Top of page
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
This guest blog post is by Alexandra Jaffe, who will be speaking on this topic at noon on December 2, 2014 in the Montpelier Room, 6th floor, James Madison Building, Library of Congress as part of the American Folklife Center’s Benjamin Botkin Lecture Series. Jaffe is a professor of Anthropology at California State University, Long Beach …
Posted in: AFC Events, Languages and Dialects
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Historically, the Omaha Indian Hethu’shka Society were a group of highly respected men, voted into the group by unanimous consent of the society, who aimed to set a strong example for their people of the best attributes of a warrior. Although traditionally deeds in combat were the central test for inclusion in the society, such …
Posted in: Alan Jabbour, Alice Cunningham Fletcher, Cultural Heritage, Dance, Folk Music, Folksong, Francis La Flesche, Native American History
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
When talking about United States military veterans, there is a group that often gets overlooked–that of American Indian and Alaskan Natives. In fact, growing up, I don’t recall learning too much at all in school about their rich history and culture. Their story would only be a small part of the chapters on Christopher Columbus, …
Posted in: Cultural Heritage, Narratives, Native American History, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
My mother did not like the taste of game, and wouldn’t cook it. To her wild meat recalled childhood poverty, when her father was short of work and so would pick up his rifle and go into the Maine woods to hunt. As an adult I had opportunities to try several kinds of wildfowl prepared …
Posted in: Animals, Foodways, Hunting, Mary Hufford, Narratives, Storytelling
Posted by: Megan Harris
A belated Happy Birthday to the US Marine Corps. On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted to create two battalions of Marines to assist with amphibious operations, and to serve on land and at sea. Click here to access digitized narratives from more than 1200 Marine Corps veterans in the Veterans History Project …
Posted in: Veterans History Project
Posted by: Megan Harris
This post was written by Lisa Taylor, VHP Liaison Specialist. A version of this blog post is also running on the Library of Congress blog today. Millions of Americans across the country observe Veterans Day every November 11th. What originated as Armistice Day 95 years ago is a holiday dedicated to veterans of all wars–a …
Posted in: Veterans History Project
Posted by: Megan Harris
In a letter sent to his parents on November 10th, 1918, Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Lucius B. Nash wrote, “I expect as I set here writing tonight history is being made as it never was before, and people all over the whole world are thinking of just one thing–“Will Germany accept the Armistice?” As Nash …
Posted in: Veterans History Project
Posted by: Kate Stewart
October was American Archives Month, and last Thursday was Ask an Archivist Day. In honor of that event (although a little late), we decided to compile a list of Frequently Asked Questions that we often get– not necessarily reference questions, but those from our own friends and family or when we introduce ourselves as employees …
Posted in: AFC Events, AFC History, Archival Practice, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Stephen Winick
If you’ve been following Folklife Today recently, you’ll know that we’re in the midst of collecting people’s photos of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos in a new online collecting initiative. We still want you to share your photos! Find out how in our previous blog posts featuring an overview of the project and step-by-step …
Posted in: Archival Practice, Halloween, Holidays