Ellen Fladger, November 13, 2024
Item
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Title
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Ellen Fladger, November 13, 2024
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interviewee
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Ellen Fladger
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interviewer
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Megan Hosie
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Date
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2024-11-13
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Subject
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Alumni
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Bruce Buckley
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Cooperstown Graduate Program
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Cooperstown, New York
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Family Life
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The Fenimore Art Museum
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Fenimore Farm & Country Village
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Folklore
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Folklife
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Folk art
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Folk music revival
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Frederick Jackson Turner
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Higher Education
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Indiana University
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Jackson Turner Main
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Louis C. Jones
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Massachusetts
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Minor Wine Thomas
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Mount Holyoke College
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New York Folklore Society
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Race
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Richard Dorson
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Schaffer Library
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Schenectady County Historical Society
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Schenectady, New York
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Stith Thompson
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Storytelling
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Union College
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Description
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Ellen Fladger is the Head of Special Collections Emerita at Union College's Schaffer Library. She was born on March 8, 1948, and grew up in the town of Saugus, Massachusetts. Storytelling is part of Ellen's DNA. Growing up, she relished learning about local and family history, listening to her mother sing classic folk songs, and visiting Boston's many historic and cultural sights. She eventually grew her childhood interests into a fruitful career. She worked an array of jobs throughout her life but was always guided by her interest in the stories of everyday people.
Ellen talks about her upbringing, her love of folk music, and her educational background at Mount Holyoke, Indiana University, and the Cooperstown Graduate Program. There is an emphasis on her time at CGP, which gives good insight into both the program's history and life in Cooperstown during the 1970s. We talked at length about her career at Union College, and how her background in folklore studies influenced her time there. She also discusses her later relationship with New York Folklore, and her role as a former Board Member and current volunteer at the Schenectady County Historical Society.
The interview was recorded at New York Folklore's headquarters in Schenectady. At certain points, you can hear the whirring of the HVAC system and the beep of the front door alarm as someone walks in. Ellen is a natural, engaging, and witty storyteller. To convey the tone of her responses, I included vocalizations of laughter.
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Time Summary
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Track 1, 0:00 - Childhood and Family Life
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Track 1, 07:38 - Mount Holyoke College
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Track 1, 12:13 - Folklore
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Track 1, 14:13 - Graduate School
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Track 1, 27:55 - Folklore Curriculum
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Track 2, 06:22 - New York Folklore Society
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Track 2, 09:26 - Schaffer Library
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Track 2, 21:51 - Schenectady County Historical Society
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Creator
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Megan Hosie
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Publisher
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Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York at Oneonta
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Rights
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Cooperstown Graduate Association, Cooperstown, NY
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Language
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en-US
