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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: Lisa Taylor
I confess that, until joining the staff of the Veterans History Project (VHP) six years ago, I had not really given much thought to the plight of disabled veterans. Like most people, I had seen veterans with scars, burns and missing limbs, and probably unknowingly encountered many more with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but I …
Posted in: Disablity, Iraq War, Narratives, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Megan Harris
Due in part to the well-known HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which profiled the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the accomplishments and bravery of World War II paratroopers are well known. And deservedly so—I can’t imagine hurling myself out of a plane under the best of conditions, let alone while dodging enemy bullets …
Posted in: Hispanic American History, Oral History, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
This week the Library of Congress historic newspaper resource, Chronicling America, will pass a milestone of making ten million digitized pages of American newspapers available free online. These papers were selected by institutions in thirty-eight states and territories, with more expected to be added. When I was working on an article, “Russian American Song,” for …
Posted in: Folk Music, Folksong, Jewish American History, Jewish Americans, russian americans
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: Lisa Taylor
Happy birthday to the U. S. Air Force, whose brave members have protected our skies for the past 68 years. Click here to access more than 3,000 Air Force veterans’ stories from the Veterans History Project archive.
Posted in: Narratives, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project