Edward D. Ives

Edward Dawson (Sandy) Ives (September 4, 1925 – August 1, 2009) was an American folklorist. His work concentrated on the oral traditions of Maine and the Maritime Provinces of Canada, particularly, as he said, "on local songs and their makers but also on cycles of tales about local heroes." He founded the Maine Folklife Center in 1992 and was its director until his retirement in 1998.

Biography He grew up in White Plains, New York, served in the Marines, studied literature in college and, beginning in 1955, taught English at the University of Maine. In 1962, he obtained a Ph.D. in folklore from Indiana University and in 1964, he became a professor of folklore at the University of Maine.

He performed as a folk singer to supplement his income as a lecturer. The next year, he founded the Northeast Folklore Society and began editing the monograph series Northeast Folklore. His Folkways Records album, Folk Songs of Maine, was released in 1959.

For more than forty years, Ives continued to explore the northeastern oral tradition, publishing his findings with some regularity.

In his work in New Brunswick, he was closely associated with folksong collector and radio broadcaster Louise Manny.