The Frederic G. Cassidy papers contain sound recordings and partial transcriptions; drafts of manuscripts and conference papers; and one map, all relating to his work on Jamaican and Creole lanugages.
Scope and Contents:
Of primary interest in the Frederic G. Cassidy papers are his 1952 sound recordings of everyday Jamaican people. The recordings are itemized and described according to a typed inventory found among the papers. There are partial handwritten notes and transcriptions of some of the recordngs as well as a map of Jamaica which Cassidy used in his field work. The papers also contain drafts of articles and conference papers on Jamiacan and Creole languages. It is not clear which, if any, of these drafts were published.
Biographical / Historical:
Frederic Gomes Cassidy (1907-2000) was a Jamaican-born lexicographer who is best known as a long time editor and director of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) Project at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he was a professor of English. In 1951 Cassidy received a Fullbright Research Fellowship to go back to Jamaica to interview people about their daily lives. These recordings became the source for Jamaica Talk (1961) and the Dictionary of Jamaican English (1967) which he co-authored with R.B.LePage.
Related Materials:
Digital surrogates of the sound recordings are also held by the Dictionary of American Regional English at the University of Wisconsin and at the University of the West Indies Archives in Kingston, Jamaica.
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Claire M. Cassidy and Michael Cassidy in 2008.
Restrictions:
The Frederic G. Cassidy papers and sound recordings are open for research. Access to the Frederic G. Cassidy papers and sound recordings requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
