Gayle Waggoner

Publication Date

7-1977

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Lynwood Montell, James Bennett, Burt Feintuch

Comments

Original department was Intercultural & Folk Studies.

Degree Program

Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Oral recollections concerning dating, courtship, marriage and related attitudes were collected from a single informant, Mrs. Blanche Story of Butte, Nebraska. Through in-depth questioning during twelve tape-recorded interview sessions, value- and attitude-oriented accounts were secured for the years 1885 to 1910, the late frontier period in northcentral Nebraska. These detailed reminiscences focus on common life experiences related to interpersonal relationships and the institutions related to them, resulting in a personal or folk history. The single greatest problem in research was the lack of documentation for the attitudinal content of the texts. Corroboration of both specific information and broad patterns of behavior was accomplished through the use of the local newspaper (Butte Gazette, 1885-1911), folklore journals, Plains social histories, and standard reference volumes. This presentation of one woman’s beliefs and attitudes is academic, yet uniquely individual. The information within this thesis is valuable not only as research material, but also as a personal view of three basic human institutions and the attitudinal system that encompasses them.

Disciplines

Anthropology | Arts and Humanities | History | Oral History | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Social History | Sociology | United States History | Women's History

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