Vance Randolph was born February 23, 1892 in Pittsburg, Kansas, and died November 1, 1980 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He received a BS in Education from Kansas State University, now Pittsburg State University, in 1914 and an MA from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, in Psychology in 1915. In 1951, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Encouraged by both Herbert Halpert and Carl Sandburg, Randolph began collecting folklore in the Ozarks; his fieldwork spans about thirty years, from the 1920's to the 1950's. Based on his fieldwork, Randolph wrote over twenty books and numerous articles for publications including the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Ozark Folklore, and the Journal of American Folklore. In addition, under various pseudonyms, he authored many "Little Blue Books" for the Haldeman-Julius press in Girard, Kansas.

In 1962, he married Mary Celestia Parler, professor of English and supervisor-coordinator of the Folklore Research Project at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Their collaboration was both personal and professional. Vance Randolph was of great assistance to Mary Celestia Parler Randolph and her folklore students, and the Folklore Research Project can also be said to bear his mark. She in turn worked tirelessly for the Arkansas Folklore Society of which he was co-founder (with John Gould Fletcher) in 1949 and first president, and proofread and edited many of his manuscripts and transcripts.

Among the honors he received in his lifetime, none was as important to Randolph as being elected a Fellow of the American Folklore Society in 1978, which meant academic recognition for his work. In addition, he was proclaimed "Poet Laureate of the Ozarks" in 1975 by Greater Ozarks Hall of Fame, and June 12, 1976 was proclaimed "Vance Randolph Day" by then Arkansas Governor David Pryor.