Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Hickerson, Joseph C. (Joseph Charles), 1935-
- Abstract:
- Joseph C. Hickerson (1935-) is a prominent folk musician and memory worker. He received his B.S. in Physics from Oberlin College in 1957, after which he began his graduate studies in folklore at Indiana University Bloomington. At IU, Hickerson earned an M.A. in Folklore and passed his Ph.D. qualifying examination, but he never completed his dissertation. In 1963, he began working at the Archive of Folksong at the Library of Congress as a Reference Librarian, eventually becoming this division's director. He remained in this role until his retirement in 1998. This collection contains various materials pertaining to Hickerson's academic, professional, and personal life, including correspondence, class notes, research files, newspaper clippings, and audiovisual material. These materials date from 1946-2022, but the bulk of this material was created during his time at IU, 1957-1963.
- Extent:
- 8.4 cubic feet (8 collection boxes and 1 document case.)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Joseph C. Hickerson papers, Collection C762, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Joseph C. Hickerson was born October 20, 1935, in Highland Park, Illinois. He first became interested in folk music in 1948, when he saw a performance by prominent folksinger and labor activist, Pete Seeger, at a campaign event for the Progressive Party. He attended Oberlin College from 1953-1957, earning a bachelor's degree in physics. At Oberlin, he cultivated his passion for folk music through extracurricular and professional activities. He played key roles in organizing Seeger's numerous concert performances at Oberlin and other colleges, through which Hickerson developed a personal friendship with Seeger. Most notably, Hickerson wrote two verses to one of Seeger's most popular compositions, "Where Have all the Flowers Gone," in 1960.
After graduating from Oberlin, Hickerson applied his interest in folk music to his academic pursuits, studying folklore and ethnomusicology in graduate school at Indiana University Bloomington. His master's thesis consisted of an annotated bibliography of North American Indian music north of Mexico, for which he received funding from the National Science Foundation. In a course on folk ballads, Hickerson became fascinated with the various versions of the song, "Our Goodman," which would become the research focus of his doctoral dissertation. Although he did not finish his dissertation, he continued to collect "versions, variants, and references" to the song throughout his life.
Hickerson engaged heavily with campus life while at IU. He performed numerous times on and off campus, including appearances as a strolling minstrel at the annual Madrigal Dinner at the Indiana Memorial Union, as well as folk-singing at the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation. Hickerson was also a founding member of the IU Folksong Club, which hosted folk-sings and taught instrument lessons. Hickerson also directed and hosted multiple radio and television programs on folklore and folk music topics, which aired on WFIU, and he was a campus sales representative for multiple record labels. Moreover, Hickerson was involved in campus politics: not only did he perform at many political events, but he was also elected as a student senator, and he was the Democratic Student Party candidate for student body president in 1961.
Hickerson left IU in 1963 to pursue a Reference Librarian position at the Library of Congress's Archive of Folksong. He remained at the Library of Congress for thirty-five years, eventually becoming the director of the division. After his retirement in 1998, Hickerson continues to write, lecture, and contribute to publications relating to folk music.
Hickerson married musician and activist Lynn Russell in 1965, but they later divorced. Much later, he reconnected with Ruth Weiss Bolliger, an original member of Hickerson's band at Oberlin, the Folksmiths, and the two developed a relationship. In 2005, Joe began visiting Bolliger in Portland, Oregon, where she was a member of the Portland Folkmusic Society. Hickerson relocated to Portland in 2011, and from 2014-2016 authored a column titled "Joe's Jottings" for the PFS newsletter, Local Lore.
- Scope and Content:
The Joseph C. Hickerson papers contains materials pertaining to his personal, academic, and professional activity at Indiana University and beyond. The collection is organized into five series: Indiana University activity, M.A. Thesis research, "Our Goodman" research, Personal and professional activity, and Audiovisual.
The Indiana University activity series (1957-2011) contains materials related to his academic and extracurricular activity at IU. This series is organized into four subseries: Correspondence (1957-1968), which includes communications between Hickerson and his family, as well as administrative correspondence; Coursework (1957-1961), which includes lecture notes and assignments for his graduate-level classes; Research files (1958-1963, undated), which includes notes and draft manuscripts of essays; and Extracurricular activity (1957-2011), which include paper and photograph materials documenting his contributions to campus life, including the IU Folksong Club, campus politics, musical performances, WFIU programs, and more.
The M.A. thesis research series (1953-1967) contains material related to the research, funding, and publication of his master's thesis on North American Indian music. This series is organized into two subseries: Correspondence and grants (1960-1967), which contains communications with scholars, archives, granting institutions, and publishers pertaining to his thesis; and Research files (1953-1963, undated), which contains bibliographies, catalogs, listings, and fliers for Native American music records, as well as notes and drafts of the thesis.
The "Our Goodman" research series (1946-2022, bulk 1957-1964) contains material relating to Hickerson's research on and lifelong fascination with the folksong, "Our Goodman." This series is organized into two subseries: Correspondence (1956-2022), which includes both indexed testimonies of versions and variations of "Our Goodman," as well as more personal communications from scholars and friends about the folksong; and Research files (1946-2021, bulk 1957-1968), which contains versions of the tune – indexed either by subject (e.g. Black versions), or by Hickerson's own schema for indicating geographic location – as well as transcriptions, notes, and record catalogs and leaflets. A significant portion of the Research files consists of miscellaneous "versions, variants, and references" that Hickerson collected over the years.
The Personal and professional series (1957-2019, bulk 1960-1970) contains material relating to Hickerson's personal and professional life. The series is organized into two subseries: Correspondence (1959-2004) and Subject files (1957-2019, undated). The Correspondence subseries contains correspondence from friends, family, and business acquaintances, including communication with prominent folk musicians and folklorists such as the Seeger family, Frank Proffitt, and Ed Kahn. Also included are extensive correspondence with Erica "Ricky" Sherover (b. 1938, d. 1988), Hickerson's romantic partner whom he met at Oberlin and dated long-distance while at IU. The Subject files subseries contains records pertaining to Hickerson's personal and professional life, including his roles at the Library of Congress, record sales, and professional musicianship.
The Audiovisual series is being processed and digitized as of October 2024; information regarding the contents will be updated. As of October 2024, the series contains description for one engineered recording. Please contact an archivist for more information and viewing.
- Acquisition information:
- Accession number 2024/072.
- Custodial history:
Materials donated by Joe Hickerson in May 2024.
- Processing information:
Processed by Evan Brandon
Finding Aid Completed September 2024
- Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 5 series: Indiana University activity, M.A. Thesis research, "Our Goodman" research, Personal and professional activity, and Audiovisual. Materials in series and subseries are arranged either alphabetically by name or subject file, or chronologically.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
The donor(s) of this collection have 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 Archives staff.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Joseph C. Hickerson papers, Collection C762, 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@iu.edu