Helen Hartness Flanders

Traditional folk ballads were not written down but were verbally passed down
from generation to generation. Many of these melodies had their roots in
medieval England and Europe but over the years, the stories they told were
adapted for real people in a different time and place. In a time when these ballads
were in danger of being lost forever, Helen Hartness Flanders new she had a
huge task ahead of her.

From 1930 to 1960 Mrs. Flanders traveled throughout the backroads of
Vermont and New England to capture the sounds, songs and voices or our
ancestors. Over those years she recorded, transcribed and collected the more
than 9,000 songs that are the foundation of the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad
Collection at Middlebury College. Find out more about this remarkable woman
by visiting the links below.