After nearly three decades of leadership as New York Folklore’s Executive Director, Ellen McHale will retire on May 1, 2027.
Ellen McHale has served as the Executive Director of New York Folklore since 1999. “New York Folklore has been more than a job,” says Ellen. “It has been the people with whom I’ve worked: the artists and tradition bearers, the community leaders, and my public folklore colleagues who share my passionate support for the traditional arts and cultural activities of our diverse country.” One example of Ellen’s numerous contributions to the worlds of public folklore and community-based arts is her fieldwork documenting the occupational life and lore of workers on Thoroughbred Racetracks in the United States, for which she was awarded an Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress in 2012. This work resulted in the monograph, Stable Views: Voices and Stories of the Thoroughbred Racetrack (Mississippi Press, 2014). In 2024, Ellen was elected as a Fellow of the American Folklore Society, an honorary body of folklorists recognized for their outstanding contributions to the field. “I have been pleased and honored to have served New York Folklore for twenty-seven years and to have grown the statewide organization to one that is a model for the rest of the nation.”
“Ellen has been instrumental in getting valuable resources and support into grassroots communities all across New York State,” notes Wilfredo Morel, New York Folklore Board President. “I’ve seen it first hand: Communities doing work caring for one another and their traditions for generations, not aware that what they were doing is ‘folklife’ — and that there were resources available to support their work! Wherever there’s been a need, Ellen has deployed people. In the Hudson Valley, where I live, work and create, I have seen the synergy that New York Folklore helps facilitate firsthand.”
Prior to her work at New York Folklore, Ellen worked as a public sector folklorist in several locations across New York State. She initiated folk arts programs at Arts Mid-Hudson and the Arts Center for the Capital District, and served as a consulting folklorist for many cultural organizations. Ellen also served as Executive Director of the Shaker Heritage Society and later as the Director of the Schoharie County Historical Society. Ellen is also a Fullbright Fellow (Sweden/Senior Fellow), where she served as a guest lecturer for the University of Stockholm. She received her PhD. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania.
The Board of Directors congratulates Ellen on both an incredible tenure at New York Folklore as well as what may lie ahead for her. In the coming weeks, we will share information about an upcoming celebration to honor all that Ellen has contributed to the field of folklore and cultural heritage work in New York State. “Ellen has my utmost respect, and as we look for the next director of New York Folklore, my top concern is finding someone that leads with a similar heart and commitment to equity,” says Morel. “If we find someone that can exercise even a little of what she’s been capable of, I’ll be grateful.”
The Board has established a transition committee to oversee the search for New York Folklore’s next leader and plan for this exciting next stage of the organization’s growth. A national search is now underway and a full job description and application can be found HERE