Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Householder, Fred W. (Fred Walter), 1913-1994
- Abstract:
- Fred Walter Householder Jr. was a prominent professor of linguistics and classics at Indiana University Bloomington and an important figure within the field of linguistics. The collection contains materials from courses Householder taught at Indiana University, research files of his studies abroad, language materials and records from the Linguistic Atlas Project, or the LANCS project.
- Extent:
- 13.6 cubic feet (14 boxes)
- Language:
- Materials are primarily in English with some Latin , Greek , and Azerbaijani .
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Fred W. Householder papers, Collection C450, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Born on February 1, 1913 in Wichita Falls, Texas, Fred Walter Householder began his study of languages at an early age by reading the dictionary. After completing high school in Burlington, Vermont he attended the University of Vermont, where he received his A.B. in Greek in 1932. The following year he entered graduate school at Columbia University where he took his first linguistics course from scholar Louis Gray. Completing his M.A. in 1934, he continued his studies in pursuit of his Ph.D., receiving the Drisler (1935-1936) and the Seymour Fellowships (1936-1937) which allowed him to study at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece. While in Greece, Householder took up studying ancient doors and sills on top of his studies of the Greek language. While working towards his Ph.D. he married Clarice Bagley on February 6, 1935.
Following the completion of his Ph.D. in 1941, Householder continued to lecture at Columbia University in Greek and Latin until 1946, at which point he took a position as an associate professor of classics at Allegheny College. Two years later, he joined the Indiana University faculty as an assistant professor of classics where he quickly rose through the ranks being named associate professor in 1951 and full professor in 1956. Over the next several years Householder served a variety of outside roles: a visiting professor at Cornell University, the University of Michigan, the University of Hawaii and as a Guggenheim Fellow (1958-1959). He retired from IU in 1983.
During his time at Indiana University, Householder played an instrumental part in the elevation of the university's linguistics program to departmental status. Initially, there was just an interdisciplinary linguistics committee which formed the nucleus for the later establishment of a linguistic department. From 1959-1962 he served as the chairman of the Linguistic Committee. In 1963 the College of Arts and Sciences officially created the Department of Linguistics of which he served as the chair from 1974 through 1980.
Although Householder held a busy schedule he always continued to research and write on a variety of areas including: Greek, Latin, Azerbaijani and much more. He and his colleague even installed the first Sona-Graph machine in the department's phonics laboratory. He was an active member in multiple professional societies and associations including: American Philological Association, Linguistic Society of America, Archaeological Institute of American, Modern Greek Studies Association and the American Association of Phonetic Science (participating on boards and committees too). He also wrote and participated in multiple research grants including for the United States Air Force on Turkic, specifically Azerbaijani; American Council of Learned Societies on an English textbook for Greeks; Contract with Rome Air Development Command on Information Retrieval; a National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants.
Fred Walter Householder Jr. died on January 4, 1994. He was survived by his wife Clarice (Bagley) Householder and their two daughters Alison Prindle and Lynn Householder.
- Scope and Content:
The collection is organized into five series: Research (1946-1994), Publications, reviews and writings (1940-1993), Teaching files (1954-1969), Correspondence (1945-1989) and Subject files (1946-1994).
The Research series is further organized into six sub-series: ATLAS Project (1952-1976), Language files (1958-1962), Research index cards (undated), Spectrograph research (1952-1971), and Subject files (1960-1971).
The ATLAS Project sub-series consists of research notebooks used to collect information about various participants day-to-day use of language. The ATLAS project is a large collection of linguistic studies performed for the last 80 years around the United States by various scholars. Researchers of varying disciplinary backgrounds including Householder interviewed informants, listening for specific target information such as varying regional dialects and use of words. Householder specifically researched the geographic locations of Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois specifically known as LANCS. The ATLAS Project Sub-series remains in Householder's original order.
The Language files include materials such as newspapers in Azerbaijani, research notebooks, language worksheets including grammar and phonetics, dictionary descriptions and language transcripts. Languages include but are not limited to: Azerbaijani, Greek, Latin, and Quechua. Files are in alphabetical order.
The Research index cards sub-series totals eight small boxes of index cards pertaining to the Latin and Greek people, places, grammar and other miscellaneous topics. Two additional small boxes of index cards include an index of books alphabetized by author and place and miscellaneous information on the Greek Island of Delos. The boxes maintain Householder's original order as best as possible.
The Spectrograph research sub-series contains sound spectrograms (graphic representations of speech patterns and vocal influxes) and research materials related to the spectrographs. Files are in alphabetical order by folder heading.
The last Research sub-series is Subject files, which includes research on linguistics, Householder's Seymour Fellowship research on ancient doors and sills, concordances, and miscellaneous documents. Files are in alphabetical order by folder heading.
The Publications, reviews and writings series (1940-1993) is further organized into two sub-series: Publications and writings (1940-1993) and Reviews (1954-1987). Publications and writings include both published and unpublished materials written by Householder, including: "Variation in Early Greek," 1973, "Inference or Presupposition," 1977 and Spoken Azerbaijani I by Householder and Mansour Lotfi (published in 1965 under Basic Course in Azerbaijani). The Reviews sub-series contains articles reviewed by Householder.
The Teaching files (1954-1969) series is compiled of student work, exams, and teaching materials used for classes. A large portion of this series is restricted due to student grade information.
The Correspondence (1945-1989) series includes letters from Greece, Bobbs-Merrill Company (Indianapolis Book Publisher,) the Linguistic Society of America, Cambridge University Press, and correspondence between Householder and sociolinguist, anthropologist and folklorist Dell Hathaway Hymes.
The final series of Subject files (1946-1994) contains biographical materials, and materials relating to Householder affiliations and committee participation both inside and outside of the University.
- Acquisition information:
- Accession numbers: 2011/073
- Appraisal information:
The majority of Dr. Householder's collection has remained intact at the archives. Duplicate materials including articles, course hand-outs and other miscellaneous paper work were discarded.
- Processing information:
Processed by Heather J. Stone
Completed in 2011
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into five series. The first series, Research (1946-1994), is further organized into six sub-series: ATLAS Project, Language files, Research Index Cards, Spectrograph research, and General files. The other series included are: Publications, reviews and writings (1940-1993), Teaching files (1954-1969), Correspondence (1945-1989) and Subject files (1946-1994).
The Subject files (1946-1994), Teaching files (1954-1969) and Correspondence (1945-1989) series are all arranged in alphabetical order by folder heading. The Publications, reviews and writing Series (1940-1993) is further organized into two Sub-series: Publications and writings, and Reviews, both are in chronological order.
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Select files closed to researchers due to student papers with grades. Advance notice required for access to collection.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
The donor(s) of this collection have not transferred their copyrights for the materials to the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Fred W. Householder papers, Collection C450, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
Herman B Wells Library E4601320 East Tenth StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-7000, United States
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
812-855-1127archives@indiana.edu