Series 2014: Mississippi Children's Gamesongs. 1939-1993.
Dept. of Archives and History. State Historical Museum (RG 31/SG 8)

Series 2014: Mississippi Children's Gamesongs. 1939-1993.
Dept. of Archives and History. State Historical Museum (RG 31/SG 8)

      Audio recordings, musical scores, lyrics, research materials, correspondence, reports, photographs, and other items related to Mississippi Committee for the Humanities grant #1662, a study of children's gamesongs in Mississippi.

      Project #1662 was funded by the Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC) to investigate and demonstrate the persistence of traditional gamesongs in rural Mississippi communities. A goal of the project was documenting the cultural change in children's gamesongs from 1939 to 1991 and the effect of popular media (such as television) on that change. In 1939, Dr. Abbott Ferris recorded 135 gamesongs, which were released by the Library of Congress to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) for use with this project. Dr. Abbott Ferris revisited Mississippi for the 1991-1992 project. Other staff for this project were Patti Carr Black, museum director and project director; Tom Rankin, folklorist and member of the Mississippi Folklore Society; Virginia Stallworth, field researcher; Carol Cox, who transcribed the lyrics of 131 songs; and Dr. Robert Rohner, who transcribed the musical notations for both the 1939 and 1991 recordings.

      The period for the grant was originally August 15, 1991 - August 15, 1992. Due to unexpected delays, the project was extended by a month to September 15, 1992. Sites visited in 1939 were the Mississippi towns of Saltillo, Tupelo, Iuka, Byhalia, Brandon, Magee, Edwards, Guntown, Amory Vicksburg, Greenville, Van Cleave and Gautier. The 1991-1992 fieldwork was done in Utica, Guntown, Amory, and Brandon. A lecture titled "The Persistence of Children's Gamesongs in Mississippi" was presented by Dr. Ferris at the April 25, 1992, meeting of the Mississippi Folklore Society.

See also:
      Series 1733: Grant Project Files. 1972-1996 (RG 125).