Lankford, George E. 1938-

PERSONAL:

Born August 18, 1938, in Birmingham, AL; son of George E. (an oil company employee) and Elaine (a homemaker) Lankford. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Louisiana State University, B.A., 1960; Princeton Theological Seminary, B.D., 1963; Indiana University—Bloomington, Ph.D., 1975. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Presbyterian.

ADDRESSES:

Home—1175 Dogwood Dr., Batesville, AR 72501. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Assistant pastor of Presbyterian churches in New Orleans, LA, 1963-66, and Mobile, AL, 1966-71; Spring Hill College, Mobile, instructor, 1966-70, assistant professor of theology, 1970-71; Indiana University—Bloomington, assistant instructor in folklore, 1972-74; University of Alabama, staff archaeologist, 1975-76; University of Arkansas Community College, Batesville, assistant professor, 1976- 81, associate professor, 1981-86, professor of folklore, 1986-92, Pauline M. and Brooks Bradley Professor in the Social Sciences, 1992-2001, director of Microcomputer Learning Center project, 1981-84, director of humanities program, 1985-88, director of arts and humanities program, 1988-89, chair of social sciences division at Lyon College, 1997-2001; Lyon College, Batesville, chair of social sciences division, 1997-2001, professor emeritus, 2001—. University of Memphis, visiting lecturer in anthropology, 2002. Ozark Folk Center, member of governor's committee, 1976-81; Arkansas Arts Council, member, 1977-81; Arkansas Endowment for the Humanities, member of board of directors, 1984-90; State of Arkansas, chair of Ozark Folk Cultural Center Commission, 2002-04. Batesville Community Theater, vice president, 1988- 89, member of board of directors, 1989-91; Old Independence Regional Museum, member of board of trustees, 1993-2003, board president, 2001-02; Friends of Chucalissa, board member, 2002—.

MEMBER:

American Folklore Society, Society for American Archaeology, Population Connection, Mid- America Folklore Society, Southeastern Archeological Conference, Ozark States Folklore Society, Arkansas Historical Association (member of board of trustees, 1991-92), Arkansas Archeological Society (vice president, 2001-03), Kansas Folklore Society, Missouri Folklore Society, Independence County Historical Society (president, 1988-90), Jackson County Historical Society, Izard County Historical Society, Batesville Historical Preservation Society, Omicron Delta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Grants from Rockefeller Foundation, 1976-79, and National Endowment for the Humanities, 1977-80; Andrew W. Mellon faculty fellow, Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas, 1986; named CASE Arkansas Professor of the Year, 1991; Arkansas Historical Association, awards for best community history, 1991, 1997, award for best edited document of 1995 (with Marion Craig), 1996, and award for best family history (with Shea Hembrey and Jennifer Richardson), 1999; Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal, Batesville chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 2004.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Native American Legends: Southeastern Legends—Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw, and Other Nations, August House (Little Rock, AR), 1987.

(Editor) Bearing Witness: Memories of Arkansas Slavery; Narratives from the 1930s WPA Collections, University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 2003.

Contributor to books, including The Folk: Identity, Landscapes, and Lores, edited by Robert J. Smith and Jerry Stannard, University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 1989; The Expedition of Hernando De Soto West of the Mississippi, edited by Gloria A. Young and Michael P. Hoffman, University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 1993; Cultural Encounters in the Early South: Indians and Europeans in Arkansas, edited by Jeannie Whayne, University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 1995; Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand, edited by Richard Townsend, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2004; and Studies in Southeastern Iconography, Volume 1, edited by Kent Reilly and Jams Garber, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), in press. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Southeastern Archaeology, Southern Folklore, Arkansas Archeologist, Kentucky Folklore Record, Journal of Presbyterian History, Journal of American Folklore, Journal of Alabama Archaeology, and Arkansas Historical Quarterly. Mid-America Folklore, associate editor, 1979-86, editor, 1986-98. Member of editorial board, Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 1993-96, and Arkansas Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2003—.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Journal of Southern History, May, 2004, Benjamin E. Wise, review of Bearing Witness: Memories of Arkansas Slavery; Narratives from the 1930s WPA Collections, p. 491.