Women and Tradition

Women and Tradition looks at the lives and work of a number of women who have collected traditional beliefs, tales, songs, and dances in various parts of the world. These women, who lived from the eighteenth century on, have been responsible for invaluable and innovative contributions to folklore studies. Sixteen chapters, by various contributors, chronicle the lives, work, and writings of these pioneering folklorists.

From collecting songs in the Appalachian Mountains to living among Romany gypsies, and from collecting British fairy lore to studying folklore in the American south and Jamaica and Haiti—these women pursued their interests in times when it was not always politic to do so. An introduction by editors Blacker and Davidson looks at the groundbreaking work done by these women, the obstacles they encountered, and their determination to follow their particular avenues of scholarship.

Women and Tradition covers the works of women such as Lady Gregory, scholar and collector of Irish tales and myths; Lady Gomme, founding member of the Folklore Society; Zora Neale Hurston, anthropologist and author; Margaret Murray, distinguished Egyptologist and witchcraft scholar; as well as works from Anne MacVicar Grant, Charlotte Burne, Dora Yates, Violet Alford, Maud Karpeles, Christina Hole, Katharine Briggs, Ruth Tongue, Mona Douglas, Enid Porter, Theo Brown, Lady Charlotte Guest, Marie Trevelyan, and Mary Williams.

This book is not only a fascinating look at a variety of topics which fall under the "folklore" umbrella, but is also a unique historical chronicling of the lives and times of women folklorists who lived from the mid 1700s until the late 1900s.