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Elizabeth Burchenal

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Elizabeth Burchenal
A white woman wearing a hat with a flat crown and a turned-up brim, and a soft suit over a blouse with a wide collar
Elizabeth Burchenal, from a 1915 newspaper
Born
Flora Elizabeth Burchenal

October 1875
Richmond, Indiana, U.S.
DiedNovember 21, 1959
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Folklorist, educator
Known forFirst president of the American Folk Dance Society (1916)

Flora Elizabeth Burchenal (October 1875[1] – November 21, 1959) was an American educator and the first president of the American Folk Dance Society when it was founded in 1916. Journalist Ida Tarbell described Burchenal as "one of the 50 living women who have done the most for the welfare of the United States."[2]

Early life and education

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Burchenal was born in Richmond, Indiana,[3] the daughter of Charles H. Burchenal and Mary Elizabeth Day Burchenal. Her father was a lawyer and a judge. She graduated from Earlham College in 1896,[2] and pursued further studies at the Sargent School of Physical Education in Boston.[4][5]

Career

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A white woman seated indoors at a window, wearing a folk costume with a headscarf
Elizabeth Burchenal in folk costume, from the Library of Congress

Burchenal taught physical education classes at Teachers College, Columbia University from 1903 to 1905. She was executive secretary of the Girls' Branch of the Public School Athletic League of New York from 1906 to 1916.[4][6] In 1909, she was appointed by the New York City Department of Education as inspector of athletics, promoting and overseeing dance instruction in the city schools.[7] She organized large folk dance festivals for the city's schoolchildren and adults,[8] arranged dance music for recordings,[9] and researched European folk dances with her sister, Emma Howells Burchenal. From 1916 to 1922, she was a "special national representative" of the War Workers Community Service.[4]

In 1916, Burchenal was a founder and first president of the American Folk Dance Society. When the society became part of the National Committee of Folk Arts of the United States in 1929, she was its director and national chairman.[10] With another sister, Ruth, she founded the Folk Arts Center of New York, an exhibit, library, and archive space. She was described as "easily the foremost exponent of the folk dance movement in the world" when she gave a silver cup for a trophy in a youth folk dance competition in 1927.[11]

Burchenal was an American delegate to the International Commission of Popular Arts when it met in Prague in 1928,[12] and in Belgium in 1930.[13] From 1933 to 1934, she traveled in Germany studying folk dances.[4] Boston University presented Burchenal with an honorary doctorate in 1943.[14] She received the Gulick Award in 1950.[15]

Publications

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  • "Does Training in Dancing Contribute to General Grace of Carriage and Posture?" (1905)[16]
  • Folk Dance Music (1908, with C. Ward Crampton)[17]
  • Folk Dances and Singing Games (3 vol., 1909, 1922)[18][19]
  • "Athletics for Girls" (1909, with Jennie Bradley Roessing)
  • Dances of the People (1913)[20]
  • Folk Dances of Denmark (1915)[21]
  • American Country Dances (1917)[22]
  • "A Constructive Program of Athletics for School Girls: Policy, Method and Activities" (1919)[23]
  • Folk Dances from Old Homelands (1922)[24]
  • Folk-dancing as a Popular Recreation: A Handbook (1922)
  • National Dances of Ireland (1925)
  • Three Old American Quadrilles (1926)
  • Four Folk Games from Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia (1928)
  • Five Folk Dances (1929)
  • Folk Dances of Germany (1938)
  • "Folk Dances of the United States: Regional Types and Origins" (1951)[25]

Personal life

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Burchenal died in 1959, probably in her eighties, in Brooklyn.[26][12]

References

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  1. ^ Burchenal's year of birth varies widely in sources. The 1875 date given here is based on her listing as a 24 year old in the 1900 federal census, where her birth month is given as October 1875. However, a decade later in the 1910 federal census, she was listed as a 28 year old, and she gave this alternate 6-years-younger age consistently for the rest of her life. (via Ancestry).
  2. ^ a b "Earlham Graduate Honored for Work with Folk Dance". Palladium-Item. 1939-01-29. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Dancing Authority to Speak at Chapel". Palladium-Item. 1942-05-03. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-03-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d Sicherman, Barbara; Green, Carol Hurd; Weissman, Marilyn B. (1980). Notable American Women: The Modern Period : a Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-674-62733-8.
  5. ^ Houston, Ron. "Elizabeth Burchenal". The Society of Folk Dance Historians. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  6. ^ "Four Hundred Take Interest in her Work; Miss Elizabeth Burchenal Establishing Physical Culture in the New York Schools". The Richmond Item. 1906-03-01. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "The City Child is Handicapped by Restricted Play; Miss Elizabeth Burchenal, Expert in Recreation Work, Says Girls Here Get Too Much Amusement and Not Enough Play and What They Get Is Not Always Properly Directed". The New York Times. February 23, 1913. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  8. ^ "P. S. Athletic League Guests of Mrs. Warbasse". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1915-04-16. p. 36. Retrieved 2024-03-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Elizabeth Burchenal". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  10. ^ "Folk Arts Expert to Visit Campus; Elizabeth Burchenal to Lecture Tuesday". The Daily Illini. 1946-04-14. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Folk Dance Leader Offers Prize Cup; Elizabeth Burchenal Offers Trophy to County". Morning Free Press. 1927-01-05. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Miss Elizabeth Burchenal, Folk Dance Authority, Dead". Palladium-Item. 1959-12-04. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Welshimer, Helen (1930-09-01). "She Helps to Save Folk Dances of the World". Evening Herald Courier. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Former Richmond Resident Will Receive Unique Honor". Palladium-Item. 1943-05-23. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-03-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Nominations are Open for 1955 Award Winners". Journal of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. 25 (8): 37–40. October 1954. doi:10.1080/23267232.1954.10630689. ISSN 2326-7232.
  16. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (June 1905). "Does Training in Dancing Contribute to General Grace of Carriage and Posture?". American Physical Education Review. 10 (2): 101–106. doi:10.1080/23267224.1905.10649948. ISSN 2326-7224.
  17. ^ Folk-dance Music: A Collection of Seventy-six Characteristic Dances of the People of Various Nations Adapted for Use in Schools and Playgrounds for Physical Education and Play. G. Schirmer. 1908.
  18. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (1909). Folk-dances and singing games. New York: G. Schirmer.
  19. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (1922). Folk-dances and Singing Games: Twenty-six Folk-dances of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Hungary, Finland, Italy, Czecho-Slovakia, England, and Scotland, with Music, Full Directions for Performance, and Numerous Illustrations. G. Schirmer.
  20. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (1913). Dances of the People: A Second Volume of Folk-dances and Singing Games ; Containing Twenty-eight Folk-dances of the United States, Ireland, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland ; with the Music, Full Directions for Performance and Numerous Illustrations. G. Schirmer.
  21. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (1915). Folk-dances of Denmark: containing seventy-three dances. Schirmer.
  22. ^ "American country dances. Edited by Elizabeth Burchenal. Piano arrangements by Emma Howells Burchenal". HathiTrust. hdl:2027/umn.31951002330197d. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  23. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (May 1919). "A Constructive Program of Athletics for School Girls: Policy, Method and Activities". American Physical Education Review. 24 (5): 272–279. doi:10.1080/23267224.1919.10650795. ISSN 2326-7224.
  24. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (1922). Folk-dances from Old Homelands: A Third Volume of Folk-dances and Singing Games Containing 33 Folk-dances. G. Schirmer Incorporated.
  25. ^ Burchenal, Elizabeth (March 1951). "Folk Dances of the United States: Regional Types and Origins". Journal of the International Folk Music Council. 3: 18–21. doi:10.2307/835765. ISSN 0950-7922. JSTOR 835765.
  26. ^ Makechnie, George K. (January 1961). "Elizabeth Burchenal". Journal of the International Folk Music Council. 13: 93–94. doi:10.1017/S0950792200015325. ISSN 0950-7922.
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