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Archive: December 2017 (8 Posts)

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

Peter Bartis April 26, 1949-December 25, 2017

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The American Folklife Center is very sad to report the death of our longtime staff member, Peter Bartis. Peter died on December 25, 2017, from cancer. He had been in hospice for several days, with his spouse Ben, his brother Jim, and several AFC staff members visiting him daily. At the time of his retirement …

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

Where Did That Christmas Song Come From?

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

At this time of year the reference staff of the American Folklife Center staff are often asked about the origins of Christmas carols. Here are a few examples of songs with interesting histories. Some of the oldest Christmas songs came from folk plays that were popular in the Middle Ages. The Juan B. Rael Collection …

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

Collection Spotlight: Children’s Songs from the Virgin Islands

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Between 1976 and 1978 Karen S. Ellis recorded the playground songs of elementary school students on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. She was teaching at the Ricardo Richards School and many of the children she recorded were her students. This work culminated in a book and recording, Domino, a resource for children and teachers, published …

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

Preparing the collection of a storytelling trailblazer

Posted by: Nicole Saylor

This is a guest blog post by Kaitlin Dotson, who did an internship at the American Folklife Center this summer. She was recently hired as a processing assistant at the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia’s Special Collections Libraries. As an intern at the American Folklife Center (AFC), I spent …