Thomas S. Brown Folk Music Collection, 1970/1982

Access and use

Location of collection:
West Virginia and Regional History Center
West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Restrictions:

This collection is stored offsite; please make an appointment prior to visiting.

Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Thomas S. Brown Folk Music Collection, A&M 4612, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
17.0 Linear Feet 13 record cartons, 15 in. each; 1 document case, 5 in.; 1 flat box, 4 in. and 59.8 Gigabytes 436 .wav files
Creator:
Brown, Thomas S.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Thomas S. Brown Folk Music Collection, A&M 4612, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Attending folk festivals in the early 1970s, when there was a revival of interest in folk culture, Thomas S. Brown became acquainted with "serious students of folk art as well as the folk artists themselves". His interest piqued and, encouraged by the Dean of Libraries at West Virginia University, Brown set out to make field recordings of traditional music in West Virginia to add to the folk music archives of the West Virginia and Regional History Center. In all, the Brown Collection includes more than two hundred reels of audio recordings.

Additional information available in: West Virginia University, and John A. Cuthbert. West Virginia Folk Music: A Descriptive Guide to Field Recordings in the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. West Virginia University Press, 1982.

Biographical / historical:

Thomas Spencer Brown was born in 1930 in Hot Springs, South Dakota. He received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Colorado in 1953, a Master of Music from the University of Montana in 1960, and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1968. From 1953 to 1960, he taught instrumental and vocal music in schools located in Kansas, Nebraska, and Louisiana and, from 1961 to 1964, he served on the faculty of the University of Maryland, Munich Campus, in Munich, Germany. In 1967, Brown was awarded an assistant professorship in Music Education at West Virginia University. His teaching duties included choral methods, conducting, and various graduate level research and statistics courses.

Acquisition information:
Gift of/cooperative project with Brown, Tom, Professor in West Virginia University Music Department, 1971 December 11 and more.
Physical location:
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: West Virginia & Regional History Center
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Folk music -- West Virginia
Names:
Brown, Thomas S.