Henry Glassie

Henry H. Glassie III (born 24 March 1941) is a folklorist and emeritus College Professor of Folklore at Indiana University Bloomington. With specializations in folk art, folklife, vernacular architecture and material culture, Glassie has written nearly twenty books on folklore of the areas of Ireland, Turkey, Bangladesh, and the United States. Three of these have been named by The New York Times as "Notable Books of the Year."

Glassie received his B.A. from Tulane University in 1964, his M.A. from the Cooperstown Graduate Program of the State University of New York in 1965, and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. During the time of his doctoral work, he also served as the state folklorist for Pennsylvania. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972. He is also a former president of the American Folklore Society and the Vernacular Architecture Forum.

Glassie is married to fellow folklorist Pravina Shukla, clothing and adornment specialist, and has four children and four grandchildren.

Glassie has received a number of honors and awards for his folklore work including:

• All Silver and No Brass: Third Prize, Chicago Folklore Prize, 1977.
• Passing the Time in Ballymenone: First Prize, Chicago Folklore Prize, 1983; John L. Haney Prize in the Social Sciences, 1982; New York Times and Choice lists of best books of the year for 1982.
• American Folklore Society, Folk Art Section, Centennial Award, 1989.
• Award of Honor for Superior Service to Turkish Culture from the Ministry of Culture of the Turkish Republic (by the law of 1934, no. 1636), 1993.
• Henry H. Douglas Distinguished Service Award of the Pioneer America Society, 1993.
• Turkish Traditional Art Today: New York Times List of Notable Books of the Year, 1994.
• Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Award, Assembly of Turkish American Associations, 1995.
• Art and Life in Bangladesh: Certificate of Honour from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1998. Crest of Honor, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh, 1998.
• Friend of Bangladesh Award in Recognition of Outstanding Contribution toward Bangladesh, Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America, 2000.
• Encomium for service to historic preservation, Bloomington City Common Council, March 1, 2000.
• Glassie was nominated to the National Council on the Humanities by President Bill Clinton in 2000. He served in 2001.
• Fatih University, Istanbul, Board of Trustees Recognition for Contributions to Turkish Cultural Life, 2001.
• Vernacular Architecture: Abbott Lowell Cummings Award of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, for the best book on North American vernacular architecture, 2001.
• Honoree, Eighth Annual Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 30, 2002.
• Vernacular Architecture Forum outstanding achievement award named the Henry Glassie Award, 2003.
• Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology award for excellence in teaching by a graduate student named the Henry Glassie Award, 2006.

Glassie was also awarded the Warren Roberts Award from Bloomington Restorations, Incorporated in 2000. He served on the board of directors for Bloomington Restoration as well as serving two terms (1992 and 1998) as its president.

• Connor Prairie Pioneer Settlement, Noblesville, Indiana, 1971-1976.
• Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1973.
• Ulster-American Folk Park, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, 1972-1982.
• Cultural Conservation Report, American Folklife Center and Department of the Interior, 1981-1982.
• American Frontier Culture Foundation, 1982-1992 Rockefeller Foundation, 1999.
• Silk Road Program, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 2000-2002.

• Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States (1969)
• Folk Housing in Middle Virginia: A Structural analysis of Historic Artifacts (1975)
• All Silver and No Brass: An Irish Christmas Mumming (1975)
• Passing the Time in Ballymenone (1982), awarded the Chicago Folklore Prize
• Irish Folktales (1985)
• The Spirit of Folk Art: The Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art (1989)
• Turkish Traditional Art Today (1993)
• Art and Life in Bangladesh (1997)
• Material Culture (1999)
• The Potters Art (1999)
• Vernacular Architecture (2000)
• The Stars of Ballymenone (2006)
• Prince Twins Seven-Seven (2010)
• Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line (2015)

Other works include

• (with MacEdward Leach) A Guide for Collectors of Oral Traditions and Folk Cultural Material in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1968. Reprinted 1973.
• (with Austin and Alta Fife, eds.) Forms upon the Frontier: Folklife and Art in the United States. Monograph Series, XVI: 2. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1969.
• (with Edward D. Ives and John F. Szwed) Folksongs and Their Makers. Bowling Green: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1970.
• (with Linda Dégh and Felix Oinas, eds.) Folklore Today: A Festschrift for Richard M. Dorson. Bloomington: Research Center for Language and Semiotic Studies, 1976.
• Irish Folk History: Texts from the North. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press; Dublin: O’Brien Press, 1982. Reprinted: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.
• Gűnűműzde Geleneksel Tűrk Sanati. Istanbul: Pan Yayincilik, 1993.
• (with Takashi Takahara) Lions of Clay: The Tradition of Figurative Ceramics in Contemporary Japan.Bloomington: Indiana University Press, in progress.

Glassie has also written many articles for publication, served as a reviewer, and helped created many exhibitions.