Top of page
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
This post is also featured on the Library of Congress Blog as “World War I: ‘Trench Blues’ — An African American Song of the War.” Head over there to find more WWI stories from the Library’s collections honoring the centennial (2017-2018). There is another Folklife Today post about an African American World War I song …
Posted in: African Americans, Alan Lomax, Folksong, World War I
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
“A lot of things come out of my chest,” Agnes Vanderburg explained in 1979 when folklorist Kay Young asked about her reasons for starting a school to pass on her knowledge of Salish Indian traditions (recording at the link, go to 1:50 minutes). She had felt frustrated at carrying knowledge that was disappearing as Indians …
Posted in: Folk Medicine, Foodways, Material Culture, Native American History, Women's History
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
The following is a guest post by Andrew Huber, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign conducted by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, ended in November 1968. Beginning in 1965, the operation involved over 300,000 sorties conducted by the U.S. …
Posted in: African Americans, Narratives, Oral History, Photographs, Storytelling, Veterans History Project, Vietnam War
Posted by: Guha Shankar
Judith Gray received the prestigious 2016 Honored One Award from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums (ATALM), at its annual conference in October. In Judith’s own words, the honor represents one of the most ”deeply significant moments” in her career, which is saying a lot, given the impressive range of her accomplishments to date. Detailing …
Posted in: AFC History, Alan Jabbour, Archival Practice, Native American History, Repatriation
Posted by: Megan Harris
Maybe it was the eyes that you first noticed when you glanced at the portrait above: they are a vivid, piercing blue. Then, maybe you looked at the caption, and you realized that those eyes were painted more than 70 years ago, in 1944. Perhaps if you looked closely, you noticed the location of the …
Posted in: Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
This is a guest post by Maya Lerman, processing archivist at the American Folklife Center. We’re pleased to announce the launch of the finding aid for the Vida Chenoweth collection, circa 1940-2000. (Find it at the link above. The permanent handle for this resource is [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/eadafc.af016007]) During my first year as an archivist at the American …
Posted in: ethnomusicologists
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (AFC), and in particular the Veterans History Project (VHP), are delighted to announce that Karen D. Lloyd has been appointed as the new director of the Veterans History Project, effective October 30, 2016. She permanently joins the VHP/AFC staff after a brief stint as acting director …
Posted in: AFC Events, AFC History, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: this is the third in a series of posts about a classic item from the AFC archive, “The Dodger.” [See the first post here.] [See the second post here.][See the third post here.] Second note: we’ve also created a podcast version of these stories. Download our “Dodger” podcast here! Election Day is less than …
Posted in: Aaron Copland, AFC History, Charles Seeger, Dodger, ethnomusicologists, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, John Lomax, Sidney Robertson Cowell, Uncategorized
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
The following is a guest post by Owen Rogers, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). In second grade, I asked my teacher why American soldiers were fighting – and dying –in Somalia. Images of GIs slain in Bakaara Market clashed with the invincible G.I. Joes I carried in my knapsack, and in my …
Posted in: Narratives, Native American History, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project, World War II