Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Harold Courlander

Harold Courlander (1908–1996) was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author who specialized in collecting and preserving oral traditions from African, Caribbean, and Native American cultures. Over his career, Courlander produced more than 35 books and numerous recordings documenting folklore, including notable works such as The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories (1947), a Newbery Honor Book, Negro Folk Music U.S.A. (1963), and A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore (1976). His ethnographic efforts involved extensive travels to regions like Haiti, Ethiopia, and the American Southwest, where he gathered stories, songs, and narratives to highlight cultural histories often overlooked by mainstream scholarship. A defining controversy arose when Courlander filed a plagiarism lawsuit against Alex Haley in 1977, alleging that substantial passages in Haley's bestselling novel Roots (1976) were copied from Courlander's The African (1967); the case settled out of court in 1978, with Haley conceding the inclusion of specific material from Courlander's work and agreeing to a payment estimated at up to $650,000 to Courlander and his publisher.

Early Life and Education

Birth and Family Background

Harold Courlander was born on September 18, 1908, in , . His parents were David Courlander and Tillie Oppenheim, both from families of European Jewish origin. The Courlander surname derives from Kurlander, for a person from (Kurland), a historical encompassing parts of modern-day . His paternal ancestors had immigrated to the by 1840, while his maternal family arrived later. At age six, Courlander relocated with his family to , , where his father worked as a painter. This move exposed him early to the city's ethnically diverse neighborhoods, which he later cited as influencing his lifelong curiosity about global cultures and .

Formal Education and Early Influences

Courlander briefly attended in for two semesters following high school before transferring to the in 1927. There, he majored in English and earned a degree in 1931. During his undergraduate years, he demonstrated early literary talent by winning three Avery Hopwood Awards—one in for his Swamp Mud, which was produced under the direction of , and two in —fostering his interest in narrative forms that later informed his folkloristic work. Following his bachelor's degree, Courlander undertook graduate studies in and related fields at both the and , though he did not obtain an advanced degree. These academic pursuits exposed him to ethnographic methods and , laying groundwork for his subsequent fieldwork, while his prior writing accolades at Michigan cultivated a disciplined approach to and textual analysis that shaped his collections of oral traditions.

Professional Career

Fieldwork and Anthropological Research

Courlander's anthropological fieldwork commenced with an initial expedition to in the early 1930s, funded by prize money from the Hopwood Awards and motivated by the writings of William B. Seabrook on Vodou. Intended originally as source material for a , the journey redirected his efforts toward systematic collection of oral , songs, and practices among rural Haitian populations. He resided in remote villages, transcribed narratives from storytellers, and documented musical performances tied to agricultural labor and religious ceremonies, emphasizing the cultural retentions in Haitian society. This immersion yielded Haiti Singing (1939), a compilation of over 100 songs illustrating syncretic traditions derived from Dahomean, Congolese, and European influences. Subsequent trips to extended his research through the 1930s and 1940s, including targeted recordings of folk songs on aluminum discs during 1939–1940, which captured work chants, lullabies, and Vodou hymns performed by participants in communal settings. By 1937–1955, his cumulative observations informed The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian People (1960), analyzing causal links between peasant subsistence farming, rhythmic drumming, and Vodou possession states as adaptive mechanisms for social cohesion amid economic hardship. Courlander's approach prioritized direct empirical recording over institutional frameworks, reflecting his status as an independent scholar who verified cultural authenticity through repeated cross-community validations rather than secondary academic interpretations. His fieldwork diversified beyond Haiti to other regions, encompassing field recordings of African American sacred and secular music in Alabama from January to February 1950, where he captured gospel harmonies and blues variants from church congregations and sharecroppers. In West Africa, including Nigeria and Ghana, he gathered Ashanti and Yoruba folktales during mid-century travels, focusing on narrative structures preserving pre-colonial cosmologies. Comparable efforts in Ethiopia documented Amhara proverbs, while expeditions to Indonesia and Pacific Islands yielded tales of trickster figures analogous to those in Haitian lore. In the American Southwest during the 1960s, Courlander conducted interviews with Hopi elders to compile migration epics, emphasizing oral transmission fidelity through clan-specific recitations. These endeavors consistently privileged primary audio and textual artifacts over interpretive overlays, enabling cross-cultural comparisons of motif persistence under colonial disruptions.

Folklore Collections and Publications

Courlander's folklore publications stemmed from decades of anthropological fieldwork, particularly in and , where he recorded oral narratives, songs, and customs to preserve traditions amid cultural erosion. His collections emphasized figures, myths, and communal lore, often adapting stories directly from local storytellers while maintaining fidelity to their cultural contexts. These works, numbering over a dozen, spanned Haitian vodoun-influenced tales, spider stories, and sub-Saharan epics, contributing to early 20th-century efforts in comparative . Early in his career, Haiti Singing (1939) captured Haitian vocal traditions, including vodoun ceremonies at Leogane and secular folk songs, based on recordings from multiple trips to the island. This was followed by The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian People (1960), a 371-page volume with 90 photographs and transcribed folk songs that detailed rural Haitian customs, agricultural rhythms, and spiritual practices as integral to daily existence. For West African material, The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories (1947, co-authored with George Herzog) assembled animal fables and moral tales from Liberia and Sierra Leone, highlighting themes of cunning and retribution common in oral repertoires. Subsequent collections included The Hat-Shaking Dance and Other Tales from the Gold Coast (1957), featuring Ashanti Anansasem spider tales of trickery; The King's Drum and Other African Stories (1962), compiling 30 sub-Saharan narratives on folklore and social customs; and The Piece of Fire and Other Haitian Tales (1964), with 26 stories of tricksters Uncle Bouqui and Ti Malice. Later efforts encompassed Kantchil's Lime Pit and Other Stories from Indonesia (1950), mouse-deer fables from Southeast Asian lore, and A Treasury of African Folklore (1975), an anthology of myths, epics, wisdom sayings, and humor drawn from diverse continental sources. He also documented African-American traditions in Negro Folk Music U.S.A. (1963), analyzing spirituals, work songs, and blues origins, and A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore (1976), which chronicled tales, proverbs, and religious customs from colonial eras onward. These publications, often accompanied by musical notations or illustrations, prioritized verbatim transcription over embellishment to reflect authentic voices.

Novels and Broader Literary Output

Courlander's novels drew extensively from his fieldwork in and , weaving authentic cultural elements into fictional narratives that explored themes of , , and traditions. His debut novel, The Caballero, published in 1940 by Farrar & Rinehart, is an adventure story set on a fictitious island, portraying tensions between white settlers and local populations amid exploitation and cultural clash. Among his most prominent fictional works is The African (1967, Crown Publishers), which traces the capture of a young man named Hwesuhunu from , his harrowing aboard a , and subsequent enslavement in the pre-Civil War American South under the name Wes Hunu. The novel emphasizes survival, cultural dislocation, and resistance, informed by Courlander's research on African oral traditions and the slave trade; by 1978, it had sold 14,000 and 130,000 copies. Other novels include The Son of the Leopard (1974), set in West Africa and focusing on tribal dynamics and leadership rites, and The Master of the Forge: A West African Odyssey (1981), which follows a blacksmith's journey through pre-colonial societies, incorporating motifs from Courlander's folklore collections. These works extended his literary output beyond nonfiction anthologies, blending narrative fiction with ethnographic detail to depict causal chains of historical and social forces in non-Western contexts, though they received less critical acclaim than his folklore compilations.

Plagiarism Controversy

Origins of the Dispute with

The dispute with originated from alleged textual and narrative parallels between Courlander's 1967 novel The African, published by Crown Publishers, and Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family, published by Doubleday in 1976. The African depicts the capture of a young boy by slave raiders, his confinement aboard a , and early experiences in enslavement, including interactions with a sympathetic ; similar sequences appear in Roots' portrayal of protagonist , a youth undergoing capture, the , and shipboard encounters with a . Courlander identified these overlaps after Roots achieved massive commercial success, selling over 1.5 million copies in its first printing, and especially following the miniseries adaptation, which aired from January 23 to 30, 1977, and drew an average of 44% household share in ratings. Upon obtaining and examining Roots, Courlander and his attorneys documented at least 80 passages with close or verbatim resemblances to The African, asserting that Haley had access to the earlier work through shared anthropological and circles. In 1977, Courlander initiated a copyright infringement lawsuit against Haley, Doubleday, and in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of , seeking damages for unauthorized use of protected material that contributed to Roots' vivid depiction of enslavement. The complaint emphasized that without elements from The African, Roots would have lacked key dramatic scenes central to its narrative impact.

Lawsuit Details and Settlement

In June 1978, Harold Courlander, along with his publisher Crown Publishers, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Alex Haley, his publisher Doubleday & Company, and paperback rights holder Dell Publishing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Haley had plagiarized substantial elements from Courlander's 1967 novel The African in his 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The complaint specifically highlighted over 80 passages, including narrative descriptions of a slave ship's tribulations, character dialogues, and plot devices such as a boy's tribal initiation rite and a confrontation between captives and crew, that Courlander claimed were lifted nearly verbatim or with minimal alteration. The , presided over by P. Griesa without a , commenced in late November and lasted six weeks, focusing on of direct textual overlaps and Haley's research notes. During proceedings, Haley conceded under oath that at least three specific passages in —involving scenes of unrest—had originated from The African, attributing the inclusions to unconscious incorporation during his extensive research process rather than intentional copying. Earlier in the case, (ABC), involved due to the Roots , had been dismissed as a . The trial concluded abruptly on December 14, 1978, when the parties agreed to an out-of-court settlement before closing arguments or a judicial ruling on liability. Under the terms, Haley issued a public statement acknowledging that "various materials from 'The African'" had been included in Roots and expressing regret for the oversight, while denying deliberate plagiarism. The financial component directed payments to Courlander and Crown, with the exact sum undisclosed in court filings but contemporaneously estimated at approximately $500,000 by sources close to the proceedings and later reported in multiple accounts as $650,000 (equivalent to about $3.2 million in 2023 dollars, accounting for legal fees and royalties). No admission of intentional wrongdoing was required beyond the acknowledgment of material inclusion, and the settlement precluded further litigation on the matter.

Implications for Historical Narratives

The between Courlander and Haley, reached on December 15, 1978, for $650,000, included Haley's admission that specific passages in Roots—appearing on pages 225, 321, and 369—derived from Courlander's 1967 novel The African without proper acknowledgment. Since The African is avowedly fictional, depicting an invented African boy's enslavement and transport to , the borrowed elements—such as a drum-making incident, a scene involving a white boy, and details of shipboard interactions—represent literary inventions rather than empirical reconstructions. Their uncredited integration into Roots, marketed as a blend of documented and tracing Haley's lineage to , implies that dramatic core sequences were fabricated or heavily novelized, not authenticated through Haley's claimed archival and familial research. This revelation has eroded the historical validity of Roots in scholarly assessments, as genealogical investigations post-publication failed to verify central claims, including Kunta Kinte's capture in 1767 near the Gambia's Juffure village or his specific experiences aboard Lord Ligonier. Historians, including those reviewing Haley's sources, concluded that reliance on embellished oral histories over primary records led to corrupted accounts, with no matching ship manifests or documents supporting the narrative's timeline and details. The plagiarism thus exemplifies how unacknowledged borrowing from fiction can infiltrate purportedly factual sagas, prompting critiques that Roots functions more as inspirational myth than rigorous history, despite its role in popularizing ancestry tracing among . Broader implications extend to the crafting of around the transatlantic slave trade, where Roots' unchallenged dominance in the shaped public perceptions of slavery's personal toll, yet subsequent exposures of fabrication highlight vulnerabilities in narratives blending evidence with invention. Educational uses of Roots have accordingly shifted toward contextual caveats, emphasizing verification to distinguish causal historical chains—such as documented migration patterns and enslavement records—from anecdotal or appropriated . This case underscores the ethical imperative for transparency in historical writing, as blending undetected fiction risks perpetuating misleading causal linkages about , , and .

Personal Life

Marriages and Family

Courlander married Ella Schneiderman, a social worker, in 1939; the couple had one , , born in 1940, before divorcing. He wed Meltzer on June 18, 1949, and they had two children: a son, , born April 9, 1951, and a , Susan Jean, born in 1955. Emma Courlander and the children frequently accompanied him on fieldwork expeditions, including trips to and other regions. At the time of his death in 1996, Courlander was survived by his wife, Meltzer Courlander; one son; two daughters; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Later Years and Death

In the decades following the settlement of his plagiarism lawsuit against in 1978, Courlander sustained his literary output, authoring works such as The Fourth World of the Hopis (1971), which examined cosmology and oral traditions; Big Falling Snow (1978), a drawing on Native American themes; The Bordeaux Narrative (1990), his final exploring practices; and The Tiger's Whisker and Other Tales from Asia and the Pacific (1995), a collection of from diverse regions. He also worked as a senior news analyst for of , retiring in the years prior to his death while residing in . Courlander undertook his last research trip to less than a year before his passing, reaffirming his lifelong focus on the island's cultural and anthropological dimensions. He died of on March 15, 1996, at age 87, at his home in .

Legacy and Recognition

Awards, Grants, and Honors

Courlander received the Newbery Honor in 1948 from the for The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories, co-authored with George Herzog and recognized for its distinguished contribution to . He was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships in 1948 and 1955, supporting his research in , cultures, and Afro-American traditions through fieldwork and scholarly pursuits. The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research provided multiple grants to Courlander, funding key expeditions including a 1946 project on and , a 1950 to and for recordings of regional , and a 1952 grant enabling travel to for material collection on African American oral traditions. Additional Wenner-Gren support in later years, such as 1954, facilitated ongoing anthropological studies. In recognition of his broader academic contributions, Courlander received the University of Michigan's Outstanding Achievement Award in 1984 and a nomination for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1980 for his body of work in children's literature. His novel The African (1967) earned a place on the American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults list in 1969.

Scholarly Influence and Criticisms

Courlander's anthropological and folkloristic works significantly advanced the documentation of , music, and oral traditions, drawing from extensive fieldwork in during the 1930s and 1940s. His book The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian People (1960) synthesized observations of peasant life, religious practices, and cultural retentions from , incorporating over 90 photographs and detailed ethnographic accounts that illuminated the interplay of and daily existence. This volume, praised for its ambitious scope and utility as a reference, influenced subsequent scholarship on the by providing primary source materials on syncretic traditions like Vodou ceremonies and work songs. His anthologies, such as A Treasury of African Folklore (1975) and A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore (1976), compiled narratives from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States, facilitating comparative studies of oral literature and ethnohistory across the Atlantic world. Courlander's recordings and retellings, including collaborations like The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories (1947), which earned a Newbery Honor, popularized authentic folk elements for broader audiences while serving as resources for academics examining cultural transmission. These efforts positioned him alongside contemporaries like Melville Herskovits in tracing African influences in New World cultures, though his focus on accessible narratives rather than purely theoretical frameworks limited his impact in formal anthropological theory. Criticisms of Courlander's scholarship are sparse in academic literature, with most reviews affirming the value of his fieldwork amid the era's challenges in folklore collection, such as editing inconsistencies in recordings. The primary controversy arose from his 1977 lawsuit against Alex Haley, alleging plagiarism of passages from Courlander's novel The African (1967) in Roots (1976); the out-of-court settlement in 1978, with Haley acknowledging the borrowings and paying $650,000, underscored issues of attribution when folklore motifs intersect with historical fiction but reinforced Courlander's claim to originality rather than impugning his methods. No widespread scholarly rebuke of his ethnographic accuracy emerged, though his outsider perspective as a non-Haitian collector occasionally invited scrutiny in later postcolonial critiques of Western anthropologists exoticizing non-European traditions.

Selected Works

Novels

Courlander's novels often drew upon his fieldwork in and , incorporating themes of cultural preservation, migration, and human resilience amid adversity. His fiction typically featured protagonists navigating historical upheavals, with narratives informed by oral traditions and ethnographic details from regions like , , and the . Unlike his nonfiction collections, these works presented original stories rather than direct retellings of folktales, though they echoed the rhythmic, communal styles he documented. The Caballero, published in 1940, marked Courlander's debut novel and explored themes of identity and adventure in a historical context, reflecting his early interests in Latin American cultures. Limited details survive in contemporary reviews, but it established his approach to blending factual historical backdrops with fictional character arcs. In The Big Old World of Richard Creeks (1962), Courlander depicted the life of a grappling with the vastness of expansion and personal legacy, incorporating elements of rural and patterns observed in his U.S.-based research. The novel received modest attention for its evocative portrayal of ordinary lives against broader societal shifts. The African (1967), published by Crown Publishers, stands as Courlander's most commercially successful novel, with 14,000 hardcover and 130,000 paperback copies sold by 1978. The story centers on Hwesuhunu, a 12-year-old boy from a West African village who is kidnapped by French slave traders, endures the Middle Passage, and faces enslavement in the Americas while striving to maintain his cultural heritage. Key plot elements include a successful slave revolt aboard the ship leading to a shipwreck, distinguishing it from contemporaneous works like Alex Haley's Roots. Critics noted its ambition to craft an epic scope but critiqued it for being event-heavy yet emotionally restrained, with Hwesuhunu's journey emphasizing stoic endurance over dramatic individualism. The Mesa of Flowers (1977) presents a non-heroic chronicling the collective history of an people from origins to , framed as a without a singular . Reviewers observed its departure from classical epic structure, focusing instead on communal evolution and cultural continuity, akin to Courlander's . A 2006 reprint underscored its enduring interest in mythic-historical blends.

Nonfiction and Anthropological Works

Courlander's nonfiction and anthropological output emphasized ethnographic documentation derived from prolonged fieldwork, prioritizing oral histories, cultural practices, and social structures over interpretive speculation. His studies often integrated music, rituals, and lore as windows into societal dynamics, reflecting a commitment to preserving indigenous perspectives amid modernization pressures. One of his foundational works, Haiti Singing (1939), examines Haitian folk music through transcribed songs, dances, and contextual analyses gathered during expeditions in the late 1930s. Published by the University of North Carolina Press, the 273-page volume categorizes repertoires by function—such as work songs, religious chants, and social gatherings—highlighting their role in daily peasant life and Vodou ceremonies, supported by phonograph recordings. The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian People (1960), a 371-page ethnographic from the , offers a comprehensive portrait of rural Haitian society based on two decades of intermittent fieldwork. Courlander details (symbolized by the hoe), communal drumming in rituals, Vodou cosmology, family structures, and syncretic , incorporating 48 pages of photographs, song transcriptions, and proverbs to illustrate causal links between environment, economy, and belief systems. The text underscores empirical patterns, such as how Vodou serves adaptive functions in coping with and colonial legacies, without romanticization. Shifting to Native American contexts, The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians as Preserved in Their Legends and Traditions (1971, revised 1987) reconstructs historical migrations and worldview through clan oral narratives collected via interviews with elders on the mesas from the 1950s onward. Issued initially by the Press in a 239-page edition, it frames lore as a sequential "" cycle of emergence, trials, and settlement, emphasizing verifiable motifs like ceremonies and agricultural adaptations to arid conditions, while noting variations across villages. The revision incorporates additional fieldwork data for precision. A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore (1963), published by Crown Publishers, compiles oral traditions—including tales, songs, and customs—from African-descended communities in the , framed anthropologically to trace retentions from African origins amid adaptations. Spanning over 400 pages, it draws on Courlander's archival and field sources to catalog elements like conjure practices and work rhymes, providing indices for comparisons.

Folklore and Folktales

Courlander's contributions to folklore centered on the documentation and adaptation of oral narratives from marginalized cultural traditions, drawing from extensive fieldwork in regions including , , , and the American Southwest. Beginning in the 1930s with trips to , he recorded stories in local languages, collaborating with native storytellers to capture authentic motifs, trickster figures such as and Bouqui, and moral lessons embedded in communal lore. His retellings prioritized fidelity to source material over Western moralizing, often incorporating accompanying music, proverbs, and ethnographic notes to contextualize tales within their societal functions, such as and . Among his earliest folklore publications was Uncle Bouqui of Haiti (1937), a collection of Creole tales featuring the trickster Bouqui, derived from direct recordings in rural Haitian communities. This was followed by The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories (1947), co-authored with ethnomusicologist George Herzog, which assembled 15 narratives from ethnic groups in , , and , emphasizing animal fables and human dilemmas; the book earned a Newbery Honor in 1948 for its illustrations and cultural preservation. Subsequent works expanded to East Africa with The Fire on the Mountain and Other Ethiopian Stories (1950), compiled alongside linguist Wolf Leslau from Amharic and regional sources, presenting 25 tales of wit, fate, and supernatural elements reflective of highland folklore. In West Africa, The Hat-Shaking Dance and Other Tales from the Gold Coast (1957) focused on Ashanti proverbs and adventures, later adapted into recordings like Ashanti Folk Tales from Ghana (1959). Haitian collections continued with Piece of Fire and Other Haitian Tales (1964), retelling Vodou-influenced stories of cunning and retribution. Later in his career, Courlander turned to Native American traditions, publishing People of the Short Blue Corn: Tales and Legends of the Hopi Indians (1970) and The Fourth World of the Hopis (1971), which synthesized clan migration epics, creation myths, and village histories from oral accounts, underscoring themes of emergence and harmony with nature. His anthologies, such as A Treasury of African Folklore (1983), compiled broader including epics, sayings, and humor from across the continent, serving as reference compilations for scholars. Additionally, Courlander produced spoken-word recordings for , including Folk Tales from West Africa (1959), to disseminate narratives aurally. These efforts preserved endangered traditions amid modernization, though reliant on his interpretive adaptations from field notes.

References

  1. [1]
    HAROLD COURLANDER PAPERS - University Libraries
    Courlander pursued his interest in ethnohistory and folklore by collecting stories, making recordings, and writing books and articles about a variety of ...
  2. [2]
    Harold Courlander, 82, Author And Expert on World Folklore
    Mar 19, 1996 · Harold Courlander, a scholar, author and collector of folkloristic troves from Alabama to Africa and the Pacific, died on Friday.Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
  3. [3]
    'Roots' Plagiarism Suit Is Settled - The New York Times
    Dec 15, 1978 · 'Roots' Plagiarism Suit Is Settled · The defendants in the suit were Mr. Haley and his publishers, Doubleday and Dell. · A similar case was ...Missing: v. details
  4. [4]
    Harold Courlander | Encyclopedia.com
    American folklorist Harold Courlander (1908-1996) was not a familiar name to most people during his lifetime. By preserving the history of Native Americans.
  5. [5]
    Courlander - Surname Origins & Meanings - Last Names - MyHeritage
    The name is believed to derive from the Yiddish word kurlander, which translates to a person from Courland, a historical region in present-day ...Missing: siblings | Show results with:siblings
  6. [6]
    Harold Courlander - Authors - Michigan Department of Education
    Mar 15, 2017 · Writings ; The Master of the Forge : A West African Odyssey, Fiction ; Hopi Voices : Recollections, Traditions, and Narratives of the Hopi Indians ...
  7. [7]
    Harold Courlander | Research Starters - EBSCO
    Harold Courlander was an American writer and cultural historian born on September 18, 1908, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He spent much of his youth in ...
  8. [8]
    Harold Courlander | Authors - Macmillan Publishers
    As a young man, Harold Courlander (1908-1996) took a trip to Haiti with the intention of doing research for a novel. He discovered his lifelong passion, ...Missing: expeditions | Show results with:expeditions
  9. [9]
    https://www.biblio.com/book/haiti-singing-courlander-harold/d/1162807295
  10. [10]
    ArchiveGrid : [Haiti, 1939-1940] / collected by Harold Courlander
    "Folk songs of Haiti.". Aluminum discs, reproduce from inside outward; 1st generation copies of the original acetate discs. Accompanied by a complete catalog of ...Missing: fieldwork | Show results with:fieldwork
  11. [11]
    The drum and the hoe: life and lore of the Haitian people
    Field Date: 1937-1955 ; Coverage Date: 1930-1960 ; Coverage Place: Haiti ; Notes: Harold Courlander: Includes bibliographical references and discography(p. 363-366) ...
  12. [12]
    Ballad Hunting in the Black Republic: Alan Lomax in Haiti, 1936-37
    ... Haiti in mid- February 1937 for his ethnographic fieldwork in Plaisance. Lay scholar, music collector, and novelist Harold Courlander first visited Haiti in ...<|separator|>
  13. [13]
    [PDF] Alabama Folklife Association - Squarespace
    Mar 5, 2023 · Harold Courlander. JAMES I. DEUTSCH. In January and February 1950, Harold Courlander conducted field record- ings of African American music in ...
  14. [14]
    Music of Haiti, Vol. 3: Songs and Dances of Haiti
    Folklorist, ethnographer and ethnomusicologist Harold Courlander, known for his important early work documenting the “vast unwritten literature, dances ...
  15. [15]
    https://www.biblio.com/book/haiti-singing-courlander-harold/d/1120625444
  16. [16]
    The drum and the hoe; life and lore of the Haitian people
    Sep 2, 2019 · The drum and the hoe; life and lore of the Haitian people. by: Courlander, Harold, 1908-. Publication date: 1960. Topics: Folk songs -- Haiti ...
  17. [17]
    Books by Harold Courlander (Author of The Cow-Tail Switch and ...
    Harold Courlander has 91 books on Goodreads with 4299 ratings. Harold Courlander's most popular book is The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories.
  18. [18]
    https://www.biblio.com/book/treasury-african-folklore-harold-courlander/d/1694124651
  19. [19]
    Catalog Record: The caballero | HathiTrust Digital Library
    The caballero. Author: Courlander, Harold, 1908-1996. Published: 1940. The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas. Author: Massey, Cynthia Leal, 1956-; Published: 2002 ...
  20. [20]
    Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction | Kirkus Reviews
    Hwesuhunu is the African, uprooted and transplanted as Wes Hunu, slave in the pre-Civil War South. It's a careful, considered novel, far removed from any ...Missing: summary | Show results with:summary
  21. [21]
    Harold Courlander | Hachette Book Group
    His works include A Treasury of African Folklore, The Fourth World of the Hopis, Tales of the Yoruba Gods and Heroes, The African, and The Son of the Leopard.Missing: output novels short
  22. [22]
    https://onesearch.fitnyc.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma991007575069704801&context=L&vid=01SUNY_FIT:01SUNY_FIT&lang=en&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine
  23. [23]
    Nation: Roots' Roots | TIME - Time Magazine
    Dec 25, 1978 · But Harold Courlander, 70, a white ... *Black Author Margaret Walker Alexander filed a similar suit against Haley, charging plagiarism ...
  24. [24]
    Amazing 'Roots' returns after 40 years, dredging up Alex Haley ...
    but settled a highly publicized plagiarism lawsuit.Missing: dispute origins<|separator|>
  25. [25]
    Bethesda Author Settles 'Roots' Suit for ... - The Washington Post
    Dec 14, 1978 · NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 1978 -- Alex Haley agreed to pay a Bethesda, Md., author about $500,000 today and publicly expressed regred that portions ...
  26. [26]
    Roots Author Alex Haley Is Sued for Plagiarism | Research Starters
    In 1978, writer Harold Courlander sued Haley for plagiarizing parts of his 1967 novel The African. In later years, Haley faced other charges of falsification of ...Missing: v. | Show results with:v.
  27. [27]
    Alex Haley and 'Roots' Plagiarism Changed American Indian identity
    Jun 10, 2023 · Alex Haley and 'Roots' Plagiarism Changed ... Courlander first discovered the plagiarism after watching the televised rendition of Roots.Missing: details | Show results with:details
  28. [28]
    Alex Haley - Roots, Books & Quotes - Biography
    Aug 7, 2020 · Plagiarism Controversy. In 1978, novelist and anthropologist Harold Courlander filed a lawsuit against Haley, claiming he had plagiarized 81 ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  29. [29]
    Alex Haley's Roots of Deception - The Center for Biblical Unity
    Apr 1, 2025 · Charges of Plagiarism ; 1) A judge found that Alex Haley had indeed plagiarized Courlander's book and ordered Haley to pay $500,000. ( ; 2) ...Missing: v. case details
  30. [30]
    'Roots' Anniversary Edition Plagiarizing … Again? - Vulture
    Jun 8, 2007 · ... Harold Courlander, who ultimately received a substantial settlement” ($650,000). When asked why the purloined passages were not identified ...
  31. [31]
    'Roots' is a lie too good to get rid of - SouthCoastToday.com
    Jan 19, 2002 · Since he had paid Harold Courlander $650,000 in a plagiarism suit, why shouldn't Haley be considered a criminal instead of a hero? Haley had ...Missing: exact | Show results with:exact
  32. [32]
    The Prize that Taints the Pulitzer's Ethics and Honor
    Apr 20, 2018 · On December 14, 1978, Haley admitted plagiarizing The African, a slave novel by prolific folklorist Harold Courlander, in Roots and paid ...
  33. [33]
    Roots of the problem: the controversial history of Alex Haley's book
    Feb 9, 2017 · Haley's influential family saga about 18th century slavery is back on TV, but its literary reputation is still tarnished by questions of authenticity.
  34. [34]
    Black Genealogy After Alex Haley's Roots - AAIHS
    Jun 17, 2022 · Despite the many challenges present in doing Black genealogy it is possible to reclaim histories that were once degraded, erased, and lost.Missing: siblings | Show results with:siblings
  35. [35]
    Alex Haley's "Roots": Fact or Fiction? by Thomas Sowell
    part fact and part fiction. He said that he had tried to give ...
  36. [36]
    When Genealogists Walked Out: Lessons from the Roots Controversy
    Aug 11, 2025 · ... Harold Courlander – a fact that led to a plagiarism lawsuit settled in 1978. Haley's research methods also came under scrutiny. He had ...
  37. [37]
    Harold Aaron COURLANDER - Recording Pioneers
    Harold Aaron COURLANDER 1908 - 1996 ; birth, 18 Sep 1908, Indianapolis, Indiana ; baptism ; death, 15 Mar 1996, Bethesda, Montgomery, Maryland ; burial.
  38. [38]
    Harold Courlander - Biography - IMDb
    Born. September 18, 1908 · Indianapolis, Indiana, USA ; Died. March 15, 1996 · Bethesda, Maryland, USA (emphysema) ; Birth name. Harold Aaron Courlander ...
  39. [39]
    Michael Courlander Obituary - Silver Spring, MD - Dignity Memorial
    Apr 20, 2025 · Mike was born on April 9th 1951 in New York, NY to Harold and Emma Courlander. Mike is survived by his loving wife, Phyllis, and his son Scott.Missing: marriages | Show results with:marriages
  40. [40]
    OBITUARIES - The Washington Post
    Mar 16, 1996 · HAROLD COURLANDER Writer. Harold Courlander, 82, a writer and retired Voice of America senior news analyst, died March 15 at his home in ...Missing: studies | Show results with:studies
  41. [41]
    The Cow-Tail Switch, and Other West African Stories | ALA
    Awards Won ; John Newbery Medal. A medal to be given for the most distiguished contribution to children's literature produced during the preceding calendar year.
  42. [42]
    Explore Fellows - Guggenheim Fellowship
    Harold Courlander. 1948, 1955. Burris B. Cunningham. 1955. Philip Davis. 1955. J. C. Decius. 1955. Everett R. Dempster. 1955. José de Onís. 1955. David K.
  43. [43]
    State's Musical Heritage Preserved on Recordings
    Harold Courlander produced a set of recordings during a 1950 fieldtrip to Alabama and Mississippi sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for ...
  44. [44]
    Harold Courlander Facts for Kids
    Oct 17, 2025 · Harold Courlander (born September 18, 1908 – died March 15, 1996) was an American writer, folklorist, and anthropologist.Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
  45. [45]
    JJ 11/70: Negro Folk Music, U.S.A. - Jazz Journal
    Nov 27, 2020 · Courlander, whose 'The Drum and The Hoe' is an outstanding study of folk tradition in Haiti, has specialised in the study of the ...
  46. [46]
    Africana Folklore: History and Challenges - jstor
    In the vein of scholars such as Herskovits and William Bascom. (1981), Harold Courlander's research linked the traditions of Africa, the Caribbean and the ...
  47. [47]
    Negro Folk Music U.S.A. By Harold Courlander. (New York - jstor
    Islands. There are criticisms of the editing done in the past; there are also serious faults with the collecting. Little has been done ...
  48. [48]
    Harold Courlander - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
    Courlander was born on Sept. 18, 1908, in Indianapolis, Ind. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1931, he worked as a farmer for several ...
  49. [49]
    <i>The Mesa of Flowers</i> by Harold Courlande (review)
    Oct 4, 2017 · The publishers call The Mesa of Flowers “An Epic Quest.” In the classical sense the book is not an epic; it has no hero, although it does relate ...
  50. [50]
    Haiti Singing - Harold Courlander - Google Books
    Author, Harold Courlander ; Publisher, University of North Carolina Press, 1939 ; Original from, University of Texas ; Digitized, Feb 14, 2008 ; Length, 273 pages.Missing: gathering | Show results with:gathering
  51. [51]
    Haiti Singing : Harold Courlander - Internet Archive
    Aug 1, 2020 · Publication date: 1973. Topics: iticism, e -- Haiti, sm -- Haiti, criticism, d criticism. Publisher: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc.Missing: fieldwork | Show results with:fieldwork
  52. [52]
    The Drum and the Hoe—Life and Lore of the Haitian People. Harold ...
    The Drum and the Hoe—Life and Lore of the Haitian People. Harold Courlander. (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1960.) xv + 371 pp.
  53. [53]
    https://www.kachinahouse.com/the-fourth-wold-of-the-hopis-3568
  54. [54]
    The Fourth World Of The Hopis - eHRAF World Cultures
    Harold Courlander, a noted folklorist, presents in this work ... The fourth world of the Hopis. University of New Mexico Press • Albuquerque ...
  55. [55]
    Harold Courlander: Books - Amazon.com
    4.5 17K · 30-day returnsThe Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians as Preserved in Their Legends and Traditions by Harold Courlander
  56. [56]
    Folk Tales from West Africa | Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
    Originally released in 1959, this spoken-word compilation contains five folk tales from West Africa narrated by Harold Courlander. Coulander, a folklorist ...Missing: folklore | Show results with:folklore<|separator|>
  57. [57]
    Uncle Bouqui of Haiti by Harold Courlander
    Augusta Baker, storyteller and proponent of children's literature, reads three of the Haitian folktales transcribed by Harold Courlander in his eponymously- ...
  58. [58]
    The Cow-Tail Switch: And Other West African Stories (Newbery ...
    As a young man, Harold Courlander (1908-1996) took a trip to Haiti with the intention of doing research for a novel. He discovered his lifelong passion ...
  59. [59]
    The fire on the mountain, and other Ethiopian stories - Internet Archive
    Jul 25, 2011 · The fire on the mountain, and other Ethiopian stories. by: Courlander, Harold, 1908-1996; Leslau, Wolf; Thomas Leiper Kane Collection (Library ...
  60. [60]
    The Fire on the Mountain and Other Ethiopian Stories - Goodreads
    Rating 4.1 (22) A distinguished collection of folk stories and legends of the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea with the wisdom, cynical humor and freshness of the ancient ...
  61. [61]
    Ashanti: Folk Tales from Ghana | Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
    Folklorist and anthropologist Harold Courlander (1908–1996) recorded these popular Ashanti stories in 1959, adapting them from his book The Hat Shaking ...
  62. [62]
    People of the Short Blue Corn: Tales & Legends of the Hopi Indians
    Harold Courlander intends for his collections of folklore to be much more ... He has written several novels and was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship.<|control11|><|separator|>
  63. [63]
    The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians as ...
    The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians as Preserved in Their Legends and Traditions ; Quantity:1 ; Shipped & Sold by. Amazon.com.
  64. [64]
    https://www.biblio.com/authors/harold-courlander/43116