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By the time
Harry and Art began IFOTM in the late 1960s, Harry was already a
well known figure in folk music circles. In the 1950s he had co
founded the Louisiana Folklore Society. He had made dozens of field
recordings of Cajun musicians , southern storytellers, and blues
musicians, including several of prison inmates recorded inside the
walls of the notorious Louisiana State Prison at Angola. He turned
many of these recordings into now classic records on the Folkways,
Arhoolie, Louisiana Folklore Society, Heritage, and Vanguard record
labels.
Harry was equally energetic in promoting local talent. The Fiddler's Picnic began primarily as a way to showcase the many old-time fiddlers in the area. The intent was not to have a contest or competition, as with many similar festivals, but rather to get together with fellow musicians for a pleasant afternoon of music, food, and jamming. Several fiddlers attending the first Picnic had already been recorded by Harry for the album Folk Voices of Iowa in 1965. Harry will also be remembered for his great enthusiasm for collecting musical instruments. Throughout his life he bought and sold hundreds instruments of the wildest construction and diversity. Peruvian harps, 17th century zithers, boxwood clarinets, French flageolettes, Greek bouzoukis, 8-string Spanish guitars, cigarbox fiddles, viol da gambas, drums of every description could all be found tucked into nooks and crannies throughout his house. His collection of historically significant flutes is now housed at the U of Iowa School of Music.
For
more a comprehensive look at Harry's recording work, check out Stefan
Wirz's tribute page at Harry's
Faculty Memorial:
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Dr.
Harry Oster
Through his own record company, Folk Lyric, he produced dozens of
albums in the early 1960s, including several by such wide ranging
artists as blues men Robert Pete Williams, Hogman Maxie, Snuffy
Jenkins and the Carolina Bluegrass boys, Scotsman Ewan MacColl (along
with his mother Betsy Miller), Irishman Brendan Behan, folksinger
Peggy Seeger, and blues innovator Jesse Fuller. Many of these recordings
have been reissued on cd for a new generation of listeners. 
One
of the original purposes of IFOTM was to bring nationally known
folk musicians to the area through a series of concerts. The list
of high quality musicians Harry helped bring to Iowa City through
IFOTM is as impressive as his list of recordings. Beginning in the
late 1960s and continuing through the 1990s , he brought in Cajun
bands such as the Balfa Brothers, bluegrass bands including Bill
Monroe and the Bluegrass boys, Pete Seeger, Mike Seeger, swing band
Martin Bogan and Armstrong, gospel singer Elizabeth Cotton, Celtic
bands the Boys of the Lough and the Battlefield Band. 
Harry's
accomplishments also include numerous books and articles on music
and folklore, including Living Country Blues (1969) and
the Penguin Dictionary of American Folklore (2000). Throughout
his academic career he was awarded major grants such organizations
as the Guggenheim, Ford Foundation, and National Endowment for the
Humanities. Throughout it all, Harry maintained a gracious and gregarious,
yet quiet and unassuming disposition which was an inspiration to
all those that knew him. 