Lelah Allison
American college professor
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Lelah Susan Allison (September 16, 1893 – January 7, 1956) was an American folklorist and educator, based in Illinois.
Lelah Allison | |
|---|---|
Lelah Allison, from the 1928 yearbook of Illinois State Normal School | |
| Born | September 16, 1893 Ellery, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 7, 1956 (age 62) Ellery, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupations | College professor, folklorist |
Early life and education
Allison was born in Ellery, Illinois, the daughter of James McCoin Allison and Margaret Isabelle Lines Allison.[1] She graduated from Illinois State Normal School in 1928,[2] and earned a master's degree from the University of Missouri in 1940.[3][4]
Career
Allison taught at schools in Allendale and Keensburg.[5][6] In summer 1946, she taught at Southern Illinois Normal University.[7] She became a member of the English faculty at McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois from 1947.[4][8] She explained of her folklore work that "at least some of our folklore is not behind us, but is growing up around us."[9]
Publications
Allison wrote a local history, The History of Leech Township (1954),[10] and was a published poet. Her studies of folklore were published in academic journals including Journal of American Folklore,[9][11] Hoosier Folklore,[12][13] and American Speech.[14]
- "MU Colloquialisms" (1941)[14]
- "Water Witching" (1947)[12]
- "Children's Games" (1948)[15]
- "Folk Beliefs Regarding Weather in Southeastern Illinois" (1948)[9]
- "Traditional Verse from Autograph Books" (1949)[16]
- "Folk Beliefs Collected in Southeastern Illinois" (1950)[11]
- "Southeastern Illinois Tales and Beliefs" (1950)[13]
- The History of Leech Township (1954)[10]
Personal life
Allison died when a freight train crashed into her car in Ellery in 1956; she was 62 years old.[8]