Randall V. Mills

Randall V. Mills (1907-1952), born in Wisconsin in 1907, Mills was an English professor with a variety of interests related to the Pacific Northwest, including steamboats, railroads and folklore.

Education

In 1929 Mills received his undergraduate degree University of California, Los Angeles(UCLA).

His master’s degree was received from University of California, Berkeley in 1932.

University of Oregon

He became part of the University of Oregon English faculty in 1938.

Mills had a variety of interests. One of his main interests was in the history of transportation in the Pacific Northwest, especially steamboats and railroads. He was also interested in all aspects of covered bridges. Another subject for which Mills showed enthusiasm was folklore, particularly proverbs, dialects, songs, superstitions and place names. [ [http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv71485 Guide to the Randall V. Mills papers at the University of Oregon] ]

Folklore

He was the founder and first president of the Oregon Folklore Society [ [http://www.jstor.org/view/0043373x/ap050021/05a00150/0 Obituary in Western Folklore] ] . He served as Director for the Oregon branch of the American Dialect Society, he also chaired the state sub-committee for the collection of dialect sayings.

He held the position of associate editor for Western Folklore.

The University of Oregon has named its Folklore Archives in honor of Mills. This archive is the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest [ [http://www.uoregon.edu/~flr/welcome/archives.htm Randall V. Mills Folklore Archives] ] .

Mills died in 1952 at the age of 44.

Books by Mills

*"Stern-wheelers up Columbia : a century of steamboating in the Oregon country". by Randall Vause Mills. Publisher: Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1977, ©1947.

*"Oregon speechways". by Randall V Mills. Publisher: [New York] : Columbia University Press, ©1950.

*"Railroads down the valleys; some short lines of the Oregon country". by Randall V Mills. Publisher: Palo Alto, Calif., Pacific Books, 1950.

References

External links

* [http://www.uoregon.edu/~flr/welcome/archives.htm Randall V. Mills Folklore Archives]