Archives given folklore, folk music book collection

Published or Revised April 18, 2011

Nearly 300 key works in the disciplines of folk music and ethnomusicology, as well as folklore and cultural anthropology have been donated to the A.M. & Welma Aikin Jr. Regional Archives at Paris Junior College. The books were the collection of Fred and Shirley Steiner. Dr. Steiner was a composer, conductor, orchestrator and arranger for television, radio and film. Mrs. Steiner studied folklore at University of California Los Angeles. The donation to PJC was coordinated with the Steiners' daughter, Mrs. Jillian Sandrock of New Mexico, by Dr. Sylvia Grider, Professor Emerita from the Department of Anthropology at Texas A&M University in College Station. "Dr. Grider is a well known expert on folklore and Texas history," said Vice President of Academics Dwight Chaney. "It is a huge compliment to Paris Junior College and the Aikin Archives that the Steiner family chose for their collection be placed here and that Dr. Grider was wiling to assist with the cataloging of the books." A formal dedication of a permanent display of the books will take place later this summer.