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

Treasures of the AFC Archive Banner #3

Posted by: Stephen Winick

This is the third in a series of six posts presenting AFC’s new traveling exhibit Treasures of the American Folklife Center Archive. The exhibit takes the form of lightweight, colorful vinyl banners containing information about AFC, the Library of Congress, and (as the title suggests) some of the treasures found in our archive.  Originally conceived …

Rosanne Cash. Photo by Clay Patrick McBride.

Rosanne Cash Curates a Carnegie Hall Exhibit with AFC

Posted by: Stephen Winick

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 the American Folklife Center along for the ride. Cash asked AFC to help her curate a photo exhibit, which is being …

Ola Belle Reed and Alex Campbell on WCOJ radio. They broadcasted from Campbells' Corner, a store they owned that catered to transplanted Southerners in Oxford, Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Douglas Dowling Peach.

On Ola Belle Reed

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Note: This blog was updated on July 26, 2024 to add the event videos and make it part of the Homegrown Plus series. At that time the language about these public events was recast into the past tense. Doug Peach, who wrote this is a guest scholar in 2015, is now an AFC staff member …

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

The Folklore and Folksong of Trains in America, Part Two

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

This is the second part of a two-part article on the folklore of trains. Part one, focusing on the development of railroads in the United States and related songs and lore can be found here. Part Two: Trains and American Culture The coming of the railroads made profound changes in life and culture in the …

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

Tracking Tricksters in Washington, DC

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The following is a guest post by Dr Emily Marshall, who specializes in Postcolonial and migrant literatures and cultures at Leeds Beckett University in the UK. In April I visited the incredible folklore archives at the American Folklife Center in Washington, D.C., supported by Leeds Beckett University Early Career Researcher funding.  The Center is housed …

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

The Sherman Holmes Project

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The following is a guest post by folklorist and blues scholar Barry Lee Pearson.  It introduces the Sherman Holmes Project, which will play in the Library’s Homegrown Concert Series on Wednesday, April 15.  More concert information is at this link! During the 1940s, job opportunities in Northern industrial centers attracted rural African Americans from throughout …

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

Voices of African American Women

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

One reason I became interested in the study of folklife was to learn through the voices of peoples who are often under-represented in history. As this is the end of February, African American History Month, and March is Women’s History Month, it seems a good time to take a look at what African American women …

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

Thoughts on Martin Luther King Day

Posted by: Stephen Winick

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, …

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

Farewell to the Holidays

Posted by: Stephen Winick

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 …