Amanda Julia Estill
{{Short description|American folklorist (1882–1965)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Amanda Julia Estill
| image = Amanda Julia Estill 1904 (page 34 crop).jpg
| caption = Estill (1904)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|10|27}}
| birth_place = Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1965|07|01|1882|10|27}}
| death_place = Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
| burial_place = Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery
| nationality = American
| occupation = Educator, writer, folklorist
}}
Amanda Julia Estill (1882 – 1965), also known simply as Julia Estill, was an American educator, writer, and folklorist.
Biography
Amanda Julia Estill was born on October 27, 1882, in Fredericksburg, Texas, to parents Ellen Elizabeth (née Wiley) and James Thomas.{{Cite web |last=Mueller |first=Esther L. |title=Estill, Amanda Julia |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/estill-amanda-julia |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)}}{{Cite book |last1=Webb |first1=Walter Prescott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oh8UAAAAYAAJ |title=The Handbook of Texas |last2=Branda |first2=Eldon Stephen |date=1952 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |isbn=978-0-87611-027-0 |pages=285 |language=en}} She received a B.S. degree (1904) and an M.S. degree (1905) from the University of Texas at Austin.
After graduation she taught at Fredericksburg schools, including Fredericksburg High School and also served as a principal.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DjrOAAAAMAAJ |title=University of Texas Record |date=1910 |publisher=University of Texas |volume=10 |pages=387 |language=en}} In 1909, Estill had been an active member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy at the Fredericksburg, Texas chapter.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3vcZtV4LmEC |title=Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention of the Texas Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy |date=1909 |publisher=United Daughters of the Confederacy Texas Division |pages=91 |language=en}}
Estill was a member and former president (1923 to 1924) of the Texas Folklore Society, the Texas branch of the American Folklore Society (AFS).{{Cite book |last1=Abernethy |first1=Francis Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gw77Vjtl6s0C |title=Texas Folklore Society: 1909-1943 |last2=Satterwhite |first2=Carolyn Fiedler |date=1992 |publisher=University of North Texas Press |isbn=978-0-929398-42-6 |pages=117 |language=en}} She published for the Texas Folklore Society and for the San Antonio newspapers,{{Cite book |last1=Grider |first1=Sylvia Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HeF7WAdIOAUC |title=Texas Women Writers: A Tradition of Their Own |last2=Rodenberger |first2=Lou Halsell |date=1997 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=978-0-89096-765-2 |pages=62 |language=en}} for more than 20 years. Estill was one of the first members of the Texas Folklore Society to publish information regarding Native American culture in Gillespie County in the article "Indian Pictographs Near Lange's Mill, Gillespie County (Illustrated)" (1925). Tribes living in Gillespie County included the Tonkawa, Comanche, Kiowa, and Lipan Apache peoples.{{cite web |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donnell |title=Gillespie County, Texas |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg04 |access-date=23 June 2022 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}} Her writing had negative characterizations of Native Americans while simultaneously historicizing the white people in the story; this is a negative attribute often seen in the folklore genre.{{Cite journal |last1=Jordan |first1=Rosan A. |last2=de Caro |first2=F. A. |date=1986 |title=Women and the Study of Folklore |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3174007 |journal=Signs |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=500–518 |doi=10.1086/494253 |jstor=3174007 |s2cid=145423306 |issn=0097-9740|url-access=subscription }} In 1954, she gathered information on the local German-originated folk games that were played locally and published the article "Children's Games in Fredericksburg" (1954).{{Cite book |last=Abernethy |first=Francis Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkQPsVLhq20C |title=Texas Toys and Games |date=1997 |publisher=University of North Texas Press |isbn=978-1-57441-037-2 |pages=230 |language=en}}
She died on July 1, 1965, in Fredericksburg and is buried in Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery.{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery-Fredericksburg, Texas |url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/208277-der-stadt-friedhof-cemetery-fredericksbu |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Collectors Weekly}}
Publications
- {{Cite book |last=Estill |first=Julia |url=https://flexpub.com/ofpreview/happy-hunting-ground |title=Happy Hunting Ground |publisher=The Texas Folklore Society |others=Wilson M. Hudson (contributions), L. W. Payne, Jr. (contributions), W. A. Whatley (contributions), F. S. Curtis, Jr. (contributions), J. Frank Dobie (contributions), John K. Strecker (contributions), Roy S. Scott (contributions), Hartman Dignowity (contributions), A. R. McTee (contributions), Malbone W. Graham, Jr. (contributions), Victor J. Smith (contributions), Mody C. Boatright (contributions), L. W. Payne, Jr. (contributions), John A. Lomax (contributions) |year=1975 |isbn=0-87074-149-7 |editor-last=Dobie |editor-first=J. Frank |edition=IV |location=Dallas, TX |chapter=Indian Pictographs Near Lange's Mill, Gillespie County (Illustrated)}}
References
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Category:People from Fredericksburg, Texas
Category:American women folklorists