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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 …
Posted in: AFC History
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Every year, in the week of the Library’s holiday party, staff members of the American Folklife Center put on a play based on ancient traditions, dressed up with a modern twist. Dressed in costumes that range from striking to silly, we sing, act, rhyme, and dance for other Library staff members and for members of the …
Posted in: christmas, Folk Drama, Holidays, Mumming, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Each year, as Thanksgiving Day rolls around, the blogosphere is bombarded with articles telling us that everything we know about Thanksgiving is wrong. In particular, these articles focus on the three-day event in autumn 1621, during which English colonists at Plymouth, Massachusetts, hosted 90 members of the Wampanoag tribe for a feast. Skeptical articles revisiting …
Posted in: Foodways, Holidays, Thanksgiving
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Halloween is here! This year the Library of Congress has decided to make it extra-special, with a pop-up exhibition of our best spooky treasures. The event is called LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, and we hope you’ll visit us for the scary fun–you have just one more day! Also, the Library has just released a new …
Posted in: Folksong, Halloween, Halloween Songs, Holidays
Posted by: Stephen Winick
If you follow our blog, you may know that the American Folklife Center has joined other Library of Congress divisions in creating LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, an exhibition of our scariest collection items. Today we had the congressional and press preview of the exhibit, and Library staff member Joon Yi shot a few photos of …
Posted by: Stephen Winick
As we get closer and closer to Halloween, the Library of Congress feels spookier and spookier! Just look at the black cat in our Halloween graphic above! In fact, the Library has just released a new web guide to Halloween resources, which can be found here. The new web page will act as your guide through our rich …
Posted in: Halloween, Halloween Stories, Holidays, Legends, Narratives, Storytelling
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Halloween is on its way, and this year the Library of Congress has decided to make it extra-special, with a pop-up exhibition of our best spooky treasures. The event is called LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, and we hope you’ll visit us for the scary fun. As part of the effort, I’ve been looking through AFC’s …
Posted in: Folksong, Halloween, Halloween Songs
Posted by: Stephen Winick
With Halloween just around the corner, the Library of Congress is gearing up for an exhibition of our best spooky treasures. The event is called LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, and it’s sure to add both cheer and chills to your All Hallows season. As part of the effort, I’ve been looking through AFC’s collections for …
Posted in: Halloween, Halloween Stories, Narratives, Storytelling, Women's History
Posted by: Stephen Winick
As our readers know, Folklife Today is particularly fond of Halloween. We launched the blog just before Halloween 2013 with a post updating Jack Santino’s Halloween article. We’ve had special posts for Halloween every year thereafter. So we’re especially happy to announce that the Library of Congress will be hosting a special pop-up exhibition for Halloween …