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Archive: 2018 (43 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 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

Edward Avery McIlhenny: Spicy Folklorist

Posted by: Stephen Winick

This blog post about the naturalist, ornithologist, and hot sauce innovator E. A. McIlhenny 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. Edward Avery …

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

Kumbaya: History of an Old Song

Posted by: Stephen Winick

In honor of African American History Month, we thought we’d present a classic article from Folklife Center News. This one concerns the early history of the African American spiritual “Kumbaya,” also known by other titles such as “Kum Ba Yah,” “Come By Yuh,” and “Come By Here.”  In the years since this article was first published, …

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

Botkin Lectures to Go!

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The following is a guest post from AFC Folklife Specialist Nancy Groce. Botkin Lectures to Go! Learn More About Folklife, Ethnomusicology, and Oral History through the American Folklife Center’s Online Resources Have you always wanted to know more about folklore? Do you regret not taking that ethnomusicology course in college? Does finding out more about …

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

Photos From AFC’s Alan Jabbour Legacy Event

Posted by: Stephen Winick

  On January 18, 2018, AFC sponsored a special event in our Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series.  Alan Jabbour, 1942 – 2017: His Legacy in Folklife and Traditional Music brought together speakers who worked closely with Alan to examine the contributions he made during his career to cultural documentation, the promotion of traditional music, and …

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

Memories of Peter Bartis

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Note: the following is a guest post by our colleague Kate Stewart, former AFC archivist and former Folklife Today blogger. If you have a memory of Peter to share, please do so in the comments on the blog post at this link. In the spring of 2011, I had just begun learning the ropes of working at …