Collector of New York state folklore. Thompson’s collecting and devotion to that
folklore spanned the years 1915 until his death in 1963. He was seminal in the formation
of the New York Folklore Society in 1944 and served as its first president from 1945 to
1950.
Thompson had as his goal to make folklore materials accessible to the widest possible
audience. To that end, he introduced folklore to his students at Albany State University
(1915–1940) and at Cornell University (1940–1959), presented monthly radio broadcasts
on folklore between 1935 and 1943, and encouraged the use of folklore by teachers. In
addition to his work with the New York Folklore Society, Thompson served as president
of the American Folklore society in 1942 and was elected a Fellow of the American
Folklore Society in 1959. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1925 and was the first
American to be named a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Because Thompson strove to present folklore in a manner accessible to a nonacademic
audience, his work was criticized by some folklorists for being too popularist. However,
the criticism pertained to presentational style rather than quality, as Thompson was a
thorough and careful researcher. His collecting of oral literature from the various regions
of New York state and his proactive stance toward folklore scholarship in New York was
instrumental in laying the groundwork for future folkloristic study of New York state.
Ellen McHale
References
Thompson, Harold W. 1940. Body, Boots, and Britches. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Thomsen, Fred C. 1993. Plowing It Back: Harold W. Thompson and the New York Folklore
Society, 1945–1957. Folklore Historian. 10:57–75.