Wayland Debs Hand (March 19, 1907, Auckland, New Zealand – October 22, 1986, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States) was an American folklorist.
[2] Over the course of his career, Hand collected an Archive of American Popular Beliefs and Superstitions containing over 2 million items.
The archive forms the basis for UCLA's ongoing project to produce an Encyclopedia of Popular Beliefs and Superstitions.
[1] Hand received numerous awards and honors including the Giuseppe Pitrè Prize for International Folklore (1965) and the Order of the Lion of Finland (1972).
[1] Hand died of a heart attack on October 22, 1986, at Pittsburgh International Airport, while on his way to the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society.