John Edwards Memorial Foundation

The John Edwards Memorial Foundation, which operated 1962-1983, was located at the University of California at Los Angeles. The foundation's goal was to promote the study of twentieth-century American folk music. In 1983, the Foundation was dissolved, and a successor organization, the John Edwards Memorial Forum, was established.

From the description of John Edwards Memorial Foundation records, 1960-1988 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 26661059

The John Edwards Memorial Foundation was incorporated in 1962 as a non-profit organization to promote the study and dissemination of knowledge about American folk music of the 1920s-1940s. John Edwards provided for the Foundation in his 1958 will; it was established at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The John Edwards Memorial Foundation was a pioneering effort to bring scholarly analysis to bear on American country music forms. In its first ten years, the Foundation embarked on several kinds of projects. It began acquiring record collections in 1964, one of the first being Peter Tamony's collection of early blues or race music recordings. In 1965, the Foundation began publishing the John Edwards Memorial Foundation Quarterly . The JEMF Quarterly contains biographical articles and discographies relating to folk, blues, and early country and western music performers. Another publishing venture, begun in the mid-1960s, was the reprinting of pertinent articles from journals and magazines. With the aid of federal grant money and private donations, the Foundation encouraged and administered biographical, cultural, and discographical research.

In 1972-1973, the Foundation started two series of educational materials, publishing a run of special discographical pamphlets and reissuing rare and old records. These two projects included both early musicians (such as the Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon, Ernest Stoneman) and contemporary performers (like Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash).

For the 21 years the Foundation was based at UCLA, it retained essentially the same directors. The board, elected in 1964, included Eugene Earle, Archie Green, D. K. Wilgus, Fred Hoeptner, and Ed Kahn. All except Ed Kahn were on the board in 1983. Eugene Earle, the executor of John Edwards's estate, was chiefly responsible for bringing John Edwards's record collection to UCLA.

The board agreed to sell the materials at UCLA to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983. The directors indicated that they believed the materials would have more use there and be more effective if housed in the region where the music was born.

From the guide to the John Edwards Memorial Foundation Records, 1960-1988, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.)