The Robinson-Roeder-Ward Fellowship is awarded by the Folklore and Education Section in memory of folklorists Beverly Robinson, Bea Roeder, and Vaughn Ward. Each was a person of vision, scholarship, and activism, and they inspired a generation of folklorists working in K-12 education.
Beverly Robinson was known as a theater historian, folklorist, producer, writer, director and professor in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Beverly received her MA in folklore from the University of California, Berkeley and her PhD in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. She was director of the African Studies Program at UCLA. A prolific writer, noted author, and contributor to several chapters in books and numerous articles, Beverly was also known for her research for such films as Miss Evers’ Boys, Nightjohn, and The Color Purple. As a scholar and innovator, Beverly brought folklore and folklife into the public eye. Beverly passed away in May 2002.
Bea Roeder, a native Californian, became fascinated by Colorado’s rich folk heritage while working with Southwest Studies Folklore collections at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. She returned to graduate school to pursue her newfound interest and received her PhD, focusing on Hispanic folk medicine, from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984. Bea worked for the Colorado Council on the Arts as a regional folklorist and was a force behind the CCA/NEA project Ties that Bind, a multimedia kit about Colorado’s many folk traditions for school teachers. She was deeply involved with Native American culture and spirituality and a student of the Lakota language. Bea passed away in June 2003.
Vaughn Ward, a folklorist and musician, was a founding member of Caffe Lena. Vaughn taught high school English where her students organized the first Niskayuna Festival. She was a staff folklorist for the Lower Adirondack Arts Council and organized the Adirondack Liar’s Club in 1986. She also founded the Black Crow Network to support tradition bearers and those with an interest in interpreting the history of the Mohawk-Champlain region and eastern Adirondacks. Vaughn passed away in December 2001.
The 2025 Robinson-Roeder-Ward Prizes awarded by the AFS Folklore and Education section will help support the participation of up to two K-12 educators, museum educators, and other community-based teachers at the American Folklore Society conference in Atlanta, GA.
There are two categories within this award:
Category 1. Educators who are attending AFS Atlanta conference as presenters. The RRW Prize will provide the recipient of Category 1 with a travel stipend of $500 to participate in-person in the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in Atlanta, GA, October 18-21, 2025, along with a complimentary membership to both the American Folklore Society and the Folklore and Education Section for one year.
Category 2. Educators who will be first-time AFS conference attendees who wish to attend to deepen their relationship with the society. The RRW Prize will provide the recipient of Category 2 with a complimentary membership to both the American Folklore Society and the Folklore and Education Section for one year, so they can receive a discounted rate on the conference registration.
Deadline for applications is June 1, 2025. Applicants will be notified of the results of the committee’s decisions by June 15, 2025.
Applicants should
- Provide your contact information of: name, mailing address, preferred or alternate email address, and phone number(s)
- Describe your background as a K-12 classroom teacher or educator of children and youth in another setting. (one paragraph here, with the option to attach a short resume at end of the application)
- If you are applying for the RRW prize in Category 1, please share what presentation you will be making at AFS Atlanta and your plans for participation in the conference. If you are applying for the RRW prize in Category 2, please share what you hope to learn at AFS by attending organized session(s) and how you plan to participate in the larger AFS conference in Atlanta.
- Outline how travel funds or membership fees from the RRW prize will aid in participation. (It is helpful if you can also share information with the committee about other funding that might be available to you to attend the conference and if you plan on accessing these other funds.)
- Optional: You may attach a short resume (2 pages maximum) that contains any further information you might like to share with the committee about your background as a K-12 classroom teacher or educator of children and youth in another setting.
If you have any questions, please contact the section conveners at ed.section@afsnet.org
Previous RRW Fellowship Awardees:
2023: Shelly Craig and Brettagne Aleck, Mount Adams School District, White Swan, Washington for incorporating Native American cultural heritage education throughout the school district.
2019: Andrew Feight for his work developing Scioto Historical, an educational mobile app and website with map-based, interactive, multi-media virtual historic tours.
2018: Lacey Cornell of Kids Cook! Albuquerque for her work in incorporating foodways.
2013: Natasha Agrawal, an ESL teacher at Carroll Robbins Elementary School in Trenton, New Jersey.
2011: Heather Cunningham for her work as an educator to incorporate folklore in to her curriculum offered to students at City Charter High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
2008: Emily Coffey of Edmonton, KY, for her work in incorporating folk arts into her classroom.
2006: Mark Wagler, a 4th and 5th-grade teacher at Randall School in Madison, WI. Wagler regularly incorporates personal and cultural study into his classrooms.
2005: Renee Morris. Renee’s students conduct original research and document family stories, writing about issues that affect us daily and publish yearly stories from their research.
2004: Tamara Newman for her work in incorporating interview and ethnography fo WWII vets into her high-school English class.