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The Archer Taylor Lecture Series

An invitational lecture given by a notable folklorist.

About Archer Taylor

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Archer Taylor

Archer Taylor was born August 1, 1890 and died September 30, 1973. Taylor wrote many books and a vast number of articles, some extended studies of the subject at hand and others short notes or queries. He grew up in a world in which academic-minded students learned Latin and Greek in grammar school, and he learned. In the years that followed, he continued to learn. Ultimately he read and spoke thirteen languages, with varying degrees of proficiency to be sure.

His large library is now with the University of Georgia in Athens, excepting his ballad collection with the University of California, Berkeley. In 1960 Archer Taylor was rightfully and deservedly honored by a most impressive "Festschrift" which his two friends Wayland D. Hand and Gustave O. Arlt edited with the befitting title Humaniora, Essays in Literature, Folklore, Bibliography, Honoring Archer Taylor on His Seventieth Birthday (Locust Valley/ New York 1960).

Visitors wishing to find out more about Archer Taylor himself should visit ArcherTaylor.com.

If you know someone who would make a great speaker for the Archer Taylor Lecture, please visit our Nominations page.

The Archer Taylor Lectures

2026

Annual Meeting Location: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.

2025

Darren Parry. Echoes of Resilience: Indigenous Storytelling, History, and the Fight for Justice

2024

Laurel Horton. The Observation of Quilts and Other Trifles: Materials and Methods.

2023

Amy Shuman. Temporal Traces: From Calloused Hands to Things that Gather Dust.

2022

Tok Thompson. Postnational Folklore, Postnational Folk: Rethinking Communities, Identities, and Politics in the Age of Global Communications.

2021

Dan Ben-Amos. The Poet and the Scholar.

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Western States
Folklore Society

Committed to the study of regional, national, and international folklore in all its aspects.

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