Carmen Roy

Carmen Roy was an ethnologist and folklorist who conducted an oral survey in the Gaspé Peninsula and served in many roles as curator and section director at Canada's National Museum in Ottawa in the late 1940s through to the 1980s. Working with Marius Barbeau and Luc Lacouciere, she helped build and modernize ethnographic practice in Canada and was considered an early leader in the field of folklore in the country. As an administrator at the National Museum she also helped foster the scholarship of collectors such as Helen Creighton and Edith Fowke.

Early life and education Roy grew up in Cap-Chat on the Gaspé Peninsula, where she published poetry under the pseudonym "Mousse Des Bois." She would later attend Collège Marguerite-Bourgeoys in Montreal where she completed her baccalauréat en Lettres in 1942. Her jury included Charles Bruneau and Henri-Irénée Marrou. By 1977 Roy held the position of Senior Scientist-Folk Culture at the now renamed National Museum of Man. She retired in 1984 but continued to work from the museum until 1992. She implemented a multidisciplinary approach to folklore studies in her leadership roles at the Folklore Division and expanded the scope to reflect the demographic realities of Canadian society the foundations of the Canadian mosaic. Roy, Carmen. Les Acadiens de la rive nord du fleuve Saint-Laurent. Ottawa: Queens Printer. 1963. Collection de chansons recueillies à la Baie Sainte-Marie : par Carmen Roy et Maguy Andral au cours des années 1959 e t 1962. Roy, Carmen. Contes populaires gaspésiens. Montreal: Fides. 1956. Roy, Carmen. La pêche en Gaspésie (technologie et terminologie). Ottawa: 1956 Roy, Carmen. Le géant Brigandin. Montreal: Fides. 1956? Roy, Carmen. La Littérature Orale en Gaspésie. Ottawa: 1955.

Awards Folkloriste canadien ou canadienne de distinction, Folklore Studies Association of Canada (1982) Public Service Award for 25 years of service (1979) Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977) Canadian Centennial Medal (1967)