Background
Thompson, Harold William was born on June 5, 1891 in Buffalo. Son of Samuel Joseph and Katherine (Kernahan) Thompson.
Thompson, Harold William was born on June 5, 1891 in Buffalo. Son of Samuel Joseph and Katherine (Kernahan) Thompson.
Bachelor of Philosophy, Hamilton College, 1912. Doctor of Music, Hamilton College, 1947. AM, Harvard University, 1913.
Doctor of Philosophy, Harvard University, 1915. Doctor of Letters, Edinburgh University, 1929. Doctor of Humane Letters, Union College, 1940.
With, New York State College for Teachers, 1915-1940;
director music department, New York State College for Teachers, 1920-1924;
Professor of English, New York State College for Teachers, 1921-1940;
visiting instructor, Cornell Univercity, summers 1932-1939;
professor, Cornell Univercity, 1940-1959;
Goldwin Smith professor, Cornell Univercity, 1951-1959;
professor emeritus, Cornell Univercity, 1959. Organist, choirmaster Hamilton College, 1908-1912, 1st Presbyterian Church, Albany, 1915-1924. Folklore research aided by Rockefeller Foundation, 1938-1939.
Lecturer Indiana U., summer 1942.
Trustee Hamilton College, 1937-1941. Member National Committee on Folk Arts United States, from 1954. Fellow Royal Society Edinburgh, Society Antiquaries Scotland, Rochester Museum Arts and Sciences.
Member Modern Language Association, American, New York State (trustee 1945-1955) history associations, American (president 1942), New York (president 1943-1949), Pennsylvania (council) folklore societies, American Guild Organists, Emerson Literature Society, Medieval Academy American, Savage, Book and Bowl Club, Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Jean Alma Saunders, September 5, 1916. Children: Arthur Stuart, Katherine. Married Marion H. Chesebrough, June 27, 1942.