Sylvia Grider

Sylvia Ann Grider (born 1940) is an American folklorist, noted for her research into such topics as ghosts, child lore, and the memorialization of tragic events.

She served as president of the American Folklore Society, from 1993–1994.

Early life and education Grider was born in Pampa, Texas, in 1940. She attended Pampa High School, graduating in 1959.

Through a Cabot Scholarship, she attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a BA in Latin in 1963 and then a MA in history (with a minor in classical civilization) in 1967. Between these degrees, she taught at Caprock High School in Amarillo, Texas.

Aggie Bonfire After the fatal collapse of the Aggie Bonfire in 1999, Grider directed the university's Bonfire Memorabilia Collection Project, documenting and archiving all of the shrines to the bonfire that were created on the A&M campus.

Recognition Grider has served as president of the Texas Folklore Society, president of the American Folklore Society, and as delegate to the American Council of Learned Studies.

Selected publications Grider, Sylvia Ann (1975). "Con Safos: Mexican-Americans, Names and Graffiti". The Journal of American Folklore. 88 (348): 132–142. . . Grider, Sylvia Ann (1975). "The Shotgun House in Oil Boomtowns of The Texas Panhandle". Pioneer America. 7 (2): 47–55. . Grider, Sylvia Ann (1980). "The Study of Children's Folklore". Western Folklore. 39 (3): 159–169. . . Grider, Sylvia Ann (1980). "A Select Bibliography of Childlore". Western Folklore. 39 (3): 248–265. . Grider, Sylvia (1995). "Passed down from Generation to Generation: Folklore and Teaching". The Journal of American Folklore. 108 (428): 178–185. . . Grider, Sylvia Ann (1997), Tuleja, Tad (ed.), "How Texans Remember the Alamo", Usable Pasts, Traditions and Group Expressions in North America, University Press of Colorado, pp. 274–290, , , retrieved 2022-02-17 Grider, Sylvia Ann and Rodenberger, Lou Halsell (eds.) (1997) Texas women writers : a tradition of their own. (1st ed.). College Station: Texas A & M University Press. 1997. . . Grider, Sylvia (2001). "Spontaneous Shrines: A Modern Response to Tragedy and Disaster Update note: 3/1/02". New Directions in Folklore. 5. . Grider, Sylvia Ann and Rodenberger, Lou Halsell (eds.) (2003) Let's hear it : stories by Texas women writers. College Station: Texas A & M University Press. 2003. . OCLC 51905754. Goldstein, Diane E., Grider, Sylvia Ann, Thomas, Jeannie B. (2007). Haunting experiences: ghosts in contemporary folklore. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. . . Grider, Sylvia (2007). "Public Grief and the Politics of Memorial: Contesting the Memory of 'the Shooters' at Columbine High School". Anthropology Today. 23 (3): 3–7. . Grider, S. (2011). Memorializing Shooters with Their Victims: Columbine, Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University. In P. J. Margry & C. Sánchez-Carretero (Eds.), Grassroots Memorials: The Politics of Memorializing Traumatic Death (1st ed., pp. 108–142). Berghahn Books.