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Posted by: Stephen Winick
At AFC, we’re excited about the Library’s new Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, Juan Felipe Herrera. He’s a fascinating person and a great poet, and he has a deep interest in folk culture. All this led him to join an AFC workshop, and to perform the result during his inaugural reading this September. We’d like …
Posted in: AFC Events, Chicano/a, Folk Music, Folksong, Hispanic American History, Poetry
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: this blog post makes liberal use of a press release devised jointly by the organizations involved in this project, and especially of the announcement made by Berea College. As part of AFC’s year-long celebration of Alan Lomax (1915-2002) during his centennial year, the American Folklife Center is thrilled to announce that The Lomax Kentucky …
Posted in: Alan Lomax, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, John Lomax, Kentucky, Ruby Terrill Lomax
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 …
Posted in: AFC Events, AFC Reading Room Visitors, Alan Lomax, Bluegrass, Exhibits, Folk Music, Folksong, Photographs, Rosanne Cash
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest post from Todd Harvey, the curator of the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center archive, Library of Congress. The American Folklife Center today announces the online publication of the Lomax Family manuscripts. This phased project begins today, with access to 25,000 pages created primarily by Alan Lomax during …
Posted in: Alan Lomax, Archival Practice, Folk Music
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Last month I had the sad duty of reporting the death of one of my mentors, the late folklorist Don Yoder. By coincidence, a couple of weeks after Dr. Yoder’s death, another of his former students came across new documents pertaining to his career as a folklorist. When going through old records of the Center …
Posted in: AFC History, Benjamin A. Botkin, Don Yoder, Folklorists, German Americans
Posted by: Stephen Winick
This weekend, the Library of Congress is excited to be producing the 15th annual National Book Festival, the most expansive event in the festival’s history. The festival is Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. (doors open at 9 a.m.). The event is free and open …
Posted in: AFC Events, AFC History
Posted by: Stephen Winick
To launch the annual International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries and Museums, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (AFC) and the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums (ATALM) present a symposium. Titled Civil Rights, Identity and Sovereignty: Native American Perspectives on History, Law, and the Path Ahead, it will take place …
Posted in: AFC Events, Native American History, Uncategorized
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 as a guest scholar in 2015, is now an AFC staff member …
Posted in: AFC Events, Bluegrass, Concerts with Archive Challenge Content, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, Homegrown Concert Series, Homegrown Plus, Old Time Music, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
During the centennial year of the great folklorist Alan Lomax (1915-2002), we at AFC have been celebrating his legacy in all kinds of ways: digitizing collections, sponsoring performances, encouraging publications, creating web content, designing exhibits…even writing blog posts! One of the things we most loved about Alan was his concern that the field recordings he …
Posted in: African Americans, Alan Lomax, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, French American History, John Lomax