RONALD L. BAKER Clay County, IN

Ronald L. Baker (June 30, 1937-June1, 2023) was a folklorist, historian, scholar of literature, educator and author and a man who loved dogs and baseball and jazz. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Ellen Harrison Baker. He earned his B. S. in Business Administration from Indiana State University in 1960 and received an M.A. in philosophy for the same institution in 1961. He did graduate work in English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also was an instructor from 1963-1965.

He attended the Folklore Institute of America at Indiana University in the summer of 1962 and enrolled in the doctoral program in folklore while also minoring in comparative literature and philosophy. He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1969 with a dissertation on folklore in the writings of Rowland Robinson. In 1966, he began teaching at Indiana State University where he advanced to become professor and chair of the English Department for twenty-six years before he retired in 2006. He also taught English classes at Indiana University Fort Wayne (1965, 1966) and at Indiana University, Bloomington as a visiting professor (1975, 1978, 1984).

Baker’s research was mostly on language and narrative in American literature, historical documents, and folklore. He specialized in the study of place names, particularly in the Midwest.

He published over 100 articles in professional journals and magazines and was the author or editor of nine books: Folklore in the Writings of Rowland Robinson (1973), Indiana Place Names (1975), Hoosier Folk Legends (1984) Jokelore:Humorous Folktales from Indiana (1986), French Life in Old Vincennes (1989), The Study of Place Names (1991), From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History (1995), Homeless, Friendless and Penniless: The WPA Interviews with Former Slaves Living in Indiana (2000), and Jesse Stuart and Hoosier Schoolmasters (2007), and An Ideal and Satisfying Life: Joseph S. Schick (1910-1987) (2015). Two of his books are unpublished at the time of his death: A History of Place Names in Indiana (2021) and James Buchanan Elmore (1857-1942): Literary Ethnographer and Folk Poet (2023).

He also served as editor of three journals: Indiana Names, Midwestern Folklore, and The Folklore Historian. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the History and Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society in 1988, the Indiana State University Research/Creativity Award in 1990, and the Presidential Medal in recognition of exemplary performance as a faculty member at Indiana State University in 2000.

He was elected as a Fellow of the American Folklore Society in 1996 and he served as president and secretary of the Hoosier Folklore Society for many years. In 2005, folklore colleagues presented him with a festschrift in his honor entitled Manly Traditions: The Folks Roots of American Masculinities edited by Simon J. Bronner.

In addition to his scholarly work, Ronald Baker was very proud to have become an Eagle Scout in 1951 at age 14. He was preceded in death by his son, Jonathan Kemp Baker. He is survived by his wife Catherine Anne Neal Baker, whom he married on October 21, 1960, his daughter Susannah Jill Baker of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and by many cousins and extended family.

Visitation well begin at 4:00pm on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at the Lawson-Miller Chapel, 1702 E. National Ave. Brazil, Indiana.

The service will begin at 4:30. A reception will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, the family would encourage friends to donate to the WFIU Radio at www.Indianapublicmedia.org.

The burial will be Sunday, June 11, at 1:00pm at Clearview Cemetery, Lee Reberger officiating. Post a note of condolence at www.lawson-millerchapel.com