Charles Lafayette Todd
American folklorist (1911-2004)
Charles Lafayette "Lafe" Todd (December 9, 1911 – August 4, 2004) was an American folklorist.
He was born in rural western New York State. As an undergraduate studying English literature at Hamilton College, he developed an interest in the Elizabethan ballad. In the late 1930s, while doing graduate work at Columbia University in New York City, Todd lived in Greenwich Village, where he frequented the Village Vanguard, a local night spot. Here he made the acquaintance of Alan Lomax (who later facilitated the Archive of American Folk Song's support of the Todd/Sonkin collecting expedition), along with other notables of the day such as Woody Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter (better known as "Leadbelly"), Burl Ives, John Jacob Niles, and Frank M. Warner.
During the same period, Todd met Robert Sonkin. They were both working in the Department of Public Speaking at the City College of New York, where Todd taught for three years. They undertook their documentation in the California FSA camps during their summer vacations in 1940 and 1941. In addition to the ethnographic research Todd did with Sonkin in California, he also documented folk music in upstate New York and parts of New Jersey. In 1942, he returned to California and worked as associate manager of the Tulare Migrant Camp in Visalia.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Charles Lafayette Todd” as american folklorist (1911-2004). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american folklorist (1911-2004). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5080013. VIAF identifies the subject as 24140566. The Library of Congress control number is no00030967. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1911, 2004, 1940 and 1941.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Charles Lafayette Todd”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Charles Lafayette Todd primary sources, Charles Lafayette Todd archive and Charles research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Charles Lafayette Todd”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Charles Lafayette Todd” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.