By Molly Gullett
Over the last four months I have had the privilege to work with and organize the contents of what is now the Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection. Created by Edgar Slotkin, professor emeritus of English, as student assignments for his folklore courses, the SWOFC has documents from as early as 1974 and as recently as 2011. It features over six hundred papers on topics as diverse as nursery rhymes and epitaphs as well as prison slang and love songs. The collection also features a handful of photographs, scanned images and booklets. Housed in the Urban Studies archive of the Archives & Rare Books Library, the SWOFC is made up of an array of collections from a wide span of ethnic groups and cultures. With the impetus provided by Professor Slotkin’s donation, this body of folklore is viewed as a dynamic, sustainable collection that will be augmented in the years to come. As such, the contents make it a valuable resource for researching the diverse cultures of southwestern Ohio.
The Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection is now available for use in the Archives and Rare Books Library. A web exhibit and finding aid is also online: . http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/exhibits/swofc/index.html.
For more information about the collection, the Urban Studies archive, or other holdings of the Archives & Rare Books Library, please visit us on the 8th floor of Carl Blegen Library, email us at archives@ucmail.uc.edu, telephone us at 513.556.1959, or view our website.
