Lelah Susan Allison (September 16, 1893 – January 7, 1956) was an American

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

and educator, based in Illinois.

Early life and education

Allison was born in

Ellery, Illinois Ellery is an unincorporated community on the border of Edwards and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas ...

, the daughter of James McCoin Allison and Margaret Isabelle Lines Allison. She graduated from Illinois State Normal School in 1928, and earned a master's degree from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in 1940.

Career

Allison taught at schools in Allendale and Keensburg. In summer 1946, she taught at

Southern Illinois Normal University Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 st ...

. She became a member of the English faculty at

McKendree College McKendree University (McK) is a private university in Lebanon, Illinois. Founded in 1828 as the Lebanon Seminary, it is the oldest college or university in Illinois. McKendree enrolls approximately 2,300 undergraduates and nearly 700 graduate ...

Lebanon, Illinois Lebanon is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,418 at the 2010 census and had decreased to an estimated 4,256 as of 2018. Like many other places in " Little Egypt" or Southern Illinois, Lebanon was named afte ...

from 1947. She explained of her folklore work that "at least some of our folklore is not behind us, but is growing up around us."

Publications

Allison wrote a local history, ''The History of Leech Township'' (1954)'','' and was a published poet. Her studies of folklore were published in academic journals including ''

Journal of American Folklore The ''Journal of American Folklore'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. Since 2003, this has been done on its behalf by the University of Illinois Press. The journal has been published since the society' ...

,'' '' Hoosier Folklore,'' and ''

American Speech ''American Speech'' is a quarterly academic journal of the American Dialect Society, established in 1925 and currently published by Duke University Press. It focuses primarily on the English language used in the Western Hemisphere, but also publis ...

.'' * "MU Colloquialisms" (1941)Allison, Lelah. "MU Colloquialisms." American Speech (1941): 75-75. * "Water Witching" (1947) * "Children's Games" (1948) * "Folk Beliefs Regarding Weather in Southeastern Illinois" (1948) * "Traditional Verse from Autograph Books" (1949) * "Folk Beliefs Collected in Southeastern Illinois" (1950) * "Southeastern Illinois Tales and Beliefs" (1950) * ''The History of Leech Township'' (1954)

Personal life

Allison died when a freight train crashed into her car in Ellery in 1956; she was 62 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Lelah 1893 births 1956 deaths University of Missouri alumni American folklorists American educators McKendree University faculty Illinois State University alumni