Welcome to the Museum of Early Indiana Life

the virtual interpretation of a career-long dream that was never realized. This website is dedicated to the memory of Warren E. Roberts, a pioneer in the study of American traditional material culture and folklife. He was a literary folklorist with an interest in English and Scottish ballads when he went to Norway as a Fulbright scholar in 1959. Inspired by the outdoor museums of early Norwegian life that he visited, Warren returned to Bloomington and Indiana a year later as quite a different kind of folklorist. more...

Welcome to the Warren E. Roberts Museum of Early Indiana Life! This website and accompanying virtual museum are constructed in homage to the late Warren E. Roberts (1924-1999).


The Warren E. Roberts Collection is housed at Indiana University’s Folklore Archives, an integral unit within the University Archives. We encourage students and scholars to come to Bloomington to consult the many documents, photos, and other resources in this collection. To access an inventory of these holdings, you may click on this link: