The Texas Folklore Society is a non-profit organization formed in 1909. John Avery Lomax and Leonidas Warren Payne, Jr., conceived the idea for the Society and served as its first officers. John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 - January 26, 1948) was a pioneering musicologist and folklorist. ...
The Society’s annual meetings have been held regularly since 1911, except for interruptions caused by the two world wars. Starting with its 1923 publication, edited by renowned folklorist J. Frank Dobie, the organization has published or sponsored at least one volume each year. James Frank Dobie (September 26, 1888–September 18, 1964) was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range. ...
Since 1923, the Society’s publications have been edited by the Secretary-Editor, who also attends to the day-to-day business of the organization.
The Society was headquartered in Austin until 1971, when Francis Edward Abernethy became Secretary-Editor, and the group moved its offices to the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. Stephen F. Austin State University (known to students as SFA) is a higher education institution that was founded as a teachers college in 1921. ... Nacogdoches (pronounced nack-a-doe-chis) is a city located in Nacogdoches County, Texas. ...
Membership open to anyone interested in folklore. According to Abernethy, “the Society's main purpose is to search for ways to preserve folklore without embalming it and to present a fairly well educated public with the treasures of their culture's folk life.” James Frank Dobie (September 26, 1888–September 18, 1964) was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range. ...
As a public figure, he was known in his lifetime for his outspoken liberal views against Texas state politics, and for his long personal war against what he saw as bragging Texans, religious prejudice, restraints on individual liberty, and the assault of the mechanized world on the human spirit.
In 1914, he returned to Texas to join the faculty of the University of Texas, and joined the TexasFolkloreSociety.
In 1944, after a fellow professor was fired from the University of Texas for his liberal views, Dobie became outraged, leading to a statement by Texas governor Coke Stevenson that Dobie should be dismissed.
Until 1971 the society maintained an office and archives on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, although it was not a part of that institution.
Austin State University became the secretary-editor of the TexasFolkloreSociety in 1971, and the office was moved to that university campus in Nacogdoches.
The society's purpose of preserving and presenting Texasfolklore is carried on through its publications on all forms of Texasfolklore, including the tales, songs, customs, and beliefs of the state's various ethnic, geographical, and occupational groups.
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