Thomas Cheney (folklorist): Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
Skyes(BYU) (talk | contribs) →Biography: add reference page |
breaking up biography into readable chunk paragraphs - still needs work |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Thomas E. Cheney''' was a folklorist that has made contributions to the field of Mormon folklore. Cheney was one of the first Mormon folklorists. He collected folksongs in Utah and Idaho. He wrote books and articles on the subject of Utah, Idaho, and Mormon folklore. He served as president of the Folklore Society of Utah from 1963 to 1964. Cheney was also a professor of English at Brigham Young University who instructed courses in English Romantic literature, ballads, and Mormon folklore. |
'''Thomas E. Cheney''' was a folklorist that has made contributions to the field of Mormon folklore. Cheney was one of the first Mormon folklorists. He collected folksongs in Utah and Idaho. He wrote books and articles on the subject of Utah, Idaho, and Mormon folklore. He served as president of the Folklore Society of Utah from 1963 to 1964. Cheney was also a professor of English at Brigham Young University who instructed courses in English Romantic literature, ballads, and Mormon folklore. |
||
== |
==Early life== |
||
Thomas E. Cheney was born in 1901 in [[Victor, Idaho]].<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|54}} After graduating high school, he attended summer school at Ricks College, now known as [[Brigham Young University-Idaho]]. Immediately afterward, he began teaching elementary school. He earned his Bachelor of Science in English at Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University).<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|54}} He served a mission for [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS church) in Southern California from 1924 to 1926.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|54}} |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
==Career== |
|||
| ⚫ | Cheney was a member of the Folklore Society of Utah over which he was vice-preisdent in 1958 and 1967.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|224-227}} He served as president of the Folklore Society of Utah from 1963 to 1964. During his presidency, he supervised the publication of five newsletters and organized a meeting in St. George Utah in Decemeber 1964, where they planned to publish a complilation of articles related to Utah folklore.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|226-227}} This complilation was ''Lore of Faith and Folly'', edited by Cheney, which was published in 1971.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alder |first1=Douglas D. |title=Writing Southern Utah History: An Appraisal and a Bibliography |journal=Journal of Mormon History |date=Fall 1994 |volume=20 |issue=2 |page=163 |url=https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Journal-of-Mormon-History-Vol.-20-Issue-2-1994.pdf |accessdate=June 5, 2019}}</ref><ref name="stanley" />{{rp|58, 227}} While teaching at BYU, he continued to collect folksongs, eventually compiling 250 folksongs for the American Folklore Society. These folksongs were published in ''Mormon Songs from the Rocky Mountains'' (originally titled ''Songs of the Wasatch and Tetons'' in 1968.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|56}} This book helped create a strong foundation od research for Mormon folklore.<ref name="stanley">{{cite book |last1=Stanley |first1=David |title=Folklore in Utah: A history and guide to resources |date=2004 |publisher=Utah State University Press |location=Logan, Utah |isbn=0874215072 |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=usupress_pubs |accessdate=June 5, 2019}}</ref>{{rp|9}} |
||
===Teaching career=== |
|||
He resumed his teaching career after he returned from his mission and became a principal. He was introduced to folklore during his master's program at the University of Idaho in 1930. He completed his master's thesis on LDS ballads in Utah and Idaho, graduating with his Master's degree in 1936.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|55}} Cheney then became a professor of English at Brigham Young University where he taught English Romantic literature and English, Scottish, and American ballads.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Hand |editor1-first=Wayland D. |title=American Folk Legend: A Symposium |date=1971 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0520038363 |page=202 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9dsZGAFwSwC&pg=PA186&lpg=PA186&dq=thomas+cheney+folklorist&source=bl&ots=fC1zZgUQFj&sig=ACfU3U3sNEEIw80LaHqcJ9VSlMrtIMI-qQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdyMLzocTiAhVUGDQIHTRICNI4ChDoATAFegQIBxAB#v=onepage&q=thomas%20cheney%20folklorist&f=false |accessdate=May 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name="stanley" />{{rp|55}} He also taught graduate seminars in Mormon Folklore. Additionally, Cheney led students though projects to collect their own folklore material in his Introduction to Folklore course.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rudy |first1=Jill Terry |editor1-last=Stanley |editor1-first=David |page=249 |title=Folklore in Utah: A History and Guide to Resources |date=2004 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctt46nxj8.32.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A3d62d2d417778bb3d69aa138974952de |accessdate=June 5, 2019 |chapter=Academic Programs}}</ref> |
|||
===Folklore scholar=== |
|||
| ⚫ | A Pioneer folklore scholar of Idaho and Utah,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hand |first1=Wayland D. |title=Folklorists in the Rocky Mountain West |journal=The Folklore Historian |date=1986 |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mArXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=thomas+cheney+folklorist&source=bl&ots=TGmg_MBjgY&sig=ACfU3U3-XAnCO_3mY_lhKS0tRAPsQK63GQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdyMLzocTiAhVUGDQIHTRICNI4ChDoATADegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=thomas%20cheney%20folklorist&f=false |accessdate=May 30, 2019}}</ref> he studied and wrote about Mormon folksongs.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Dorson |editor1-first=Richard M. |title=Handbook of American Folklore |date=1983 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=0253203732 |page=156 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoqdSXEekTcC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=thomas+cheney+folklorist&source=bl&ots=q5O7o0iv3H&sig=ACfU3U0Os-jZF2S1HJmfRklZK-Tu-CUx-g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdyMLzocTiAhVUGDQIHTRICNI4ChDoATAEegQICBAB#v=onepage&q=thomas%20cheney%20folklorist&f=false |accessdate=May 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Arrington |first1=Leonard J. |last2=Bitton |first2=Davis |title=The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints |date=1992 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana |isbn=0252062361 |page=330 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oMQgrBcI998C&pg=PA330&lpg=PA330&dq=%22thomas+cheney%22+folklorist+byu&source=bl&ots=xRbb7ucjeK&sig=ACfU3U3YsoD7e59-l5INC_AB9_deo4Vl1g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-1oSf6tLiAhXEo54KHanTC2Q4ChDoATAIegQICBAB#v=onepage&q=%22thomas%20cheney%22%20folklorist%20byu&f=false |accessdate=June 5, 2019}}</ref> Cheney was one of the first Mormon folklore scholars.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mould |first1=Tom |last2=Eliason |first2=Eric A. |title=The State of Mormon Folklore Studies |journal=Mormon Studies Review |date=2014 |volume=1 |page=48 |url=https://publications.mi.byu.edu/publications/msr/1/mould-eliason-essay_mormon_folklore_studies.pdf |accessdate=June 5, 2019}}</ref> His work involved collecting and transcribing Utah and [[Intermountain West|Intermountain Western]] folksongs.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|54}} He served as a folklorist consultant for the record album ''The Mormon Pioneers'' which included 17 folksongs which Cheney helped contribute.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|58}} The album was recorded in 1965.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|58}} |
||
| ⚫ | Cheney was a member of the Folklore Society of Utah over which he was vice-preisdent in 1958 and 1967.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|224-227}} He served as president of the Folklore Society of Utah from 1963 to 1964. During his presidency, he supervised the publication of five newsletters and organized a meeting in St. George Utah in Decemeber 1964, where they planned to publish a complilation of articles related to Utah folklore.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|226-227}} This complilation was ''Lore of Faith and Folly'', edited by Cheney, which was published in 1971.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alder |first1=Douglas D. |title=Writing Southern Utah History: An Appraisal and a Bibliography |journal=Journal of Mormon History |date=Fall 1994 |volume=20 |issue=2 |page=163 |url=https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Journal-of-Mormon-History-Vol.-20-Issue-2-1994.pdf |accessdate=June 5, 2019}}</ref><ref name="stanley" />{{rp|58, 227}} While teaching at BYU, he continued to collect folksongs, eventually compiling 250 folksongs for the American Folklore Society. These folksongs were published in ''Mormon Songs from the Rocky Mountains'' (originally titled ''Songs of the Wasatch and Tetons'' in 1968.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|56}} This book helped create a strong foundation od research for Mormon folklore.<ref name="stanley">{{cite book |last1=Stanley |first1=David |title=Folklore in Utah: A history and guide to resources |date=2004 |publisher=Utah State University Press |location=Logan, Utah |isbn=0874215072 |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=usupress_pubs |accessdate=June 5, 2019}}</ref>{{rp|9}} |
||
Cheney's subsequent book, ''The Golden Legacy: A Folk History of J. Golden Kimball'', published in 1973 was a controversial publication at Brigham Young University. This book revolved around the life of [[J. Golden Kimball]].<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|56}} After printing and publication at Brigham Young University Press, it was banned at the request of the LDS Church, after fifty copies were sold. President of BYU [[Dallin H. Oaks]] indicated the Cheney that the book was banned due to the use of explicit language (which Kimball was known for using). Peregrine Smith published the censored book in 1974.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Quinn |first1=D. Michael |title=150 Years of Truth and Consequences About Mormon History |url=https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/087-12-14.pdf |accessdate=June 5, 2019 |work=Sunstone Magazine |publisher=Sunstone Education Foundation |date=February 1992}}</ref><ref name="stanley" />{{rp|56-57}} He published his final book ''Voices from the Bottom of the Bowl: A Folk History of Teton Valley Idaho, 1823-1952'' in 1991.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|58}} |
|||
==Death== |
|||
Cheney died in 1993 at the age of 92.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|59}} |
Cheney died in 1993 at the age of 92.<ref name="stanley" />{{rp|59}} |
||
Revision as of 08:56, 10 June 2019
Thomas E. Cheney was a folklorist that has made contributions to the field of Mormon folklore. Cheney was one of the first Mormon folklorists. He collected folksongs in Utah and Idaho. He wrote books and articles on the subject of Utah, Idaho, and Mormon folklore. He served as president of the Folklore Society of Utah from 1963 to 1964. Cheney was also a professor of English at Brigham Young University who instructed courses in English Romantic literature, ballads, and Mormon folklore.
Early life
Thomas E. Cheney was born in 1901 in Victor, Idaho.[1]: 54 After graduating high school, he attended summer school at Ricks College, now known as Brigham Young University-Idaho. Immediately afterward, he began teaching elementary school. He earned his Bachelor of Science in English at Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University).[1]: 54 He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) in Southern California from 1924 to 1926.[1]: 54
Career
Teaching career
He resumed his teaching career after he returned from his mission and became a principal. He was introduced to folklore during his master's program at the University of Idaho in 1930. He completed his master's thesis on LDS ballads in Utah and Idaho, graduating with his Master's degree in 1936.[1]: 55 Cheney then became a professor of English at Brigham Young University where he taught English Romantic literature and English, Scottish, and American ballads.[2][1]: 55 He also taught graduate seminars in Mormon Folklore. Additionally, Cheney led students though projects to collect their own folklore material in his Introduction to Folklore course.[3]
Folklore scholar
A Pioneer folklore scholar of Idaho and Utah,[4] he studied and wrote about Mormon folksongs.[5][6] Cheney was one of the first Mormon folklore scholars.[7] His work involved collecting and transcribing Utah and Intermountain Western folksongs.[1]: 54 He served as a folklorist consultant for the record album The Mormon Pioneers which included 17 folksongs which Cheney helped contribute.[1]: 58 The album was recorded in 1965.[1]: 58
Cheney was a member of the Folklore Society of Utah over which he was vice-preisdent in 1958 and 1967.[1]: 224–227 He served as president of the Folklore Society of Utah from 1963 to 1964. During his presidency, he supervised the publication of five newsletters and organized a meeting in St. George Utah in Decemeber 1964, where they planned to publish a complilation of articles related to Utah folklore.[1]: 226–227 This complilation was Lore of Faith and Folly, edited by Cheney, which was published in 1971.[8][1]: 58, 227 While teaching at BYU, he continued to collect folksongs, eventually compiling 250 folksongs for the American Folklore Society. These folksongs were published in Mormon Songs from the Rocky Mountains (originally titled Songs of the Wasatch and Tetons in 1968.[1]: 56 This book helped create a strong foundation od research for Mormon folklore.[1]: 9
Cheney's subsequent book, The Golden Legacy: A Folk History of J. Golden Kimball, published in 1973 was a controversial publication at Brigham Young University. This book revolved around the life of J. Golden Kimball.[1]: 56 After printing and publication at Brigham Young University Press, it was banned at the request of the LDS Church, after fifty copies were sold. President of BYU Dallin H. Oaks indicated the Cheney that the book was banned due to the use of explicit language (which Kimball was known for using). Peregrine Smith published the censored book in 1974.[9][1]: 56–57 He published his final book Voices from the Bottom of the Bowl: A Folk History of Teton Valley Idaho, 1823-1952 in 1991.[1]: 58
Death
Cheney died in 1993 at the age of 92.[1]: 59
Works
Books
- Mormon Songs from the Rocky Mountains (1968)
- Lore of Faith and Folly (1971) (editor)
- The Golden Legacy: A Folk History of J. Golden Kimball (1973)
- Voices from the Bottom of the Bowl: A Folk History of Teton Valley Idaho, 1823-1952 (1991)
Stories
- Red Hair in the Sacred Grove (1971)
Journal articles
- Scandinavian Immigrant Stories (1959)
- Mormon Folk Song and the Fife Collection (1961)
- Facts and Folklore in the Story of John Wilkes Booth (1963)
- Imagination and the Soul's Immensity (1969)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Stanley, David (2004). Folklore in Utah: A history and guide to resources. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. ISBN 0874215072. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ Hand, Wayland D., ed. (1971). American Folk Legend: A Symposium. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 202. ISBN 0520038363. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^ Rudy, Jill Terry (2004). "Academic Programs". In Stanley, David (ed.). Folklore in Utah: A History and Guide to Resources (PDF). University Press of Colorado. p. 249. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ Hand, Wayland D. (1986). "Folklorists in the Rocky Mountain West". The Folklore Historian. 3 (1): 6. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^ Dorson, Richard M., ed. (1983). Handbook of American Folklore. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 156. ISBN 0253203732. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^ Arrington, Leonard J.; Bitton, Davis (1992). The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 330. ISBN 0252062361. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ Mould, Tom; Eliason, Eric A. (2014). "The State of Mormon Folklore Studies" (PDF). Mormon Studies Review. 1: 48. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ Alder, Douglas D. (Fall 1994). "Writing Southern Utah History: An Appraisal and a Bibliography" (PDF). Journal of Mormon History. 20 (2): 163. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ Quinn, D. Michael (February 1992). "150 Years of Truth and Consequences About Mormon History" (PDF). Sunstone Magazine. Sunstone Education Foundation. Retrieved June 5, 2019.