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Archive: 2018 (120 Posts)

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

Alan Jabbour and the American Folklife Center

Posted by: Stephen Winick

This is a guest blog post by Carl Fleischhauer.  It presents a version of the talk he gave at our Alan Jabbour tribute event earlier this year. It has been edited for presentation in this blog. These remarks are about Alan Jabbour as founding director of the American Folklife Center: his thinking, activities at the …

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

Music educators: How might you imagine using our resources?

Posted by: John Fenn

Back in December 2017, a colleague of ours here at the Library published a short piece in the Music Educator’s Journal highlighting the many video recordings of musical performances at the Library of Congress hosted on the Library’s YouTube channel. Focusing on videos documenting the American Folklife Center’s Homegrown concert series, Lee Ann Potter (Director, …

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

Female Firsts: Pioneering Women Veterans through the Years

Posted by: Lisa Taylor

The following is a guest blog post by Andrew Huber, a Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). This is the third post in a six-part series highlighting women veterans’ collections from the VHP archive in recognition of Women’s History Month. The story of women in the military is a story of firsts. Women …

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

Paid Internships at the AFC: Summer 2018

Posted by: John Fenn

For many years, interns have assisted American Folklife Center staff in a range of tasks and projects central to supporting our mission. While rewarding in experience and skill-building, these have always been volunteer opportunities. We are excited to announce that we now offer paid internships as well! In summer 2018, the AFC at the Library …

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

Blazing Trails and Taking Names: Women in the Military

Posted by: Lisa Taylor

The following is the second post in a six-part series highlighting women veterans’ collections from the Veterans History Project (VHP) archive in recognition of Women’s History Month. (Note: Due to the closure of all DC-area Federal Government buildings on March 2, 2018, the Women’s History Month book talk  featuring Liza Mundy  has been canceled. Stay …

A catalog card from a 1934 performance of "Thank God Almighty."

Becky Elzy and Alberta Bradford: Spiritual Folklorists

Posted by: Stephen Winick

This blog post about the “Two Sweet Singers” Becky Elzy and Alberta Bradford is part of a series called “Hidden Folklorists,” which examines the folklore work of surprising people, including people better known for other pursuits. In preparing this post, I was greatly aided by Shane K. Bernard, the archivist at Avery Island in Louisiana, …

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

Botkin Lectures to Go!: African American Online Cultural Resources

Posted by: John Fenn

The following is a guest post from AFC Folklife Specialist Nancy Groce. A previous Folklife Today blog, “Botkin Lectures to Go!,” drew readers’ attention to an engaging and readily accessible AFC resource:  the more than 100 AFC Botkin Lectures on a wide variety of folklore and folklife topics that are currently available free-of-charge through the …

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

Sharpened Pencils and Sharper Minds: World War II Women Code Breakers

Posted by: Lisa Taylor

The following is the first post in a six-part series highlighting women veterans’ collections from the Veterans History Project (VHP) archive in recognition of Women’s History Month. Imagine coming across this job announcement today: Candidates must be highly skilled in math and linguistics, willing to relocate and able to keep a secret to the death. …