William Hawthorne Wiggins, Jr. (1934–2016)

Bill Wiggins was an academic and public folklorist, a teacher, an advisor, a mentor, an ordained CME minister/former professor of religion, a sports enthusiast/scholar, a dedicated Hoosier, and a devoted family man. He died after an extended illness on December 24, 2016, leaving his wife of 51 years, Janice; two children, Wesley and Mary Ellyn; a grandson; two siblings; and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Figure 1.

William Hawthorne Wiggins, Jr. Photograph courtesy of Janice L. Wiggins.

Born in Port Allen, Louisiana, to William H. Wiggins, Sr., and Mabel Leora Washington Wiggins, he graduated as a basketball star from Central High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and in 2012 was inducted into Central High's Alumni Hall of Fame. After high school, he graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where he lettered as an outstanding tennis player with a BA in Pre-Theology; from Phillips School of Theology (BD) Atlanta, Georgia; and from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (MTh), Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1969, Bill Wiggins arrived at Indiana University on fellowship, with his family, to begin the PhD program at the Folklore Institute. Simultaneously, Bill joined the Afro-American Studies program at IU as Associate Instructor and as one of its founding faculty members. Having come to IU at a time when the campus was less than welcoming to Black faculty and students, he and his family dedicated themselves to making Bloomington a good place for people of color to succeed. When he completed his doctorate, he became the first African American male to have earned a PhD in Folklore at IU. "Doc," as he was affectionately known by many of his students, remained as a faculty member in the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department (AAADS) for over 34 years, earning the rank of full professor and acquiring a merited reputation as an excellent professor, which garnered him numerous esteemed teaching and service awards. This beloved professor retired in 2003, having also served as interim chair of the AAADS and Dean of the Office of African American Affairs.

During his illustrious career, Bill also earned numerous prestigious scholarly awards, including recognition as a Fellow of the American Folklore Society, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Ford Foundation Fellow. As a founding researcher for the new African Diaspora Program of the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in 1974–1976, he researched and selected performers from Ghana, Liberia, Jamaica, and Trinidad for the Bicentennial Festival. He continued his collaborations with the Smithsonian over several decades. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Curator Emerita of the Program in African American Culture at the National Museum of American History, stated the following about Bill's public folklore presentations for her programs at the Smithsonian Institution:

He participated in several of our national conferences at the Smithsonian, and was so appreciated by our audiences, students of African American culture and the strong DC community audiences who were so loyal to our work. … He was a brother to me in the field and a real support in our efforts to expand research and scholarship in African American Culture through the series of conferences … we were able to offer to a growing public.

(personal communication, January 24–25, 2016)

As a mentor, Bill, along with several other folklorists, co-founded the Association of African and African American Folklorists, an organization designed to nurture folklorists of African descent, and hosted one of its early conferences. He also served on many boards, including that of the Indiana Historical Society and a Smithsonian Advisory Council.

Bill's groundbreaking scholarship in African American folklore ranged from literary analysis to celebration and sports through a variety of media: books, catalogs, scholarly articles, exhibitions, public presentations, and films. His scholarship includes O Freedom! Afro-American Emancipation Celebrations (University of Tennessee Press, 1987); Jubilation! African American Celebrations in the Southeast (co-edited with Doug DeNatale; University of South Carolina Press, 1993); and Joe Louis: American Folk Hero (Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1991). He may be most widely known for his films on Black sacred folk pageants from Indianapolis, In the Rapture...