The Gypsy Lore Society

The Gypsy Lore Society, an international association of persons interested in Gypsy and Traveler Studies, was founded in Great Britain in 1888. Since 1989 it has been headquartered in the United States.

The research field of the Gypsy Lore Society has traditionally included many different communities which, regardless of their origins and self-appellations in various languages, have been referred to in English as Gypsies. These communities include the descendants of migrants from the Indian subcontinent which have been considered as falling into three large subdivisions, Dom, Lom, and Rom. The field has also included communities of other origins which practice, or in the past have practiced, a specific type of service nomadism. The breadth of the Society's interests is reflected in the articles published in its journal and papers presented at its conferences.

The goals of the Gypsy Lore Society include promotion of the study of these communities, their history and cultures worldwide; dissemination of accurate information aimed at increasing understanding of them in their diverse forms; and establishment of closer contacts among scholars studying any aspects of these cultures.

The Society sponsors programs and conferences and publishes the twice-yearly Romani Studies (continuing Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society), a quarterly Newsletter and other occasional publications.

The Society established the Victor Weybright Archives of Gypsy Studies, a research collection specializing in recent scholarly work on Gypsy, Traveler and related studies, for the benefit of researchers and students. This collection, compiled from 1978 to 2012, is now the Gypsy Lore Society Victor Weybright Archives of Gypsy Studies collection within the Special Collections division of the Michigan State University Libraries, https://as.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/2131. Earlier collections of the Gypsy Lore Society, 1888-1974, can be found at the University of Liverpool, https://libguides.liverpool.ac.uk/library/sca/gypsyloresociety.