Background
Dorson, Richard M. was born on March 12, 1916 in New York City. Son of Louis Jasper and Gertrude (Lester) Dorson.
Dorson, Richard M. was born on March 12, 1916 in New York City. Son of Louis Jasper and Gertrude (Lester) Dorson.
Bachelor of Arts, Harvard, 1937, Master of Arts, 1940, Doctor of Philosophy., 1943.
Instructor history Harvard, 1943-1944. From instructor to professor of history Michigan State University, 1944-1956. Professor of history and folklore Indiana U., Bloomington, 1957-1971, Distinguished professor, 1971-1981, director Folklore Institute, 1963-1981. Fulbright visiting professor U. Tokyo, 1956-1957.
Member educational advisory board John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1971-1981. Member of council Smithsonian Institution, 1977-1981. Consultant National Endowment for Humanities, 1972-1975, Harvard Sheldon fellow, 1942, Library of Congress fellow, 1946, Guggenheim fellow, 1949, 64, 71.
American Council Learned Socs. fellow, 1952, 61.
Author: Jonathan Draws the Long Bow, 1946. Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers, 1952. Negro Folktales in Michigan, 1956.Negro Tales from Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Calvin, Michigan, 1958. American Folklore, 1959. Folk Legends of Japan, 1961.American Negro Folktales, 1967. The British Folklorists, A History, 1968. American Folklore and the Historian, 1971.Folklore, Selected Essays, 1972. America in Legend, 1973. Folklore and Fakelore, 1976.Editor: numerous vols. including African Folklore, 1972. Folklore and Traditional History, 1973. Folktales Told Around the World, 1975.Founder, editor Journal Folklore Institute, 1963-1981. Contributor articles to journals.
Member educational advisory board John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1971-1981. Member of council Smithsonian Institution, 1977-1981. Member American Folklore Society (president 1966-1968), American History Association, Organisation American Historians, American Studies Association.
Club: Cosmos.
Married Dorothy Diamond, 1940 (divorced 1948).; married second, Gloria Irene Gluski, August 8, 1953. Children: Roland Jeffrey, Linda.