Helen Hartness Flanders

Helen Hartness Flanders
Helen Hartness Flanders ca. 1945.
Born	Helen Edith Hartness (1890-05-19)May 19, 1890 Springfield, Vermont
Died	May 23, 1972(1972-05-23) (aged 82) Springfield, Vermont
Resting place	Summer Hill Cemetery, Springfield, Vermont
Education	Dana Hall School
Known for	Collection of traditional ballads in New England
Spouse(s)	Ralph Flanders
Children	3
Parent(s)	James and Lena Hartness

Helen Hartness Flanders (May 19, 1890 – May 23, 1972), a native of the U.S. state of Vermont, was an internationally recognized ballad collector and an authority on the folk music found in New England and the British Isles. At the initiative of the Vermont Commission on Country Life, Flanders commenced a three-decade career capturing traditional songs that were sung in New England—songs that, in many cases, traced their origin to the British Isles. The timing of her life work was critical, coming as it did when people were turning away from traditional music in favor of listening to the radio. Today her nearly 4,500 field recordings, transcriptions and analyses are housed at the Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont and have been a resource for scholars and folk singers, since the establishment of the collection in 1941.

Flanders was born in Springfield, Vermont. Her father was James Hartness, inventor, industrialist, and one-term Governor of Vermont, who headed the Jones and Lamson Machine Tool Company in that town. She graduated from the Dana Hall School in 1909, where she sang in the glee club and was a member of the school French club. In 1911 she married Ralph Flanders, a noted American mechanical engineer, industrialist and Republican U.S. Senator (1946–1959) from Vermont. She and her husband maintained homes in Springfield and Washington, DC where they entertained friends who included Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Robert Frost. They had three children: Elizabeth, (born in 1912), Anna (also known as Nancy—born in 1918), and James (born in 1923). Elizabeth helped her mother from time to time with collecting and transcribing tunes. In addition to her writings on traditional ballads, Flanders published two small volumes of poetry and one children's play. She traveled with her husband to the British Isles, Europe and Australia on various occasions.