James P. Leary

State folklore collections are extraordinarily variable things. Eastern states such as Virginia have often been well-covered. Local areas such as the Ozarks, explored by Vance Randolph, have been well-served. Other areas have been left out almost entirely.

Wisconsin stands somewhere in the middle. Franz Rickaby collected many lumbering songs, and other Wisconsin songs were printed by Harry S. Peters. Walker D. Wyman published a thin book of Wisconsin Folklore, and Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden a much thicker book of Wisconsin Lore. These are good books -- but they have real defects as references, including the lack of an index.

James P. Leary's Wisconsin Folklore is thus a welcome addition to the field. Much better organized than the others, it consists of a number of articles on all topics of folklore and folk song. Although much of the material was published elsewhere, these publications are hard to find. Thus Leary's is the single most accessible source for much important material. It doesn't entirely supersede the others -- but it's a much better place to start.… (más)

Highly entertaining and richly informative, Wisconsin Folklore offers the first comprehensive collection of writings about the surprisingly varied folklore of Wisconsin. Beginning with a historical introduction to Wisconsin's folklore and concluding with an up-to-date bibliography, this anthology offers more than fifty annotated and illustrated entries in five sections: "Terms and Talk," "Storytelling," "Music, Song, and Dance," "Beliefs and Customs," and "Material Traditions and Folklife."
The various contributors, from 1884 to 1997, are anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, historians, journalists, museologists, ordinary citizens reminiscing, sociologists, students, writers of fiction, practitioners of folklore, and folklorists. Their interests cover an enormous range of topics: from Woodland Indian place names and German dialect expressions to Welsh nicknames and the jargon of apple-pickers, brewers, and farmers; from Ho-Chunk and Ojibwa mythological tricksters and Paul Bunyan legends to stories of Polish strongmen and Ole and Lena jokes; from Menominee dances and Norwegian fiddling and polka music to African-American gospel groups and Hmong musicians; from faith healers and wedding and funeral customs to seasonal ethnic festivities and tavern amusements; and from spearing decoys and needlework to church dinners, sacred shrines, and the traditional work practices of commercial fishers, tobacco growers, and pickle packers.… (más)