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Archive: February 2014 (8 Posts)

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

Serving the Armed Forces: The USO

Posted by: Megan Harris

The following is a guest post by Rachel Telford, Program Specialist for the Veterans History Project. Founded 73 years ago this month, the United Service Organizations (USO) was created at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide entertainment and recreation to members of the military. Six civilian service organizations – the Salvation Army, …

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

John Wesley Work III: Documenting Musical Change

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Folklorist John Wesley Work III lived in an extraordinary time in the development of African American music. He was in college as the Harlem Renaissance began. African American composers were developing traditional blues into elite compositions and the piano became an instrument for new styles such as jazz and boogie-woogie. Work, like his brother Julian, …

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

Songs of US Presidents

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

For Presidents’ Day, take a look at the new presentation The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America. [1] This article will provide links giving you a start. George Washington had songs written for him while he was a general.  An example is “General Washington,” which was printed on a single side of a …

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

Love Songs at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

For Valentine’s Day, let’s examine love songs in the light of historical changes of the early twentieth century, through the new presentation The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America. As the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, love underwent many changes: young people wanted relationships without much involvement from parents and elders, …

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

Tracing the Long Journey of “We Shall Overcome”

Posted by: Kate Stewart

Although folksingers Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, and Frank Hamilton registered copyright on “We Shall Overcome” in 1960, the song has a long and fascinating history with contributions from many activist-singers. We can trace it back to two separate songs from over a hundred years ago, the lyrics from “I’ll Overcome Some Day” written by the …

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

The American Folklife Center Participates in “The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America”

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

What could the songs sung, composed, and/or danced by Americans from the colonial period to the present teach us about the history of the United States? How could U.S. history help us to better understand American songs? These are questions explored in the new online presentation The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America.  …