About

Ruth Ann Musick was an iconic West Virginia folklorist and author. After attending Kirksville State Teacher's College and earning her B.S. in education, Musick went on to teach at several high schools in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Arizona until she eventually returned to school in Iowa to get her doctorate. It was while pursuing this that she found her love for folklore and began to write some of her first published works. In fact, in order to become a Doctor of Philosophy in English, she had to write a novel for her dissertation. This novel, titled "Hell's Holler" was never published, but describes some of the struggles in her own life and was one of her first longer works. After being introduced to folklore by Edwin Ford Piper and greatly admiring it, she brought that passion to West Virginia. While there, she taught Math and English at Fairmont State College until her retirement in 1967. Musick accomplished a great deal for the folklore in West Virginia and became a household name in the folklore genre.