As I have mentioned several times on this blog, the 100th birthday of Alan Lomax is fast approaching. We’ll be celebrating the birthday itself with an exhibit, and then extending our celebrations throughout the year. However, today I thought it might be fun to show you that we’ve already gotten a jump on our celebrations …
January 24, 2015 is the date for the Hindu festival Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Puja, celebrating both the coming of spring and the birthday of Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, learning, crafts, and fine arts. The date for the celebration of Vasant Panchami varies from year to year, as it is calculated by a lunar calendar. It falls on …
Back in our 100th blog post, I mentioned some of our upcoming ideas for celebrating the 100th birthday of Alan Lomax (1915-2002). The birthday will take place on January 31, but our plans last all year! These plans are developing and firming up, so I’ll take this opportunity to fill you in. First, though, I’ll …
It’s been three weeks since you toasted to the new year and made a fresh list of resolutions. Who cares that your coffee-stained 2014 list is somewhere crumpled up next to your unused gym shoes at the back of your junky closet? Forget about that. This time it’s for real. This year you will … …
On Monday, January 19, we will be celebrating the Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States. King, the foremost leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, was actually born eighty-six years ago today: January 15, 1929. The Civil Rights Movement has struggled and continues to struggle for equal rights for all people, …
This is a guest blog post by folklife specialist Catherine Hiebert Kerst. The photos are by Stephen Winick for AFC. For anyone who missed the September, 2013 Cultural Heritage Archives: Networks, Innovation, & Collaboration Symposium hosted by the American Folklife Center, or anyone who wants to revisit it, the full webcast is online at the …
When I woke up this morning, my Facebook feed was full of pictures of people dressed in colorful uniforms that naval or military units wore 200 years ago. Many of these pictures are of personal friends, who have made their way from the cold snowy north down to New Orleans and are now dressed up …
In case you missed it, this past holiday season, we explored the meaning of home–how members of the military have missed home, returned home, and recreated a sense of home far away from loved ones. All of this reflection got me thinking about my own definition of home and the specific places that I’ve called …
On this snowy January day, I’d like to wish the readers of Folklife Today a happy end to the holiday season. Many people take down their Christmas decorations immediately after the day itself, and others use New Year’s Day as the end of their holiday. But among many communities, the Christmas season culminates after Twelfth …