Isabel Gordon Carter
Isabel Gordon Carter | |
|---|---|
 Carter, from the 1920 yearbook of the University of Tennessee | |
| Born | May 2, 1897 Beloit, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | March 21, 1988 (aged 90) |
| Occupations | Folklorist, anthropologist, college professor |
| Known for | Studies in Appalachia |
Isabel Gordon Carter (May 2, 1897 – March 21, 1988) was an American anthropologist, folklorist and professor of social work at the University of Pennsylvania. In the 1920s she recorded and published folk songs and stories of Appalachia.
Early life and education
[edit]Carter was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, and raised in Nebraska and Tennessee, the daughter of Charles Henry Gordon and Mary Ett Hydorn. Her father was a geology professor at the University of Tennessee.[1] She graduated from Albion College in 1917,[2] and earned a master's degree from the University of Tennessee in 1920, with a thesis on poet John Masefield.[3] She completed her Ph.D. in anthropology at Columbia University.[4]
Career
[edit]In 1923 Carter collected folk songs and tales in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, including a session with Jane Hicks Gentry, a celebrated singer and storyteller in Hot Springs, North Carolina.[5][6] She was an active member of the American Anthropological Association in the 1920s.[7]
Carter was also a professor of social work at the University of Pennsylvania, and chair of the school's Department of Social Research.[8] Before 1938 she was deputy secretary of public assistance for the state of Pennsylvania.[9] She was leader of the Public Welfare Institute in North Carolina in 1938.[10]
Publications
[edit]- "Mountain White Folk-Lore: Tales from the Southern Blue Ridge" (1925)[11]
- "Reduction of Variability in an Inbred Population" (1928)[12]
- "Physical measurements of ‘Old American’ college women" (1932)[13]
- "Some Songs and Ballads from Tennessee and North Carolina" (1933)[14]
- "Mountain White Riddles" (1934)[15]
- Pennsylvania Children and the Depression (1935)[16]
- "Appraising the Social Security Program" (1939, editor)[17]
- "Legislators Define Childhood" (1940)[18]
Personal life
[edit]Gordon married Hugh Sevier Carter in 1925. They had daughters Eleanor and Janet.[19] She died in 1988, at the age of 90, a few weeks before her husband's death. Her papers are in the America Folklife Center, Library of Congress.[4] There is also a collection of her research materials in the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection at the Knoxville Public Library.[20]
References
[edit]- ↑ Hall, George Martin (June 1935). "Memorial of Charles Henry Gordon" (PDF). Proceedings of the Geological Society of America: 225–232.
- ↑ The University of Tennessee, The Volunteer (1920 yearbook): 37.
- ↑ Gordon, Isabel (1920-01-01). "John Masefield: Poet and Dramatist". Master's thesis, University of Tennessee.
- 1 2 "Collection: Isabel Gordon Carter Collection". Library of Congress finding aids. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ Dorson, Richard M. (1964). Buying the Wind: Regional Folklore in the United States. University of Chicago Press.
- ↑ Caro, Frank de (2014-12-18). An Anthology of American Folktales and Legends. Routledge. p. xxv. ISBN 978-1-317-47699-3.
- ↑ "Officers and Members". American Anthropologist. 17 (1): 196. 1929.
- ↑ "Dr. Read Named to Head Council; At Community Council Meeting". Connecticut Post. 1955-06-02. p. 12. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Mrs. Isabel G. Carter to Talk at Century Club Tomorrow". The Times-Tribune. 1940-02-08. p. 7. Retrieved 2026-04-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Welfare Conference Will Open Tomorrow; Dr. Isabel Gordon Carter to Be in Charge of Instruction at Meet". The News and Observer. 1938-07-17. p. 17. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Carter, Isabel Gordon (1925). "Mountain White Folk-Lore: Tales from the Southern Blue Ridge". The Journal of American Folklore. 38 (149): 340–374. doi:10.2307/535236. ISSN 0021-8715.
- ↑ Carter, Isabel Gordon (1928). "Reduction of Variability in an Inbred Population". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 11 (3): 457–471.
- ↑ Carter, Isabel Gordon (April 1932). "Physical measurements of 'Old American' college women". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 16 (4): 497–514. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330160418. ISSN 0002-9483.
- ↑ Carter, Isabel Gordon (1933). "Some Songs and Ballads from Tennessee and North Carolina". The Journal of American Folklore. 46 (179): 22–50. doi:10.2307/535848. ISSN 0021-8715.
- ↑ Carter, Isabel Gordon (1934). "Mountain White Riddles". The Journal of American Folklore. 47 (183): 76–80. doi:10.2307/535904. ISSN 0021-8715.
- ↑ "Book Reviews". The Family. 17 (1): 31. March 1936 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Carter, Isabel Gordon, ed. Appraising the Social Security Program. Vol. 202. American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1939.
- ↑ Carter, Isabel Gordon (1940). "Legislators Define Childhood". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 212: 38–41. ISSN 0002-7162.
- ↑ "Mrs. Frank Hannigan". The Knoxville Journal. 1963-12-06. p. 11. Retrieved 2026-04-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Isabel Gordon Carter Research on Smoky Mountain Families, Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knoxville Public Library.
