Frances Gillmor

Frances Gillmor (1903-1993), was the first Chair of the University of Arizona Folklore Committee, from 1945 to her retirement in 1972, and founded its archives. A novelist and a professor of English at the University of Arizona, she held an M.A. in English from the University (1931). Her studies in Mexican folklore and cultural anthropology subsequently led her to complete a Doctora en Letras at the Universidad Nacional Autònoma de México, awarded in 1957.

Gillmor's diverse interests and research led her around the world. One particular area of interest was the traditional dance dramas of Mexico, a subject upon which she published several studies. In 1959 she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to study folk drama at village fiestas in Spain, for comparison with those of Mexico. Many of the transcripts that she collected have been included in this collection.

...