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Posted by: Stephen Winick
In our last post, we presented the text and photos of our 2016 mummers play, St. George and the Arrearage Monster: A Mumming in Process. Below, see a video of the play, shot on AFC’s trusty tablet by Jonathan Gold, our audio engineer. The acoustics in the Library’s Great Hall make it rather difficult to …
Posted in: christmas, Dance, Drama, Folk Drama, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, Holidays, Mumming
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: Every year, in the week of the Library’s holiday party, staff members of the American Folklife Center put our research and performance skills into play, bringing collections to life in a dramatic performance that tours the halls of the Library of Congress. Dressed in costumes that range from striking to silly, we sing, act, …
Posted in: christmas, Dance, England, Folk Drama, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, James Madison Carpenter, Mumming
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress invites qualified scholars to apply for a post-doctoral fellowship for advanced research based on the Alan Lomax Collection. The Lovelace Fellowship, established in 2015 for the study of the Alan Lomax Collection, pays tribute to the 60-year friendship between philanthropist Jon B. Lovelace and James …
Posted in: Alan Lomax
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest blog post by Sarah Lerner, who is currently an intern at AFC. For the past forty years the American Folklife Center has devoted countless hours to the documentation and preservation of our nation’s traditional arts, cultural expressions, and oral histories. Our work is supported and presented though a vocabulary defined …
Posted in: AFC 40th Anniversary, AFC Events, Appalachia, Bluegrass, Bourbon, Folk Music, Folklorists, Homegrown Concert Series, Jean Ritchie, Kentucky, Material Culture, Millennials
Posted by: Stephen Winick
For the last two weekends of November, 2016, AFC was honored to be featured on The Thistle & Shamrock, the long-running and popular Celtic music show produced and hosted by Fiona Ritchie and distributed by NPR. If you want to hear the shows, follow the links to part 1 here and part 2 here. The …
Posted in: Appalachia, Celtic Music, Fiona Ritchie, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, ireland, Irish Americans, Jean Ritchie, Radio, Scotland, Thistle & Shamrock
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: Stephen Winick
As our longtime readers may recall, the first post on Folklife Today was for Halloween 2013. It called attention to Jack Santino’s Halloween article, and updated it with new information and scary collection items. Since then, we have collected Halloween photos and blogged about spooky stories and (most recently) bats. We have now blogged about …
Posted in: AFC History, AFC Reading Room Visitors, Clothing, Folklorists, Halloween, Holidays
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The American Folklife Center is pleased to welcome the latest addition to our staff, Michelle Stefano. Michelle joins the staff as a folklife specialist in the Research & Programs section of AFC. Michelle brings a wealth of valuable experience to AFC. From 2011 to 2016, Michelle worked as a state folklorist for Maryland Traditions, the …
Posted in: AFC Events, AFC History, Folklorists