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Norbert F. Riedl Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS-0954

  • Staff Only

The Norbert F. Riedl Collection includes research files on such topics as architecture, clothing and costume, cockfighting, food and cooking, games and recreation, legends, medicines and remedies, music, quilting, snake handling, and customs pertaining to marriage, divorce, death and burial. There is also material about the mysterious Melungeons of Hancock and Hawkins Counties and there is a group of tape recordings which relate to many of the file topics.

Dates

  • 1965-1975

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

7 Linear Feet (7 record boxes)

Abstract

The Norbert F. Riedl Collection includes research files on such topics as architecture, clothing and costume, cockfighting, food and cooking, games and recreation, legends, medicines and remedies, music, quilting, snake handling, and customs pertaining to marriage, divorce, death and burial. There is also material about the mysterious Melungeons of Hancock and Hawkins Counties and there is a group of tape recordings which relate to many of the file topics.

Biographical/Historical Note

Norbert Franz Riedl was born in Eisenstadt, Austria, on February 16, 1930. While studying at the University of Vienna, he spent a year at the University of New Mexico as a Smith-Mundt exchange student (1951-1952). It was during this visit that Riedl formed his lifelong attachment to the United States. He graduated from the University of Vienna with his PhD in 1954, and returned to the United States with his wife, Joan (an American whom Riedl met while both were studying in Vienna), in 1956. The couple settled in Princeton, New Jersey, where Riedl worked for the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Six years later, Riedl accepted a position in the University of Tennessee's Department of Anthropology studying folklore. He published several papers on folk culture studies in Journal of American Folklore and Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin. He remained at UT as a professor until his untimely death on March 25, 1975.

Arrangement

Collection is stored in seven boxes. The material is arranged into 38 topical series:

  1. Series I: Agriculture
  2. Series II: Architecture
  3. Series III: Clothing and Costume
  4. Series IV: Cockfighting
  5. Series V: Culture Studies
  6. Series VI: Customs - General
  7. Series VII: Customs - Death and Burial
  8. Series VIII: Customs -- Marriage and Divorce
  9. Series IX: Economics and Law
  10. Series X: Epitaphs
  11. Series XI: Festivals
  12. Series XII: Fishing
  13. Series XIII: Food and Cookery
  14. Series XIV: Games and Recreation
  15. Series XV: Geography
  16. Series XVI: History
  17. Series XVII: Legends
  18. Series XVIII: Material Culture
  19. Series XIX: Medicines and Remedies
  20. Series XX: Melungeons
  21. Series XXI: Music
  22. Series XXII: Place Names
  23. Series XXIII: Proverbs
  24. Series XXIV: Quilting
  25. Series XXV: Religion and Ritual
  26. Series XXVI: Snake-Handling
  27. Series XXVII: Speech
  28. Series XXVIII: Superstitions
  29. Series XXIX: Surveys -- General Folklore
  30. Series XXX: Tales
  31. Series XXXI: Weather Lore
  32. Series XXXII: Women and Families
  33. Series XXXIII: Correspondence
  34. Series XXXIV: Notes
  35. Series XXXV: Tapes, 7 inch
  36. Series XXXVI: Tapes, 5 inch
  37. Series XXXVII: Tapes, 3 inch
  38. Series XXXVIII: Cassettes

Related Materials

Interested researchers may wish to consult:

  1. MS.1075, Norbert F. Riedl Papers, 1981
  2. MS.1168, Norbert F. Riedl Papers, circa 1960s-1970s

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480