SPRING 2001 21

FOLKLORISTS MIGHT BE ACCUSED OF LIVING

IN THE PAST, BUT THEY’RE ALSO LIVING IN THE

PRESENT AND FUTURE, DR. MICHAEL ANN WILL-

IAMS COMMENTS. “I THINK FOLKLORE IS A WAY

OF MAKING THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES MORE

ACCESSIBLE TO MORE PEOPLE, NOT JUST A NAR-

ROW RANGE OF PEOPLE,” SAID DR. WILLIAMS,

PROFESSOR OF FOLK STUDIES AT WESTERN KEN-

TUCKY UNIVERSITY. “WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO

REACH OUT TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES BY

SAYING THERE IS AN ARTISTIC LIFE THERE

THAT’S NOT JUST OPERA OR BALLET.”

One of Dr. Williams’ main folklore pursuits is “vernacu-lar architecture,” a term applied to traditional domesticand agricultural buildings, industrial and commercialstructures, 20th century suburban houses, settlement pat-terns and cultural landscapes. She is vice president of theVernacular Architecture Forum, the major North Americangroup that studies traditional architecture. “I have a con-tinuing interest in folk architecture which is centered onhow buildings were used instead of how they were built,”said Dr. Williams, who has been at Western since 1986.

But she remains interested in folklife and its connec-tions with the past and the future. She’s currently complet-ing a book on Sarah Gertrude Knott, founder of the Na-tional Folk Festival, and John Lair, creator of the RenfroValley Barn Dance. Knott, a native of Kevil in westernKentucky, knew folklife wasn’t limited to the mountains ofeastern Kentucky, Dr. Williams said. In the 1930s, Knottcreated the first multicultural folk festival and in lateryears helped include the folk arts in funding for the Na-tional Endowment for the Arts. “She was somebody whowas influential but hasn’t received her due,” Dr. Williamssaid. At Renfro Valley, Lair’s radio barn dance alsoshowed that arts and music weren’t limited to the urbanregions. “One of the themes in folk studies is the creation

B Y T O M M Y N E W T O N

IN THEVERNACULAR

“I HAVE A CONTINUING INTEREST

IN FOLK ARCHITECTURE WHICH IS

CENTERED ON HOW BUILDINGS

WERE USED INSTEAD OF HOW

THEY WERE BUILT.”

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22 THE WESTERN SCHOLAR

SPRING 2001 23

of nostalgia for the past,” Dr. Williams said. “John Lair’sRenfro Valley Barn Dance sold a nostalgia for the past.What he really tapped into was the longing of listeners fora mythical past.”

Even today in the age of electronic mail and theInternet, that longing for the community is keeping folkstudies alive and well. “Folklorists are interested in howpeople made these personal connections,” she said. “Ithink it is about creating a feeling of community. Some-times it is the new technology that does it.” A half-centuryago that new technology was the radio. Today it is the per-sonal computer. But, as Dr. Williams cautions her folkstudies students, the personal computer is simply one toolfolklorists can use. Thebest way to gather in-formation and histori-cal data remains thepersonal touch.

When she wasgathering informationfor her publication,Homeplace: The SocialUse and Meaning of theFolk Dwelling in South-western North Carolina.Dr. Williams inter-viewed people who’dgrown up in NorthCarolina around theturn of the century. “Ithink I’ve been reallylucky. Southern Appa-lachia is the easiestplace to do fieldwork,” said Dr. Will-iams, who received her master’s and doctoral degreesfrom the University of Pennsylvania. In most cases, she’sfound rural people eager to tell their stories and willing toinvite a stranger into their homes. A folklorist must havelots of patience and be willing to listen when they collectsomeone’s life story. “The wonderful pieces of informationare those things you didn’t know to ask for and someonetells you,” she observed.

In the folk studies courses she teaches — which in-clude Vernacular Architecture, Folk Art and Technology,Cultural Conservation, Folklore Theory, Museum Proce-dures and Techniques, and Foodways — Dr. Williams of-ten learns more than she expected from her students. Stu-dents in the folk art class are required to present a reporton a single object that they can justify as folk art. In thefall 2000 semester, those works ranged from AfricanAmerican quilts to a jar of green beans. “That’s a good les-son in thinking about art in everyday life,” Dr. Williamssaid.

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Not all log homes in Kentucky were “cabins.” The Felts House, anenclosed dogtrot plan, represents relative prosperity, for the timein which it was built.

Dr. Williams encourages her students to conducthands-on projects that have real world applications. InSeptember 2000, the Shakerag Historic District on StateStreet was placed on the National Register of HistoricPlaces. The area is Bowling Green’s first National Registerdistrict recognized for its significance to African Americanheritage. The idea came from one of Dr. Williams’ folkstudies classes. The project was funded in part by a grantfrom the Kentucky Heritage Council. Dr. Williams also re-cently completed a multi-year Cemetery ManagementStudy funded by Mammoth Cave National Park which alsoincluded the involvement of Western Kentucky graduatestudents in folk studies. Other class and research projects

have been funded bythe Kentucky Oral His-tory Program, the Ken-tucky Folklife Program,and the Kentucky Afri-can American HeritageCommission. TheShakerag District nowhas a walking tour ofhistoric sites andhomes. A traveling ex-hibit called “Like aFamily: Life on NorthState Street” also isavailable and will beon display at the Ken-tucky Building duringBlack History Month.

Dr. Williams isproud of Western’sfolk studies programand its emphasis on

preservation of both heritage and structures. “The folklorefield is a strong one,” she said. “Western has the bestmaster’s program in the country.” The program also isconcerned about Kentucky’s future, she said. “One thingpeople don’t connect with folklore is economic develop-ment,” Dr. Williams said.

In the next year, she hopes Western students canlaunch a project about the musical heritage of westernKentucky, which includes the development of bluegrassand the thumbpicking style of guitar playing. “A lot ofgreat traditional musicians came out of this part of Ken-tucky,” she said, adding that this region should be able tomarket its musical culture and heritage. “One of the thingsthat we try to get out of the Folk Studies program is notjust about nostalgia and preservation but about economicdevelopment and communicating cross-culturally,” Dr.Williams said.

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