Max Franklin Hunter[1] (July 2, 1921 – November 6, 1999) was an American folklorist who, while working as a travelling salesman, compiled an archive of nearly 1,600 folk songs from the Ozarks region of the southern United States between 1956 and 1976.[2][3][4]
Hunter was born on July 2, 1921, to a family with deep roots in the Ozarks.[3] He grew up in Springfield, Missouri, attending Baptist and Methodist church services and singing with his family.[3] He married Virginia Mercer in 1939 and started working for her father as a refrigeratorsalesman.[3]
In 1952, he began working for the John Rhodes Refrigeration Supply Company, traveling on a 150-mile circuit through the Ozarks.[3] During his travels, he began using a tape recorder to record songs from people he met.[3] At the Ozark Folk Festival circa 1956, he met folklorists Vance Randolph and Mary Celestia Parler, who saw his potential as a collector and shared some basic archiving skills.[3]
Hunter was the last of the major Ozark ballad collectors,[3] and defied the conventional wisdom of archivists at the time, who thought that such oral traditions had already been fully documented.[5] His archival philosophy was to make absolutely no changes to the songs he collected, even to correct obvious errors.[6]
hunter, aerospace, engineer, maxwell, hunter, franklin, hunter, july, 1921, november, 1999, american, folklorist, while, working, travelling, salesman, compiled, archive, nearly, folk, songs, from, ozarks, region, southern, united, states, between, 1956, 1976,. For the aerospace engineer see Maxwell Hunter Max Franklin Hunter 1 July 2 1921 November 6 1999 was an American folklorist who while working as a travelling salesman compiled an archive of nearly 1 600 folk songs from the Ozarks region of the southern United States between 1956 and 1976 2 3 4 Maxwell Franklin HunterHunter performing in White Springs Florida in 1959BornMaxwell Franklin Hunter 1921 07 02 July 2 1921Springfield Missouri U S DiedNovember 6 1999 1999 11 06 aged 78 OccupationRefrigerator salesmanKnown forFolklorist of the OzarksSpouseVirginia Mercer m 1939 wbr Contents 1 Life and career 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksLife and career editHunter was born on July 2 1921 to a family with deep roots in the Ozarks 3 He grew up in Springfield Missouri attending Baptist and Methodist church services and singing with his family 3 He married Virginia Mercer in 1939 and started working for her father as a refrigerator salesman 3 In 1952 he began working for the John Rhodes Refrigeration Supply Company traveling on a 150 mile circuit through the Ozarks 3 During his travels he began using a tape recorder to record songs from people he met 3 At the Ozark Folk Festival circa 1956 he met folklorists Vance Randolph and Mary Celestia Parler who saw his potential as a collector and shared some basic archiving skills 3 Over his career he recorded hundreds of singers including Almeda Riddle Ollie Gilbert Fred High May Kennedy McCord Raymond Sanders Jimmy Driftwood and others who were active in the American folk music revival movement 3 He sometimes went to great lengths to convince others to let him record them such as by helping them out with chores which at one point included delivering moonshine 4 He also recorded by some estimates more than 14 hours of jokes and 1 100 proverbs 4 Hunter was the last of the major Ozark ballad collectors 3 and defied the conventional wisdom of archivists at the time who thought that such oral traditions had already been fully documented 5 His archival philosophy was to make absolutely no changes to the songs he collected even to correct obvious errors 6 In 1972 he gave his audio tapes to the Springfield Greene County Library ignoring the advice of friends who urged him to give them to an academic institution where he worried the songs would get buried 3 From 1998 to 2001 the archive was digitized by Missouri State University 2 Many of his recordings are now on file at the Library of Congress and other institutions 4 Although he quit smoking later in his life he died of emphysema on November 6 1999 at the age of 78 4 See also editFrancis James Child Maud Karpeles Alan Lomax John A Lomax Missouri Folklore Society Cecil Sharp John Quincy WolfReferences edit Missouri Folklore Society Journal Truman State University Retrieved May 25 2020 a b The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection maxhunter missouristate edu Missouri State University Retrieved May 24 2020 a b c d e f g h i j Nelson Sarah Jane Spring 2017 Giving Old Songs New Life OzarksWatch Magazine 2 6 1 Missouri State University 4 12 a b c d e Stout David November 15 1999 Max Hunter Ozark Folklorist Of Tunes and Tales Dies at 78 The New York Times Retrieved May 24 2020 Bennett Sarah J March 7 1998 Keeping Ozarks Culture Alive Springfield News Leader Retrieved May 25 2020 Nelson Sarah Jane Spring 2016 A Salesman Amidst Scholars Collector Max Hunter PDF CDSS News Retrieved May 23 2020 External links editMax Hunter Folk Song Collection at Missouri State UniversityPortals nbsp Biography nbsp Music nbsp United States Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Max Hunter amp oldid 1180524594, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
