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Category: Folksonomies

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: AFC Celebrates 40

Posted by: Erin Allen

The American Folklife Center (AFC) hosted a reception in celebration of its 40th anniversary last Wednesday. Special guests giving remarks were David Mao, acting Librarian of Congress; Kurt Dewhurst, chairman of AFC’s board of trustees; Betsy Peterson, AFC’s current director; and David Isay, founder of StoryCorps. The reception included a special performance by Nakotah LaRance, …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Trending: The Mother of Mother’s Day

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following article by Audrey Fischer is from the May/June 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, soon to be available here. In the meantime, make sure to catch up on all our editions!) One West Virginia daughter succeeded in memorializing mothers everywhere. Greeting cards, flowers, candy, dining out—Mother’s Day is big business. Sales …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Library in the News: April 2016 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

April headlines covered a wide range of stories about the Library of Congress. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera continues to make the news, especially with the April announcement of his returning for a second term. Herrera told Sara Catania of Reuters that poetry fans provided an “inspiration tsunami” during his first year in which he …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: StoryCorps Makes a Stop

Posted by: Erin Allen

In May 2005, two StoryCorps MobileBooths left the Library of Congress to travel across the United States—one taking an Eastern route and the other covering the Western states. This inaugural tour stopped at 34 cities, and visits lasted two and three weeks, with about 100 interviews collected at each location. The MobileBooth returned to the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

The Changing Field of Folklife

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is an article by Stephen Winick from the March/April 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Changes in technology have facilitated global access to the Library’s folklife collections. This year, the Library’s American Folklife Center turns 40. During that time, the world …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Technology at the Library: StoryCorps Goes Global

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is an article by Nicole Saylor of the American Folklife Center for the March/April 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) The StoryCorps oral history collection is growing through a new mobile app and website. In a matter of months last fall, …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: #MyTradition

Posted by: Erin Allen

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (AFC) has launched year-long campaign asking Americans to share photos of their folk traditions. The campaign kicks off a year of events that will commemorate AFC’s four decades as the institution of record for American folk traditions and ensure that it …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Library in the News: November 2015 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

Willie Nelson was the talk of the town as the Library celebrated his work and career during a concert in November, as he received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. “When Willie took the stage to accept the Gershwin prize, you could see the pride on his face,” wrote Brendan Kownacki for Hollywood on the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Rosanne Cash Curates a Carnegie Hall Exhibit with AFC

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following post was written by Stephen Winick and originally appeared on Folklife Today, the blog of the American Folklife Center.) When Rosanne Cash, recognized by the Library as one of the most compelling figures in popular music, was asked to curate a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York, she graciously brought …