Frances Freeman was an American Fulbright scholar who visited Australian in 1953-4 and was apparently hosted by ANU. She was researching a thesis on bush ballads and travelled fairly widely to libraries and archives. It is not known if she conducted any fieldwork. She returned to America in 1954 and seemingly disappeared, with no record of any thesis in Australia or USA, nor at the Fulbright office which, when contacted for information, said they don’t keep records that far back (!).
Contributors to the search for mystery folklorist Frances Freeman include Graham Seal, Rob Willis, Brian Samuels and Emily Gallagher who unearthed the following information:
Frances Freeman and other Fulbrights arriving Sydney (film) https://www.dropbox.com/s/4as4oms0mszxf9r/IMG_5024.MOV?dl=0
Death Notice Frances Burkehead (Freeman)
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/frances-burkhead-obituary?pid=193836612
Further information gratefully received g.seal@curtin.edu.au
