William A. Wilson (folklorist)
| William A. Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Albert Wilson September 23, 1933 Tremonton, Utah |
| Died | April 26, 2016 (aged 82) Provo, Utah |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Bert Wilson |
| Known for | Mormon folklore |
| Awards |
Utah Governer's Award in the Arts, 1998 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater |
Indiana University Brigham Young University |
| Thesis | Folklore and Nationalism in Modern Finland (1974) |
| Doctoral advisor | Felix J. Oinas |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Mormon folklore |
| Institutions |
Utah State University Brigham Young University |
Utah Governer's Award in the Arts, 1998
Leonard J. Arrington Award, Mormon History Association, 2002
Américo Paredes Award, American Folklore Society
William Albert "Bert" Wilson (September 23, 1933 – April 25, 2016) was a scholar of Mormon folklore. The "father of Mormon folklore" helped found and organize folklore archives at both Utah State University (USU) and Brigham Young University (BYU). He directed the folklore archive at USU from 1978 to 1985, and chaired the English department at BYU from 1985 to 1991. He and his students collected jokes, legends, stories, songs, and other information to add to the Mormon folklore archives.
William Albert Wilson was born in Tremonton, Utah, to Bill Wilson, who worked as a railroad foreman for Union Pacific, and Lucile Wilson. He grew up in Downey, Idaho, a small, close-knit community. He became the first of his family to attend university when he enrolled at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1951. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Finland in 1953. While in Finland, he gained an appreciation for Finnish culture, especially the collection of epic poetry, The Kalevala. As a missionary, he met Hannele Blomqvist who was serving as a sister missionary. They studied at BYU together and were married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 31, 1957. They had four children together.
After teaching English for a year at Bountiful High School, Wilson completed an MA in English from BYU. His friend and colleague Robert Blair suggested that he study folklore at Indiana University because of the good reputation of the school's Uralic folklore program. At first his interest in folklore was unenthusiastic, but he soon became immersed in his studies. Wilson earned a National Defense Language Scholarship, which helped fund his studies at Indiana University. Under the scholarship, he studied Estonian and Finnish. From 1965 to 1966, Wilson received a Fulbright grant to study in the cultural history of Finland. He studied in the library of the Finnish Literature Society, taking special interest in the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder's idea that the soul of a culture could be seen through its folklore. Richard Dorson, the director of folklore studies and Wilson's mentor, approved Wilson's dissertation topic, which was the political use of The Kalevala to instill nationalism. Felix J. Oinas chaired Wilson's dissertation committee. In 1967, Wilson resumed teaching at BYU and developed thyroid cancer, undergoing five surgeries to keep the cancer at bay. In 1973, he took a leave of absence from BYU to complete his dissertation in 1974.
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