botkin taught at the university of oklahoma in the early 1920s and married gertrude fritz in 1925. he edited the annual "folk-say" from 1929 to 1932 and a "little magazine," "space", from 1934 to 1935. contributors to "folk-say" included carl sandburg, langston hughes, henry roth, j. frank dobie, louise pound, alexander haggerty krappe, stanley vestal, alain locke, sterling brown, paul horgan, and mari sandoz. he became national folklore editor and chairman of the federal writers' project in 1938, a post he held until 1941. along with charles seeger, he organized a massive research and recording campaign centered on american music. from 1942 to 1945, botkin headed the archive of american folk song at the library of congress where he focused attention on the emerging aspects of folklore in modern life. during that time, he also served as president of the american folklore society.