The educator and linguist John Maurice Hohlfeld received his doctorate in education at the University of Pennsylvania in 1950 for a dissertation focused on the teaching of foreign languages. Throughout his career as professor of linguistics at the Kennedy School of Missions at the Hartford Theological Seminary and at the University of Hartford, Hohlfeld maintained an interest in applied linguistics and the teaching of languages, and during the 1960s, he developed an interest in the linguistics of jokes and humor.

The Hohlfeld Papers consist of a small assemblage of materials related to the linguistic interests and teaching of John Maurice Hohlfeld. The most valuable materials in the collection are an assortment of student papers regarding the pedagogical materials used in teaching missionaries, primarily in West Africa. These include materials on three African languages, Fulani, Senoufo, and Bemba, as well as Machiguenga (Peru) and Asmat (New Guinea).

The collection also includes outlines and background materials for two works by Hohlfeld that never appeared in print, "Linguistic Structure of Jokes" and "Introduction to Applied Linguistics." The former consists of numerous jokes and comics culled by Hohlfeld from newspapers and the popular media for their linguistic implications.

The folders are arranged alphabetically, using the titles supplied by Hohlfeld.

Provenance

Gift of Emma S. Hohlfeld, 1987 (accn no. 1987-39ms).

Preferred citation

Cite as: John Maurice Hohlfeld Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued by rsc, 2003.

• Hartford Theological Seminary

• Syllabi

• Asmat language
• Bemba language
• English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
• Fulani language
• Language and languages -- Study and teaching
• Linguistics -- United States
• Machiguenga language
• Senoufo language
• Structural linguistics
• Wit and humor