Career

After spending most of her early life as a high school teacher, Ruth Ann Musick returned to school one last time to get her Doctor of Philosophy in English. While earning this degree, she grew to love folklore and found her passion for writing it. Three years after earning this degree, she moved to West Virginia to teach at Fairmont State University. While there, she revived West Virginia folklore and even started Fairmont State's first folklore course in 1948. In 1950, Musick was one of the leading individuals that helped save the West Virginia Folklore Society, which had been dormant for several years. She became the folklore ambassador for West Virginia, and promoted it with education, television, public speaking, and her publications. Her most notable publications are Ballads, Folk Songs, and Folk Tales From West Virginia; The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales; Green Hills of Magic, West Virginia Folktales from Europe; and Coffin Hollow and Other Ghost Tales. Musick also wrote some pieces for West Virginia newspapers, two of which became quite popular: "The Old Folks Say" and "Sassafras Tea." Musick retired from Fairmont State in 1967 and promoted and wrote folklore until she died in 1974. Fairmont State honored the tremendous work she did by naming their library the Ruth Ann Musick Library.