The Legends of the Nittany Valley feature only a small sampling of the total number of indigenous American Indian and Anglo-European settler legends collected or written by Henry W. Shoemaker, the first official Pennsylvania state folklorist. While folklore itself has been a part of the human experience from our earliest days, the formal study of folklore remains relatively new. Penn State has been a leader at the intersection of American literature and folklore, with Penn State’s Folklore Studies Program launched in 1972. Folklore and the passing along of oral traditions, legends, and stories—tales where fact, fiction, and memory converge—remains an essential part of every culture.
Subscribe to continue reading
Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.