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Archive: November 2016 (2 Posts)

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

“Trench Blues”: An African American Song of World War I

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

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

Agnes Vanderburg’s Outdoor School for Traditional Indian Ways

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