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Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: Some of this research, and an interview with the author, is being included in a report on CBS Sunday Morning, which should air Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016. While I was doing the research for my recent blog post on the history of the Easter Bunny, I noticed that the Library of Congress has …
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The Easter Bunny, like Santa Claus, is the bringer of gifts on a popular American holiday. Throughout the country, the swift little creature is said to deliver decorated eggs to children on Easter. In some variants of this story, the bunny is even said to lay eggs, presenting a challenge to biology teachers everywhere! So what’s the story on this odd tradition? Let’s take a look. We'll examine claims that the Easter Bunny is related to a pagan goddess, Eostre or Ostara. We'll also look at the origin of the Easter Bunny in Pennsylvania Dutch and German traditions, including the Easter Hare.
Posted in: Animals, Easter, Easter, German Americans, Holidays, Jacob Grimm, Legends, Myths
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
March 20 is World Storytelling Day. Tying storytelling with the equinox in March is thought to have originated in Sweden as Alla berättares dag (all storytellers day) in 1991 or 1992. Other countries joined to celebrate storytelling on the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere and the first day of autumn in the …
Posted in: African Americans, Jewish American History, Jewish Americans, Narratives, Native American History, Storytelling
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
The following is a guest post by Owen Rogers, liaison specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). Looking back on my childhood in rural Connecticut, I was fortunate to have grandparents who lived just a few houses away. One of my favorite pastimes was to move from room to room in their house, pointing out …
Posted in: Narratives, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Megan Harris
“I’ve been told by older veterans they had hangovers that lasted longer than that war.”—Dawn Stratton As Marine Corps Captain Dawn Stratton’s comment in her Veterans History Project (VHP) oral history makes clear, the Persian Gulf War—which took place from August 1990 to the end of February 1991—was a short one, lasting as long in …
Posted in: Oral History, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Cultures that rely on limited local sources of food in the winter often have traditions about the restorative and curative powers of foods and herbs that become available in the spring. The American Folklife Center’s Coal River Folklife Project, headed by Mary Hufford, documented folklife in West Virginia’s Coal River Valley (1992 to 1999). The …
Posted in: Folk Medicine, Foodways
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
This is a guest post by archivist Todd Harvey, the acquisitions coordinator at the American Folklife Center. Let’s imagine it is the summer of 1962 and you are 20, bursting at the seams with the songs of Joan Baez. She will be on the cover of Time magazine in a few months and her LP …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Archival Practice, Folksong
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
The following is a guest post by Andrew Huber, liaison specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). When you think of jobs in the military, what comes to mind? Infantry, pilot, tank crew and other combat roles are probably at the top of your list. Perhaps a few non-combat positions make your list as well, …
Posted in: Iraq War, Narratives, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project, Vietnam War
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
As the National Security Agency’s (NSA) first female deputy director, Ann Caracristi was a trailblazer. I find it apropos that we pause to recognize her on this, the first day of Women’s History Month. That’s not the only reason Caracristi is on my mind today. Her name caught my eye in a Washington Post article …
Posted in: Narratives, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project, World War II