Background
Baker, Ronald Lee was born on June 30, 1937 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
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(Stuart's keynote speech before the Indiana Council of Tea...)
Stuart's keynote speech before the Indiana Council of Teachers of English in 1971, the subsequent publications by him and about him in the Indiana English Journal, and his forty-year friendship with Gilbert E. Coble demonstrate the affection Indiana's teachers had for Stuart as well as the fondness that Stuart had for Indiana.
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(Ronald L. Baker presents the folklore and the history of ...)
Ronald L. Baker presents the folklore and the history of the names of populated places in Indiana. Over 4,000 entries are arranged alphabetically and include the current spellings, local pronunciations, and origins of Indiana place names, as well as variant spellings and variant names and dates of settlement and/or establishment. This fascinating cultural study offers the lore, folk legends, jokes, and anecdotes that flesh out the bare bones of dates and details, humanizing the study of place names. Place-name legends may be more fanciful than factual, but they provide the student of culture with information on what the names mean to the people who use them: telling these legends enables Hoosiers to form a closer bond with their region and to situate themselves in history.
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(Hoosier Folk Legends HOOSIER FOLK LEGENDS By Baker, Ronal...)
Hoosier Folk Legends HOOSIER FOLK LEGENDS By Baker, Ronald L. ( Author )Aug-22-1984 Paperback
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( "... extremely valuable... enthusiastically recommended...)
"... extremely valuable... enthusiastically recommended... " ―Western Folklore These hilarious and slightly off-color stories, although gathered in Indiana, reflect the ancient origin and universality of the joke. The chuckle, the grin, the uncontrolled belly-laugh evoked by Jokelore attest to the popularity of this ancient form of folk literature.
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(Book by Baker, Ronald L.)
Book by Baker, Ronald L.
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(A curious mixture of humor and Hoosier horror stories as ...)
A curious mixture of humor and Hoosier horror stories as it relates to Hoosier folk tales.
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Baker, Ronald Lee was born on June 30, 1937 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
He earned his Bachelor of Surgery in Business Administration from Indiana State University in 1960 and received an Master of Arts He attended the Folklore Institute of America at Indiana University in the summer of 1966, and subsequently enrolled in the doctoral program in folklore while also minoring in comparative literature and philosophy. He received his Doctor of Philosophy from Indiana University in 1969 with a dissertation on folklore in the writings of Rowland Robinson.
In philosophy from the same institution in 1961. He did graduate work in English at the University of Illinois, where he also was an instructor, from 1963 to 1965. In 1966, he began teaching at Indiana State University where he advanced to become professor and chair of the English Department before retirement in 2006.
Baker"s research was mostly on language and narrative in American literature, historical documents, and folklore.
He specialized in the study of place names, particularly in the Midwest. He published over 100 articles in professional journals, magazines and was the author or editor of nine books: Folklore in the Writings of Rowland East. Robinson (1973), Indiana Place Names (1975), Hoosier Folk Legends (1984), Jokelore: Humorous Folktales from Indiana (1986), French Folklife in Old Vincennes (1989), The Study of Place Names (1991), From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History (1995), Homeless, Friendless, and Penniless: The World Pet Association Interviews with Former Slaves Living in Indiana (2000), and Jesse Stuart and the Hoosier Schoolmasters (2007).
He also served as editor of three journals: Indiana Names (1970–1974), Midwestern Folklore (1975–1999), and The Folklore Historian (1990–2000). In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the American Folklore Society, and he has served as executive secretary-treasurer (1988–2000) and president (1970–1979) of the Hoosier Folklore Society.
The contents referred to his work in interpreting the connections of jokes, songs, recitations, and legends to masculinity as well as regionalism, ethnicity, and aging.
In 2006, the Hoosier Folklore Society dedicated its annual meeting to him in recognition of his service to the Society and the field of folklore studies.
(Stuart's keynote speech before the Indiana Council of Tea...)
(A curious mixture of humor and Hoosier horror stories as ...)
(Hoosier Folk Legends HOOSIER FOLK LEGENDS By Baker, Ronal...)
(Book by Baker, Ronald L.)
(Ronald L. Baker presents the folklore and the history of ...)
( "... extremely valuable... enthusiastically recommended...)
Fellow American Folklore Society. Member Modern Language Association, American Name Society (vice president 1981-1982), Hoosier Folklore Society (president 1970-1979, executive secretary-treasurer since 1988).
Married Catherine Anne Neal, October 21, 1960. Children: Susannah Jill, Jonathan Kemp.
