Elizabeth Bristol Greenleaf (1895-1980) was an American collector of folk songs. She was among the first people to collect both the words and the music of the folk songs of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, and (together with the

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

Grace Yarrow Mansfield) compiled the definitive collection of them.Anita Best
Elisabeth Greenleaf fonds
at

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

Department of Folklore

Life

Elisabeth Bristol was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, the daughter of Charles Bristol and Ellen, ''née'' Gallup.Elizabeth Bristol
/ref> She graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

in 1917. In 1920 she volunteered to teach for the

Grenfell Mission The Grenfell Mission was a philanthropic organization that provided medical and social services to people in rural communities of northern Newfoundland and Labrador. It was founded by Sir Wilfred Grenfell in 1892 as a branch of The Royal National M ...

summer school at Sally's Cove, near

Bonne Bay Bonne Bay is a bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada. It is located on the western coast of Newfoundland and separates the Great Northern Peninsula from the rest of the island. It is a part of Gros Morne National Park. It is s ...

on the west coast of Newfoundland. There she heard traditional singing for the first time and began to write down the songs she heard. In 1921 she returned to Newfoundland to teach for a summer, and again in 1929 with a musicologist, Grace Yarrow Mansfield as part of the Vassar College Folklore Expedition to Newfoundland. They made an extensive collection of folksongs and tunes, published in 1933 by

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

as ''Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland''. This was the first scholarly publication of a collection of Newfoundland folksongs and one of the first North American collections to give the tunes equal emphasis with the texts. The book, reprinted in 1968, remains a definitive source of the songs of Newfoundland. She is buried with her husband, William Eben Greenleaf (1890-1959), in Ledyard Center Cemetery.

References

External links

Scrapbook of Elizabeth Bristol Greenleaf

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenleaf, Elizabeth Bristol 1895 births 1980 deaths People from New York (state) Vassar College alumni 20th-century American educators American folk-song collectors 20th-century American musicians

Life

References

Further reading

External links