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the earliest recording in the collection, c. 1940

Harold W. Thompson taught American folklore and literature at Albany College and Cornell University. He also compiled several highly influential books based on his extensive folklore research and reports culled from students. First published in 1939, Thompson’s classic Body, Boots, and Britches collected and analyzed an astonishing range of reports on the beliefs and everyday practices in New York State. The bulk of the 1,688 student reports composed for "Dr. Tommy" is available in the Harold W. Thompson Archives at the NYSHA Library. These reports provide a background for the ANYSF collection.

Thompson below describes interviewing Jay Cassady, air traffic controller at the Albany International Airport, about beliefs surrounding forecasting the weather.

As the repository for the ANYSF, the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA) Library in Cooperstown, New York, has begun the process of digitally reformatting the collection. Approximately fifteen selections, including the Thompson recording, have been transferred to digital .wav and .mp3 files along with compact discs. Patron copies were also generated, and are now available on loan from the NYSHA Library.

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