Combs, Josiah Henry, 1886-1960

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Josiah H. Combs (1886-1960) was born in Hazard (Perry County) Kentucky. He grew up in Knott County and attended Hindman Settlement School. The songs he had learned at home came to the attention of Hindman director Katherine Pettit, who, with folk music scholar George Lyman Kittredge, arranged for their publication in the Journal of American Folklore. Combs went to college at Transylvania University (Ky.) in 1905. In 1911, with Dr. Hubert G. Shearin, Combs published A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk Songs, which included over 333 titles from eastern and central Kentucky. After leaving Transylvania, Combs taught in high schools in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee and presented many public lectures and song recitals (1911-1918). After World War I Army service, he taught English and Spanish at West Virginia University (1922-24). He finished work on his doctorate at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) in 1925. His thesis, Folk Songs du Midi des Etats-Unis (Folk-songs of the Southern United States) was an exploration of the origins of Appalachian songs and ballads as revealed in the language, names, and customs of the people from whom he collected them. Combs' academic career included professorships at the University of Oklahoma (1926-27), Texas Christian University (1927-1947), and Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia where he retired in 1956. Other of Combs' published works includes, The Kentucky Highlanders (1912), All That's Kentucky (1915), Twenty Mountain Songs (1915), Folk Songs of the Kentucky Highlands (1939), and The Language of the Southern Highlanders.

From the description of Josiah Combs Collection 1910-1960. (Berea College). WorldCat record id: 52096406

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Hutchins Library. Special Collections. Hindman Settlement School Collection 1899-1977. Berea College, Hutchins Library
creatorOf Combs, Josiah Henry, 1886-1960,. Josiah Combs Collection 1910-1960. Berea College, Hutchins Library
creatorOf Wilgus, D. K.,. D.K. Wilgus Folklore Collection 1918-1989. Berea College, Hutchins Library
referencedIn Hindman Settlement School (Hindman, Ky.). Hindman Settlement School Records 1899-1979 [microform]. Berea College, Hutchins Library
referencedIn W. L. McAtee Papers, 1803-1963, (bulk 1900-1960) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Hindman Settlement School (Hindman, Ky.) corporateBody
associatedWith Hutchins Library. Special Collections. corporateBody
associatedWith McAtee, W. L. (Waldo Lee), 1883-1962. person
associatedWith Wilgus, D. K., person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Kentucky
Southern States
Appalachian Region, Southern
Subject
Ballads, English
English language
English language
Folklore
Folk songs
Popular culture
Scatology
Occupation
Collector
Activity

Person

Birth 1886

Death 1960

Information

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Ark ID: w63x8m7p

SNAC ID: 37868376