Inventory of the Archie Green Papers, 1944-1976

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Biographical Note

Archie Green (1917- ) is an eminent scholar in the area of occupational folklore. He has worked in a variety of capacities as a folklorist--archivist, field worker, professor, and public sector advocate. He is best known for his work with labor materials and early "hillbilly" music recordings.

Archie (Aaron) Green grew up in southern California, began college at UCLA, and then transferred to the University of California at Berkeley from which he was graduated in 1939. After working in the shipyards in San Francisco, serving in the Navy in World War II, and becoming active in several labor organizations, Green returned to academia. He received his M.L.S. from the University of Illinois and his PhD in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania.

Green joined the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1960 and served there as librarian and later jointly as an instructor in the English Department until 1972. At the same time, he was producing albums, conducting fieldwork, teaching, lecturing, and writing articles. He was active in the John Edwards Memorial Foundation (now Forum) from its inception and lobbied Congress to pass the American Folklife Foundation Act, which it did in 1976 establishing the Center for American Folklife.

Green retired as professor emeritus from the University of Texas at Austin in the early 1980s to his home in California, where he continued to work on research and other projects. He received an honorary degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991.

Collection Overview

Papers of folklorist Archie Green include correspondence, research materials, writings, photographs, and other materials pertaining chiefly to Green's professional activities, circa 1955-1975. Materials reflect Green's interests in the study of folklore; occupational folklore, with special emphasis on songs relating to textile workers, railroad workers, coal miners, and cowboys; labor history, especially the 1919 riot in Centralia, Wash.; early country music (hillbilly; sound recording archives; folk musicians; and production and collection of sound recordings. There are also materials relating to Green's research and teaching activities and participation in professional associations, music and folklore festivals, and the faculty labor union at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Arrangement of Collection

Items Separated

Detailed Description of the Collection

1. General Correspondence and Related Items, circa 1964-1975.

General correspondence with traditional artists; folklorists; labor organizations, organizers, and scholars; book publishers; record companies and collectors; students, fans, and others. Some files also contain writings, newspaper clippings, interview notes, and other materials relating to the correspondence. Additional correspondence pertaining to specific topics and/or projects is filed throughout the collection. Note that Green's original file folder headings and file order have, for the most part, been retained.

Correspondence, contracts, and other documents relating to Green's employment history and doctoral degree program. Note that Green's original file folder headings and file order have, for the most part, been retained.

Files maintained by Green that relate to his areas of research and general interest. Included are letters, interview and field notes, newspaper clippings and journal articles Green collected, correspondence, writings, and other materials. Some of these topics were the basis for further research or projects (see Series 4), but most were not. Song folios have, in most cases, been filed with Southern Folklife Collection Song Folios (#30006).