Edna Garrido Ramírez (19 June 1913 – 11 April 2010), also known as Edna Garrido de Boggs, was a Dominican educator, researcher and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

. She is considered a pioneer in the studies of Dominican folklore, for her field research on dances, sayings, riddles, oral tales, popular songs, children's games and other manifestations of folklore and

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

. She founded the first Dominican Folklore Society in 1946 in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Early life

Garrido was born in 1913 in

Azua de Compostela Azua de Compostela, also known simply as Azua, is a city, municipality (''municipio'') and capital of Azua Province in the southern region of Dominican Republic. Founded in 1504, Azua is one of the oldest European settlements in the Americas. The ...

, into a family of writers, growing up for most of her childhood in

San Juan de la Maguana San Juan de la Maguana is a city and municipality in the western region of the Dominican Republic and capital of the San Juan Province (Dominican Republic), San Juan province. It was one of the first cities established on the island; founded in 15 ...

. She was the daughter of writer, journalist, and historian Víctor Garrido Puello, and Tijides Ramírez Lasala, the daughter of General Wenceslao Ramírez.Garrido, de B. E, Edgar Valenzuela, Martha E. Davis, and Pérez X. L. Romero. ''Más Allá Del Sur Dominicano: Textos Folklóricos De Edna Garrido De Boggs''. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Dirección General de la Feria del Libro, 2007. Print. pg 24 She completed her basic studies in a local school in

. After ten years, she moved with her family to the capital,

. She graduated as a teacher in 1934 from the Instituto de Señoritas Salomé Ureña and worked as a teacher from 1934 to 1946. Garrido was also a close friend of

Hilma Contreras Hilma Contreras Castillo (December 8, 1913 – January 15, 2006) was a Dominican writer, born in San Francisco de Macorís. She was educated in Paris, where she studied French and English, as well as literature and archaeology Archaeolog ...

, the 2002 National Literature Prize winner. Following the suggestion of a colleague, she attended a Folklore course in 1944 by the American professor Ralph Boggs at the

Autonomous University of Santo Domingo In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

(UASD). This introductions course began a life-long dedication to folkloric studies. Her travels around the country led her to research the south’s ''baile de palo'' and La Cofradía del Espíritu Santo; to the

Cibao The Cibao, usually referred as El Cibao, is a region of the Dominican Republic located in the northern part of the country. As of 2009, the Cibao region has a population of 5,622,378, making it the most populous region in the country. The region ...

region where she recorded songs of popular folk musician, Ñico Lora; and to the eastern region of the country, where she collected versions of the legend of La Ciguapa.^ Ibid. pg 16 Eventually, Garrido went to study on a scholarship at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Upon her return to the country, she founded the first Dominican Folkloric Society and ran the first specialized editions of the Dominican Folkloric Bulletin. On June 24, 1948, she married Dr. Ralph Boggs, later moving to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, United States. From there she continued her work of research, dissemination and promotion of folklore. In 1981, she taught a Folklore Course with her husband at the Museum of the Dominican Man, in Santo Domingo.

Career

For many years, she spread her investigations of Dominican folklore through monographs, conferences and press articles. In 1952, she won first prize in the folklore section of a literary contest in

. She founded the first

Folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

Society in

in 1947, establishing the Bulletin of Dominican folklore, which ran from 1947 to 1948. In 1969, the government of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

granted Garrido the Heraldic Order of

Juan Pablo Duarte Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez (January 26, 1813 – July 15, 1876) was a Dominican military leader, writer, activist, and nationalist politician who was the foremost of the Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic and bears the title of Father ...

, in the degree of Commander, for her work in

. She retained memories as far back as 1918 when her parents moved from one house to another in Azua. She narrated the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the smallpox epidemic that soon followed. She died on April 11, 2010, at age 96 in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Work

Her work is published in articles, bulletins, books, conferences, and dissertations, and is a mandatory reference for

anthropologists An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

sociologists This list of sociologists includes people who have made notable contributions to sociological theory or to research in one or more areas of sociology. A * Peter Abell, British sociologist * Andrew Abbott, American sociologist * Margaret ...

, and academics who want to know about Dominican folklore.

Books

*''Versiones Dominicanas de Romances Españoles'' (English: "Dominican Versions of Spanish Romances"), published in

in 1946. *''

Infantil de

'', (English: "Childish Folklore of Santo Domingo"), published in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1956. *''Panorama del Folklore Dominicano'', (English: "Panorama of Dominican Folklore"), published in 1961. *''Reseña Histórica del

Dominicano'', (English: "Historical Review of Folklore"), published in 2006. *''Perlas de la pluma de los Garrido'', Santo Domingo 2003.

Articles

* «Las Lomas Dos Hermanos», ''Boletín del

Dominicano'', 1947, I, no. 1. * «El aguinaldo», ''Boletín del

Dominicano'', 1948, II, no., I. * In collaboration with R.S. Boggs, «Unas categorías de adivinanzas ilustradas con ejemplos dominicanos, homenaje Luis de Hoyos Sainz»,

1949, I; and «Supervivencias de Refranes Españoles en

», ''

Americano'', XV/XVI, no. 15. * «El Dominicano visto a Través de sus Juegos», ''EME'', 1975, III, no. 17. * «Lo Folklórico y lo Popular», ''Revista Actualidad'', August 16, 1947, IV.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrido, Edna Created via preloaddraft People from Azua Province Ethnomusicologists Dominican Republic educators Dominican Republic music educators Dominican Republic women music educators Dominican Republic folklorists 20th-century Dominican Republic historians 1913 births 2010 deaths