Kim Rogers Burdick is an author, historian, project director, folklorist, teacher, curator and non-profit leader, who served as House-Senate Liaison in the Delaware Legislature from 1987-1998. As House-Senate Liaison, Mrs. Burdick designed Delaware's Coastal Heritage Greenway proposal (see F7), coordinated the 1991 Managed Growth Conference for the General Assembly, and initiated the establishment of Sussex County's Business People for the Bays citizens' action group.
Prior to this position, she served for two years as Legislative Fellow to the House Natural Resources and Hazardous Waste Committees. During this time she studied Delaware lobbyists at work, which culminated in her M.P.A. thesis, "A Folklorist Looks at Lobbyists" (see F6).
Mrs. Burdick served as the coordinator of the Delaware Folklife Project from 1981–1989. During that time she developed a statewide volunteer group whose goal was to document, promote, and preserve Delaware's traditional culture. Her grant application for a Delaware Cultural Conservation Program in 1991 exhibits her continued efforts to establish a Delaware Folklife Program. She has further advocated the creation of Delaware's folklife program by lecturing extensively on Delaware's cultural history, assisting local historical societies, as well as by educating Delaware teachers. Because of her efforts, the State of Delaware has included funding for a folklorist in the state budget.
Mrs. Burdick received an M.P.A. in Agency Management from the College of Urban Affairs at the University of Delaware, an M.A. from the Cooperstown Graduate Programs, a B.A. from State University of New York at Cortland, and a certificate in French from l'Universite de Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Burdick, Kim Rogers. "Bio-Sketch." [1992]. See F9.
The Kim Rogers Burdick papers related to Delaware folklife consist of 13 items, spanning the dates 1982-1991. The material includes six essays on aspects of Delaware folklife, a grant application for a Delaware Cultural Conservation Program, an editorial on Delaware's Coastal Heritage Greenway, and her biographical sketch.
The essays document several Delaware folklife projects in which Mrs. Burdick participated. Projects included a study of Port Penn fishermen; an interview with Delaware whittler, Jehu Camper; research and interviews on Delaware ghost stories; a study of Century Farms in Delaware for the Delaware Department of Agriculture; and a study of the folkways of professional lobbyists in Delaware. The study of Delaware lobbyists was completed during her two year term as Legislative Fellow in the Delaware Legislature and was the topic of her M.P.A. thesis written for the University of Delaware's College of Urban Affairs.
These papers not only document the force that Kim Burdick has been and is in establishing a Delaware folk-life program but also examine interesting pieces of Delaware's folk-life, specifically Delaware farming, ghost stories, Port Penn fishermen, and lobbyists.