Ruth Ann Musick (September 17, 1897 – July 2, 1974) was an American writer and

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 ...

specializing in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. She was the sister of

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

Archie Musick Archie Leroy Musick (1902–1978) was an American painter. He studied under Thomas Hart Benton, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and Boardman Robinson. Early life and family Archie Musick was born on January 19, 1902, in Kirksville, Missouri, to par ...

and niece of writer John R. Musick.

Biography

Youth and education

Born in

Kirksville, Missouri Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 census. Kirksville is home to two colleges: Truman State University and A.T. Still University. ...

, to Levi Prince Musick and Zada (or Sadie) Goeghegan, Musick received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in Education from Kirksville State Teacher's College (now

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs. The university is named for U.S. Presid ...

) in 1919. From September 1919 to June 1921 Musick taught at Luana High School,

Luana, Iowa Luana is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 301 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 249 in 2000. Luana is the site of a large cheese factory of Swiss Valley Farms, a cooperative owned by 625 dairy producers in ...

, before moving to Garwin, Iowa in 1921, where she taught at Garwin High School until June 1922. She then continued her education at the

State University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

, graduating with a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

in 1928. Between 1923 and 1931, Musick taught at Logan High School, in

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

. For five years beginning in 1931 she taught at Phoenix Union High School,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, before returning to the Midwest in 1938 to begin her doctoral study at the State University of Iowa. It was here that her interest in

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

developed. She was granted a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

in 1943. Her dissertation was a novel, “Hell’s Holler,” which went unpublished until 2020.

It dealt with the primitive conditions of her native

Chariton River The Chariton River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 26, 2011 tributary to the Missouri River in southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri. The river forms in southe ...

Valley and its tensions with the college of

osteopathic medicine Osteopathy () is a type of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. Practitioners of osteopathy are referred to as osteopaths. Osteopathic manipulation is the core set of techniques in ...

in nearby

. While the novel reflects in some measure her grappling with her brief and unhappy marriage to an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

artist, which ended in divorce in 1941, it draws heavily on events, people, and folk beliefs that surrounded her in her childhood.

Career

Musick began her college teaching career at Iowa's

William Penn College William Penn University is a private university in Oskaloosa, Iowa. It was founded by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1873 as Penn College. In 1933, the name was changed to William Penn College, and finally to William P ...

Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U.S. Cens ...

in 1942; two years later she became a member of the faculty of

Iowa Wesleyan College Iowa Wesleyan University is a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution is affiliated with the United Met ...

. In 1946 she moved to

to accept a teaching position at Fairmont State College now

Fairmont State University Fairmont State University is a public university in Fairmont, West Virginia. History Fairmont State University’s roots reach back to the formation of public education in the state of West Virginia. The first private normal school in West Vir ...

where she continued to teach until her retirement in May 1967. She felt that the

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

n region surrounding the college was ripe for

fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct fie ...

in folklore, and the college in need of courses on

folk literature Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...

. She laid out a program of research which was approved by college president George H. Hand, and the college’s first folklore course was inaugurated in 1948. In 1950 she revived the state’s folklore society, dormant since 1917 (two years after its founding), and in 1951 became the founding editor of ''

West Virginia Folklore Origins From the mid-1800s through the early 1900s, immigration surged across many locations in the United States. One such affected region was West Virginia, a newly formed state nestled in the heart of the Appalachian mountains. West Virginia ...

'', serving in that capacity until her retirement in 1967. According to her eulogy by William Hugh Jansen, Folklore Professor at the University of Kentucky, she had become “a public relations agent for West Virginia Folklore.” At the same time, she wrote two folklore columns for West Virginia newspapers: “The Old Folks Say” for the '' Times-West Virginian'' in Fairmont and “Sassafras Tea” for the '' Allegheny Journal'' in Elkins and Marlinton, while making numerous conference appearances, publishing regularly in a wide variety of journals, offering workshops and public presentations, and giving talks on radio and television. She was also active as a poet, writer of short stories, and dramatist with community theater programs. Although little of her fiction was published, she continued writing this as well as collecting and publishing folklore. Her fiction (novels, stories, children's stories) weaves folk beliefs into the narrative. Throughout her life, Musick was a passionate activist on behalf of animals (she was a vegetarian from the age of six), justice for Native Americans, and environmental causes, activist in her writings against mountaintop removal mining, acid rain, and other issues. Dr. Musick was diagnosed with

spinal cancer Spinal tumors are neoplasms located in either the vertebral column or the spinal cord. There are three main types of spinal tumors classified based on their location: extradural and intradural (intradural-intramedullary and intradural-extramedullar ...

on November 8, 1973, and died July 2, 1974 in

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, a ...

at age 76. In the interests of medical progress, she had allowed herself to be subjected to experimental treatments. Her papers are now archived in the West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State. In 1980, the university library was renamed in her honor.

Works

Books

*''Hell's Holler'' (2020), Musick's 1943 novel (and Iowa doctoral dissertation), based on folklore of Adair County MO, published as a special issue of the Missouri Folklore Society Journal, with illustrations by her brother, artist

. *''Ballads, Folk Songs, and Folk Tales from West Virginia'' (1960), Morgantown: West Virginia University Library *'' The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales'' (1965), Lexington:

The University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

*''Green Hills of Magic, West Virginia Folktales From Europe'' (1970), Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky *''Coffin Hollow and Other Ghost Tales'' (1977), Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky * ''Mountain Mother Goose: Child Lore of West Virginia'' (posthumous: 2013) Fairmont: Fairmont State University

Short stories and articles

*1946. “A Missouri Dance Call.” ''

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' ...

'', 59, 323-34. *1946. “Three Folksongs from Missouri.” '' Hoosier Folklore'', 5 (March 1946), 29-34. *1946. “Iowa Student Tales,” ''Hoosier Folklore'', 5 (September 1946), 103-110. *1947. “Folklore from West Virginia,” ''Hoosier Folklore'', 6 (June 1947), 41- 49. *1947. “The Old Album of William A. Larkin.” ''Journal of American Folklore'', 60, 201-51. *1947. “A Snake Story from West Virginia.” ''Journal of American Folklore'', 60, 301. *1947. Review of Ozark Folksongs, Vol. I, by Vance Randolph. ''Journal of American Folklore'', *60, 434-36. *1948. “West Virginia Folklore.”'' Hoosier Folklore'', 7 (March 1948), 1-14. *1948. “The Tune the Old Cow Died On,” ''Hoosier Folklore'', 7 (December 1948), 105-106. *1949. Review of Ozark Folksongs, Vols. II-III, by Vance Randolph. ''Journal of American Folklore'', 62, 453-55. *1950. “Children's Rhymes from Missouri.” (written in collaboration with Vance Randolph) ''Journal of American Folklore'', 63, 425-37. *1950. “Skeletons from a Homespunner's Closet,” From the Manuscript of James S. Williams. ''Hoosier Folklore'', 9 (October–December 1950), 111-116. *1951. “Folksong Hunters in Missouri.” (written in collaboration with Vance Randolph) ''

Midwest Folklore The ''Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on folklore, folklife, and ethnomusicology. It was established in 1942 and is publishe ...

'', 1,23-31. *1951. “Juggin' Party Tales.” '' Southern Folklore Quarterly'', 15 (September), 211-219. *1951. Review of Ozark Folksongs, Vol. IV, by Vance Randolph. ''Journal of American Folklore'', 64, 442-43. *1952. “Indiana Witch Tales.” ''Journal of American Folklore'', 65, 57-65. *1952. “Omens and Tokens of West Virginia.” ''Midwest Folklore'', 2, 263- 267. *1956. “European Folktales in West Virginia.” ''Midwest Folklore'', 6, 27- 37. *1957. “Ballads and Folksongs from West Virginia: Part I.” ''Journal of American Folklore'', 70, 247-61. *1957. “Ballads and Folksongs from West Virginia: Part II.” ''Journal of American Folklore'', 70, 336-57. *1957. "The Man Who Could Ride Lightning." ''Colorado Quarterly'', 6, 1 (Summer 1957), 17-29 *1958. “West Virginia Ghost Stories.” ''Midwest Folklore'', 8, 21-28. *1960. “The Trickster Story in West Virginia.” ''Midwest Folklore'', 10, 125-132. *1963. "Jesse James and the Mortgage Holders." ''Colorado Quarterly'', 7, 2 (Autumn 1963), 129-139 *1974. Witchcraft and the Devil in West Virginia.'' Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review'', 1974. 1, 271-76.

Sources

*Byers, Judy Prozillo, "Ruth Ann Musick — The Show-Me Mountaineer: A Missourian Adopted by West Virginia', '' Missouri Folklore Society Journal'', 1986-87. 8-9, 89-114

*Prozzillo, Judy, "Ruth Ann Musick", '' West Virginia Encyclopedia'', Supplemental Vol.25. pp. 230–232. *Musick, Pat, niece of Ruth Ann Musick: letters and papers of Ruth Ann Musick and of her other nieces {{DEFAULTSORT:Musick, Ruth Ann 1897 births 1974 deaths People from Kirksville, Missouri Truman State University alumni University of Iowa alumni Deaths from spinal cancer Deaths from cancer in West Virginia Neurological disease deaths in West Virginia American folklorists Women folklorists William Penn University faculty 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers Iowa Wesleyan University faculty Fairmont State University faculty Writers from Missouri Writers from West Virginia Schoolteachers from Wisconsin American women academics