Joel Rudinger collection

Collection

Identifier: MS-1182

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The Dr. Joel Rudinger collection is comprised of material collected by Dr. Rudinger during his time as a professor of English and Popular Culture at the Firelands Campus of Bowling Green State University. The collection has been separated into office files, manuscripts, research notes, newsclippings, printed material, photographic material, and audio recordings ranging from 1963 to 2003. General folklore and folk life topics are detailed within the collection, including material culture, foodways, folk culture, folk tales, family lore, and humor. As the majority of research for the collection materials was performed in Northern Ohio, there is a decided emphasis on the folklore and legends of the region.

Dates

Creation: 1963-2003, undated

Extent

5.89 Cubic Feet (8 letter boxes, 13 card boxes, 1 half legal box, 1 record carton)

Creator

Rudinger, Joel (Person)

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection is comprised of student folklore collections. These contain a variety of folklore and folk life resources and vary in size and scope. Many of the projects appear to be complete, while others may be missing some of their original content. Not all of the student projects have the same types of information, but in general they present examples of material culture, foodways, folk culture, folk tales, family lore, and humor. In addition to the organized collections, there are also approximately 15,000 to 16,000 index cards from 1972 to 2003, each with a single example of beliefs, traditions, sayings, legends, jokes, and riddles.

As the majority of the contents were collected and reported by students living in the Firelands area of the Western Reserve region, they represent folklore transmission and variation on a micro level. The inclusion of student essays from 1970, 1986, and 2001 allow researchers to trace changes in lore that may have occurred during the thirty-one year time span. Most popular amongst the essays is the legend of Gore Orphanage, a tale that is well known by many who grew up in the Vermilion, Ohio area. Regional legends also include the Castalia Blue Hole, the Oak Harbor “Spook Light,” and the Maple Grove Cemetery Angel. Other essays track common superstitions about subjects like death, marriage, childhood, and health.

There are forty-five audio recordings included in the collection, primarily of folk tales and folk music. Many were recorded by students as part of their collections, and a number were recorded by Dr. Rudinger himself. In some cases, it was difficult to determine the origin of the recordings and so they are listed under “general audio.” The majority of the recordings are on reel-to-reel tapes, though there are a small number of cassettes. Due to the format, most of the audio recordings are currently not fully accessible to researchers.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Joel Rudinger is a Professor Emeritus of English and Popular Culture at the Firelands Campus of Bowling Green State University. He specializes in various aspects of folklore and has published several articles on national folklore and on the regional folklore of the Ohio Western Reserve region, with an emphasis on the area known as the Firelands.

During his tenure as a professor, Dr. Rudinger collected and saved work created by many of his students, which is presented in this collection. Included are several student essays written for both English and Popular Culture classes, as well as detailed and extensive folklore collecting projects that required students to perform field research and document their findings. These student projects make up the majority of the collection.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The majority of the collection was transferred to the Center of Archival Collections by the Popular Culture department at BGSU Main Campus in August 2012, with additional material donated directly to the Center by Dr. Rudinger in the same month.