Kenneth S. Goldstein

Kenneth S. Goldstein (1927-1995) was a prominent American folk music fieldworker and record producer.

Goldstein was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated within business administration and statistics at City College, NY, but after WWII began a career in folk music studies. He was an important part of the folk music revival in the US in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, he was the first to do a PhD in Folklore and Folklife at Penn University, and worked at the Department of Folklore at Memorial University from 1976. His book A Guide for Field Workers in Folklore (from 1974) was a standard in the field for many years.

Goldstein married Rochelle Judith Korn in 1949 and they had five children: Rhoda, Diane, Michael, Karl and Scott.

References

• About Goldstein at the Kenneth Goldstein fonds Memorial University page
• Abrahams, Roger D. Fields of folklore. Essay in honor of Kenneth Goldstein.