East -- Social life and customs.
  • Appalachian Region, Southern -- Social life and customs.
  • Melungeons -- History.
  • Appalachian Region, Southern -- Religion.
  • Appalachian Region, Southern -- Women.
Contents List
   

Series I: Agriculture
   

Subseries A: General
Box   1     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Agriculture in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   1     Folder   2    
"Chewing Tobacco" (original)
Box   1     Folder   3    
"Chewing Tobacco" (copy)
Box   1     Folder   4    
"Tobacco-Raising in East Tennessee"

Box   1     Folder   5    
"A Way and Means to Establish Relationships with Farmers on the Grassroot level for Projects that Protect Their Real Interest"

   

Series II: Architecture
   

Subseries A: General
Box   1     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Appalachian Architecture
Box   1     Folder   2    
Photographs -- Log Structures at the National Campground of the Christian Church
Box   1     Folder   3    
Photographs -- Traditional Architecture in Southern Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   1     Folder   4    
"Folk Architecture: The Cantilevered Barns of Eastern Tennessee"

Box   1     Folder   5    
"Folk Architecture on the North Fork of the Holston River -- Log Structures"

Box   1     Folder   6    
"The I House in Union County, Tenn."

Box   1     Folder   7    
"Log Structures in the Tellico Reservoir, Eastern Tennessee"

Box   1     Folder   8    
"Log Structures of Knoxville"

Box   1     Folder   9    
"Southern Appalachian Culture in the Little Tennessee Valley: A Study of Traditional Furniture"

Box   1     Folder   10    
"Southern Mountain Houses: A Study in American Folk Culture" (Thesis)
Box   1     Folder   11    
Traditional Architecture in Southern Appalachia [untitled paper]
   

Series III: Clothing and Costume
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   1     Folder   1    
"Children's Clothing in Southern Appalachia (N.E. Tenn. and N.E. Ala.)"

Box   1     Folder   2    
"Traditional Children's Clothing: Around 1900-1930 in East Tennessee, Especially Chattanooga and Knoxville"

   

Series IV: Cockfighting
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   1     Folder   1    
"Cockfighting"

Box   1     Folder   2    
"Grit and Steel: A Study of Deviance Reflected in Attitudes of Cockfighters Devotees of a Stigmatized Sport"

Box   1     Folder   3    
"The Raising and Conditioning of Game Roosters"

   

Series V: Culture Studies
   

Subseries A: General
Box   1     Folder   1    
Bibliographical material -- Appalachian Region as a Cultural Unit
Box   1     Folder   2    
Potential Folk Culture Informants (Listed by County)
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   1     Folder   3    
"Boy Scouting in Knoxville"

Box   1     Folder   4    
"The Folklore of Railroads"

Box   1     Folder   5    
"Guide to Folk Culture Material in the Library and Herbarium-Archives of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park"

Box   1     Folder   6    
"The Hensley Settlement: An Ethnography"

Box   1     Folder   7    
"The Impact of Appalachian Culture on Aspiration"

Box   1     Folder   8    
"The Increased Importance of Folk Culture Studies in Anthropology"

Box   1     Folder   9    
"Personality Dynamics of the Mountain People of Southern Appalachia -- with Special Emphasis on the Little Tennessee Valley"

Box   1     Folder   10    
"Rugby: The Realization of a Dream"

Box   1     Folder   11    
"Scratching the Coal Creek Valley for Coal and Lore" (original)
Box   1     Folder   12    
"Scratching the Coal Creek Valley for Coal and Lore" (copy)
Box   1     Folder   13    
"Southwest Point: The Early Days"

   

Series VI: Customs - General
   

Subseries A: General
Box   2     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Traditional Apiculture in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   2     Folder   2    
"A Feather in His Hat"

Box   2     Folder   3    
"House Customs in the Southern Appalachians"

Box   2     Folder   4    
"Husking Bee"

Box   2     Folder   5    
"Log Rollings"

Box   2     Folder   6    
"Mountaineer Make-Do"

Box   2     Folder   7    
"...Prophesy Sex..."

   

Series VII: Customs - Death and Burial
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   2     Folder   1    
"Burial Customs, Naming Customs, and Superstitions" [untitled paper]
Box   2     Folder   2    
"Burial Customs of Black People"

Box   2     Folder   3    
"Burial Customs of Fentress County, Tennessee"

Box   2     Folder   4    
"The Care of the East Tennessee Dead"

Box   2     Folder   5    
"Death and Burial Customs in the Southern Appalachians"

Box   2     Folder   6    
"Funerals and Traffic"

Box   2     Folder   7    
"Grave Huts: A Preliminary Report on Their Occurrence in the Southeastern States"

Box   2     Folder   8    
"The Southern Appalachian Way of Dying"

   

Series VIII: Customs -- Marriage and Divorce
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   2     Folder   1    
"Divorce in Knox County: 1972 and 1952"

Box   2     Folder   2    
"Traditional Courtship and Marriage Customs of the Appalachian South"

   

Series IX: Economics and Law
   

Subseries A: General
Box   2     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Economics and Law in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   2     Folder   2    
"Bibliography -- Social Effects of Coal Mining in Southern Appalachia"

Box   2     Folder   3    
"A Demographic Look at the Little Tennessee Valley Including Blount, Loudon, and Monroe Counties"

Box   2     Folder   4    
"The Economic Background of the Southern Appalachian Region"

Box   2     Folder   5    
"The Feud as a Cultural Expression: Post Civil War Appalachia as Compared to its Counterpart in Sixteenth Century Scotland"

Box   2     Folder   6    
"Fitting Southern Appalachia Into a Framework for Analyzing Society: A Background Study"

Box   2     Folder   7    
"Lawyers in Appalachia: A Look at the Profession and the People it Serves"

Box   2     Folder   8    
"Southern Appalachian Folk Law: A Problematic Survey"

Box   2     Folder   9    
"Southern Political Evolution"

Box   2     Folder   10    
"Historical Geography of the Southern Iron Industry..." (dissertation proposal)
   

Series X: Epitaphs
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
  2       1    
"A Report on Tombstone Orientation and Decoration in the Madisonville, Tenn. Quadrangle"

   

Series XI: Festivals
   

Subseries A: General
Box   2     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Festivals in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   2     Folder   2    
"The Calendar Festivals of Appalachia with Reference to Their Origin and Consistency with the Rest of the World"

Box   2     Folder   3    
"The Custom of Decoration Day"

   

Series XII: Fishing
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   2     Folder   1    
"Fishing Folkculture in the Knoxville Area"

   

Series XIII: Food and Cookery
   

Subseries A: General
Box   2     Folder   1    
Cherokee Cooklore (Recipe Book)
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   2     Folder   2    
"Folk Cookery: A Summary" by Don Yoder
Box   2     Folder   3    
"Food and Foodstuffs in Appalachia: A Bibliography"

Box   2     Folder   4    
"Food and the Southeastern United States"

Box   2     Folder   5    
"The Foods of Southern Appalachia"

Box   2     Folder   6    
"Grandma Lawson's Food Preservation Techniques: A Representative Account of Southern Appalachian Folkways with Cherokee Indian Influence"

Box   2     Folder   7    
"Ham Curing Appalachian Style"

Box   2     Folder   8    
"Teas in Southern Appalachia: An Annotated Bibliography"

Box   2     Folder   9    
"Why Black-Eyed Peas? New Year's Day Eating in Southern Appalachia"

   

Series XIV: Games and Recreation
   

Subseries A: General
Box   3     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Games and Recreation in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   3     Folder   2    
"Children's Toys, Plays, and Games of the Southern Appalachian Area"

Box   3     Folder   3    
"Folk Toys or What's a GEE-HAW WHIMMY didDLE, Anyhow?" (includes toy)
Box   3     Folder   4    
"The Games People Play -- And Have Played -- In Southern Appalachia"

Box   3     Folder   5    
"Mumble-the-Peg"

Box   3     Folder   6    
"Rhymes of Childhood"

Box   3     Folder   7    
"Rhymes, Stories and Games"

   

Series XV: Geography
   

Subseries A: General
Box   3     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Southern Appalachian Geography
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   3     Folder   2    
"Bibliography of Cultural Geography"

Box   3     Folder   3    
"Cultural Factors in the Hamlet Settlements of Northeast Tennessee"

Box   3     Folder   4    
"Ethnic Backgrounds of Tennesseans"

Box   3     Folder   5    
"Hamlet Population Change in Upper East Tennessee, 1932-1972"

Box   3     Folder   6    
"Island Wilderness Biological Survey Island F. Norris Reservoir: Human Influence on the Area" (copy 1)
Box   3     Folder   7    
"Island Wilderness Biological Survey Island F. Norris Reservoir: Human Influence on the Area" (copy 2)
Box   3     Folder   8    
"The Natural and Cultural History of the Flowering Dogwood"

Box   3     Folder   9    
"A Preliminary Statement Concerning the Little Tennessee Valley from a Geographic Viewpoint"

Box   3     Folder   10    
"Recent Trends in American Rural Settlement Geography"

Box   3     Folder   11    
"The Rural Settlement Patterns of the Little Tennessee River Area: A Study in Cultural Geography"

Box   3     Folder   12    
"Unakas"

Box   3     Folder   13    
"Unincorporated Hamlets: A Study of Settlement Viability in the Southern Ridge and Valley"

   

Series XVI: History
   

Subseries A: General
Box   3     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Appalachian History
Box   3     Folder   2    
Pamphlet -- A Brief Story of Scott County
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   3     Folder   3    
"Experiences of a Railroad Builder in the Mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky"

Box   3     Folder   4    
"History of the Little Tennessee Valley in Monroe, Blount, and Loudon Counties, Tennessee"

Box   3     Folder   5    
"Recollections of My Grandmother: Nancy Ferris Cain"

   

Series XVII: Legends
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   3     Folder   1    
"Jokelore and Local Legends of the Appalachian Region: A Bibliographical Survey of the Folklore of Appalachia"

Box   3     Folder   2    
Legend About Hunters [untitled]
Box   3     Folder   3    
"The Legend of Swift's Silver Mine"

Box   3     Folder   4    
"The Story of the Tennessee Bell Witch"

Box   3     Folder   5    
"The Tooth Fairy: An Informal Report"

   

Series XVIII: Material Culture
   

Subseries A: General
Box   3     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- American Heritage Material Culture in Appalachia
Box   3     Folder   2    
Newspaper articles -- Traditional Arts and Handicrafts of Appalachia
Box   3     Folder   3    
Newspaper articles -- Traditional Pottery and Earthenware Utensils in Southern Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   3     Folder   4    
"Bibliography: Material Culture of the Upper South"

Box   3     Folder   5    
"The Cataloguing of Dairy Molds, Presses and Hoops at John Rice Erwin's Appalachian Village"

Box   3     Folder   6    
"Folklore, Folk Music, Folk Arts and Craft Sources in Washington, D.C."

Box   3     Folder   7    
"How the Tennessee Pioneers Won the Wilderness"

   

Series XIX: Medicines and Remedies
   

Subseries A: General
Box   4     Folder   1    
Magazine articles -- Traditional Medicines and Remedies Peculiar to Southern Appalachia
Box   4     Folder   2    
Newspaper articles -- Traditional Medicines and Home Remedies of Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   4     Folder   3    
"Body Embellishment -- Folk Cosmetics of Southern Appalachia"

Box   4     Folder   4    
"Eastern United States Folk Medicine and Home Remedies"

Box   4     Folder   5    
"Ethnobotany" (a group of papers concerning herbs and their medicinal values)
   

Series XX: Melungeons
   

Subseries A: General
Box   4     Folder   1    
Bibliography: Melungeons
Box   4     Folder   2    
Bibliography from: Melungeons: The Vanishing Colony of Newman's Rid
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   4     Folder   3    
"Melungeons: Are They a Mystery?"

Box   4     Folder   4    
"The Melungeons: a Study of the Existing Literature"

   

Series XXI: Music
   

Subseries A: General
Box   4     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Traditional Music and Musical Instruments in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   4     Folder   2    
"Annotated Bibliography concerning the Mountain Dulcimer" (includes tape)
Box   4     Folder   3    
"The Banjo in Southern Appalachia"

Box   4     Folder   4    
"A Brief Study and Repertoire of Folk Tunes in Hamilton County, Tennessee"

   

Series XXII: Place Names
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   4     Folder   1    
"A Micro-Study of Place-Names in North Knox County, Tennessee"

Box   4     Folder   2    
"Place Name Geography of the Southern Cumberland Plateau" (Thesis Proposal)
Box   4     Folder   3    
"Place Names in Monroe County"

Box   4     Folder   4    
"Place Names of AmericanIndian origin in the Southeastern United States"

   

Series XXIII: Proverbs
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   5     Folder   1    
"Figurative Expressions and Proverbial Lore in the speech Patterns of Two East Tennessee Counties"

Box   5     Folder   2    
"Figurative Expressions and Proverbial Lore in the Speech Patterns of Two East Tennessee Counties" -- Raw Data
Box   5     Folder   3    
"Proverbial Comparisons from an East Tennessee County"

   

Series XXIV: Quilting
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   5     Folder   1    
"Annotated Bibliography on the Subject of Quilting"

Box   5     Folder   2    
"The Craft of the Southern Appalachian Coverlet"

Box   5     Folder   3    
"East Tennessee Quilts: Are They Distinctive?"

Box   5     Folder   4    
"The Quilt and the Quilter in Southern Appalachia"

Box   5     Folder   5    
"Quilts and Quiltmaking in Southern Appalachia"

   

Series XXV: Religion and Ritual
   

Subseries A: General
Box   5     Folder   1    
Newspaper Articles -- Witchcraft in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   5     Folder   2    
"Anabaptists in Tennessee"

Box   5     Folder   3    
"The Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Greene County"

Box   5     Folder   4    
"Marsha Milsap's Case" and "The Only Witchcraft Case in Tennessee" from History of Fentress County, Tennessee by A. R. Hogue, 1920.
   

Series XXVI: Snake-Handling
   

Subseries A: General
Box   5     Folder   1    
Bibliography -- Snake Handling and Charismatic Pentecostalism
Box   5     Folder   2    
Newspaper articles -- Snake-Handling Incidents
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   5     Folder   3    
"Snake Handling: A Study of Roles" (includes pictures)
Box   5     Folder   4    
"Snake Handling in Southern Appalachia"

Box   5     Folder   5    
"Tennessee Snake Handlers"

Box   5     Folder   6    
"They Shall Take Up Serpents . . . The History, Doctrine and Religious Phenomenology of Snake-Handling Sects in Southern Appalachia"

   

Series XXVII: Speech
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   5     Folder   1    
"Adjectival and Adverbial Comparisons Found in Scott County, Tenn."

Box   5     Folder   2    
"Adjectival and Adverbial Comparisons Found in Scott County, Tenn." -- Raw Data
Box   5     Folder   3    
"A Preliminary Survey of East Tennessee Expletives"

   

Series XXVIII: Superstitions
   

Subseries A: General
Box   5     Folder   1    
Newspaper articles -- Superstitions in Appalachia
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   5     Folder   2    
"Animalistic Attributes"

Box   5     Folder   3    
"Customs of Scottish origin in Southern Appalachia: Superstitions and Calendar Customs"

Box   5     Folder   4    
"Dream Interpretation in Southern Appalachia"

Box   5     Folder   5    
"Elements of Anthropomorphism in the Animal Superstitions of the Southern Appalachians"

Box   5     Folder   6    
"Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro"

   

Series XXIX: Surveys -- General Folklore
   

Subseries A: General
Box   5     Folder   1    
Miscellaneous Folklore/Culture Surveys -- Data
Box   5     Folder   2    
Newspaper articles -- General Folklore Surveys in Appalachia
Box   5     Folder   3    
Survey of Foods in Tennessee (especially butter, cheese, and black-eyed peas) -- Raw Data
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   5     Folder   11    
"A Case for an American Folklore Atlas"

Box   5     Folder   12    
"A Survey of Southern Appalachian Folklore"

Box   5     Folder   13    
"A Survey of the Folklore of the Southern Appalachian Region"

   

Series XXX: Tales
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   6     Folder   1    
"The Glassy Mountain"

Box   6     Folder   2    
"Myths About the Poor"

Box   6     Folder   3    
"Stories of Pickens County, Georgia"

   

Series XXXI: Weather Lore
   

Subseries A: Student Projects
Box   6     Folder   1    
"Planting by the Signs"

Box   6     Folder   2    
"Weather Lore of the Southern Appalachians"

   

Series XXXII: Women and Families
   

Subseries A: General
Box   6     Folder   1    
Photographs and Letters -- Alice B. Luttrell Family
   

Subseries B: Student Projects
Box   6     Folder   2    
"Life Crises of Appalachian Women"

Box   6     Folder   3    
"A Psychologist Looks at Southern Appalachian Child Rearing Practices"

   

Series XXXIII: Correspondence
   

Subseries A: Correspondence
Box   7     Folder      
July 1973-October 1973
   

Series XXXIV: Notes
   

Subseries A: Notes
Box   7     Folder      
Class Notes
Box   7     Folder      
Class Transcripts
Box   7     Folder      
Folk Culture Archives #1
Box   7     Folder      
Folk Culture Archives #2
Box   7     Folder      
Folk Culture Archives #3
   

Series XXXV: Tapes, 7 inch
   

Subseries A: General
Box   7     Folder      
"The Ancient Voices of Papua and New Guinea"

Box   7     Folder      
"Authentic Australian Aboriginals"

   

Subseries B: Interviews
Box   7     Folder      
Bryan, Charles Faulkner -- His Life and Works
Box   7     Folder      
Fink, Paul -- Reel 1
Box   7     Folder      
Fink, Paul -- Reel 2
Box   7     Folder      
Sealand
   

Series XXXVI: Tapes, 5 inch
   

Subseries A: General
Box   7     Folder      
"The Banjo in Southern Appalachia" (supplement to paper; see Music series, Box 4, Folder 3)
   

Subseries B: Interviews
Box   7     Folder      
Hulan -- original (3 3/4)
Box   7     Folder      
Hulan -- original (7 1/2)
Box   7     Folder      
Hulan -- edited
Box   7     Folder      
Peters
Box   7     Folder      
5 unlabled tapes
   

Series XXXVII: Tapes, 3 inch
   

Subseries A: Interviews
Box   7     Folder      
Dirth
Box   7     Folder      
6 unlabled tapes
   

Series XXXVIII: Cassettes
   

Subseries A: General
Box   7     Folder      
Camp meeting part 1
Box   7     Folder      
Class tape
   

Subseries B: Interviews
Box   7     Folder      
Hulan -- Music Lay Tape part 1
Box   7     Folder      
Pominer, T.D.
  7          
Thornburg -- Lay Tape part 2
Box   7     Box      
1 Unlabled tape