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Category: Religion

A foliate head carved into a stone corbel in a church in Llangwm, Wales. It's a human face with leaves coming out of the mouth to the left and right, then curving up around the head.

Introducing the Green Man

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The Green Man, a character from traditional folk culture, has captured the imaginations of many in the modern world. Books, articles, and websites on the Green Man abound, each of them looking at the figure from its own perspective. Those who have commented on or employed the image of the Green Man range from historians to neopagan worshippers, from festival organizers to novelists, and from folklorists to participants in Renaissance fairs. Recently, though, some scholars have been asserting that the Green Man is not really a figure from older folk culture at all, but a modern invention. This post will begin an examination of this question: what is the Green Man, and what are his traditional meanings?

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Working Together Apart: Virtual 20th/20th Vision

Posted by: Lisa Taylor

The following is a guest blog post by Yvonne Brown, a processing technician for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP). It is the sixth in a series from VHP staff. Click on the following names to read previous articles in this series: Tamika Brown– Processing Technician Andrew Huber– Liaison Specialist Tracey Dodson– Administrative …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Songs for the Easter Season: Polyphonic Singing from the Republic of Georgia

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Georgian polyphonic singing has a rich and ancient past. It predates Christianity and its pre-Christian roots are alive today in secular songs such as lullabies, harvest, hunting, and wedding songs. The Christian songs survived a dark time while Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, as the tradition was banned from 1921 to 1990. Monks …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Homegrown Plus: Cambodian-American Heritage Dancers with Chum Ngek Ensemble

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

In the Homegrown Plus series, we present Homegrown concerts that also had accompanying oral history interviews, placing both together in an easy-to-find blog post. (Find the whole series here!) We’re continuing the series with a concert and oral history with the Cambodian-American Heritage Dancers with Chum Ngek Ensemble. Update: in September, 2020, Chum Ngek did …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Homegrown Plus: The Sattriya Dance Company with the Dancing Monks of Assam

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

In the Homegrown Plus series, we present Homegrown concerts that also had accompanying oral history interviews, placing both together in an easy-to-find blog post. (Find the whole series here!) We’re continuing the series with the Sattriya Dance Company with the Dancing Monks of Assam Traditional Dance from Assam, India. This is one of two related …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

James Mooney Recordings of American Indian Ghost Dance Songs, 1894

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

In the summer of 1894 James Mooney, a scholar of American Indian culture and language, made recordings of songs of the Ghost Dance in several languages.  The James Money Recordings of American Indian Ghost Dance Songs have recently been updated and are part of the presentation, Emile Berliner and the Birth of the Recording Industry. …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Teaching the Japanese Tea Ceremony: Mine Somi Kubose

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eighth century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite amusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion of aestheticism—Teaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

The Story of “The Century:” My Afternoon with World War II Veteran Burton Schuman

Posted by: Lisa Taylor

The following is a guest blog post by Owen Rogers, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). Although I’ll proudly wear the title of “record nerd,” I don’t focus on fidelity; rather tethered memories of shows, bands and the building anticipation of a long drive into the city. This past unseasonably cold weekend saw …