William Ferris

William "Bill" Ferris (b. 1942) is a filmmaker, author, educator, and a prominent folklorist. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Ferris's fascination with collecting and documenting stories began on his family's farm, Broadacres, where he lived and worked alongside several African American families who were employed by his family. His education brought him up North, where he eventually earned a PhD in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania. In the succeeding years, Ferris taught at Yale University (New Haven, CT) and co-founded with Judy Peiser the Center for Southern Folklore (Memphis, TN).

In 1978, Ferris became the founding director of the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture. His efforts there—forming a Blues archive, co-editing with Charles Wilson the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, and releasing music field recordings on the center's record label—contributed to the growing respect for Southern studies.

Later, from 1997 to 2001, Ferris served as the Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He returned to academia in 2002 with a position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as a professor of history and folklore, and as the senior associate director of the Center for Study of the American South. Ferris has authored and edited numerous books. He added Grammy Award winner to his resume in 2019 for Best Historical Album for the Dust-to-Digital boxed set Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris. In 2024, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame by the Blues Foundation.