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The Dorson mss., 1925-1981, consists of the papers of folklorist Richard Mercer Dorson, 1916-1981.

Felix Oinas, a world renowned scholar in the areas of Slavic linguistics, Finno-Ugric language, literature, and folklore, was a professor of Uralic and Altaic Studies and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Indiana University from 1950 until his retirement in 1981. The collection consists of Oinas' correspondence, publications, and research on Balto-Finnic and Slavic folklore, the relation of Balto-Finnic folklore as compared to Baltic (Lithuanian and Latvian) folklore, the Estonian epic Kalevipoeg, mythology (including the study of spirits, ghosts, devils, and vampires), and the study of Slavic and Finnish etymologies.

Richard Bauman taught in the Indiana University Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology from 1986 until his retirement in 2008. The Bauman papers consist of his teaching materials, awards, publications, conference contributions, research projects, fieldwork materials, correspondence, and student recommendations.

Dr. Richard Dorson is often cited as the father of American folklore. Over his lifetime he published a large collection of books and articles dealing with how folklore and culture are tied together. Dorson founded the Indiana University Folklore Institute in 1963, and became the first director and Chairman of the Folklore Department in 1978. This collection consists of Dr. Dorson's published articles, correspondence, and research connected to the Gary Project which resulted in the book Land of the Millrats.

Ronald Richard Smith was a member of the Folklore faculty at Indiana University from 1978-1997. His research centered around traditional music, festivals, movement and dance, and religion within the African Diaspora, with a focus on Caribbean peoples. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at IU, Smith also served as associate dean of the Office of Research and University Graduate School from 1988-1996, headed the IU Ethnomusicology Program, and spent one year as director of the Archives of Traditional Music. This collection consists of Smith's papers and lectures, dissertations of some of his students, correspondence, committee files, and some classroom materials. Prominent in the papers are Smith's files on the Folklore Institute and department, such as teaching files, meeting minutes, and curriculum reviews.

In 1953, Warren Everett Roberts became the first person to earn a PhD in Folklore in the United States. He taught at Indiana University from 1949-1994 and was one of the founders of the study of American "folklife" and material culture. The collection represents Roberts' research of vernacular architecture and regional survey of material culture and craftsmanship, particularly in southern Indiana. Collection consists of research files, teaching files, photographs, photographic negatives and slides, publications, and correspondence.