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Archive: September 2019 (6 Posts)

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

Remembering John Cohen (1932-2019)

Posted by: John Fenn

This is a guest post by Todd Harvey, reference specialist and acquisitions coordinator at the American Folklife Center. Todd worked closely with John Cohen in recent years, and was able to conduct an oral history interview with him in 2012. The American Folklife Center sadly notes the passing of collection donor and longtime friend, John …

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

Folklife at the International Level: Roots of Intangible Cultural Heritage Part VIII, Masterpieces and Paradoxes

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

In Part VII, we got a feel for the strong momentum that was building during the 1990s with respect to the more concerted efforts of UNESCO in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) – and raising awareness of the need to – globally. In particular, we took a look at the Living Human Treasures model, long …

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

Politics and Possum Feasts: Presidents Who Ate Opossums

Posted by: Stephen Winick

A photo in the Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs Division (known colloquially around the institution as P & P) shows white men in formal attire, sitting row upon row at tables, apparently waiting to be served. The caption, which came to us with the photo itself, is “’Possum’ dinner tendered to President-elect William Howard …

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

VHP’s Newest Online Exhibit: Breaking Ground and Boundaries: Veteran Changemakers

Posted by: Megan Harris

Earlier this week, the Veterans History Project (VHP) launched a new online exhibit to highlight the stories of veteran “changemakers.” You might be asking yourself, who or what is a changemaker, exactly, and why are we focusing on them? In early 2019, the Library of Congress launched a year-long initiative to explore the stories of …

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

The Man Who Recorded the World: On the Road with Alan Lomax

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The following is a guest post by Todd Harvey and Melanie Zeck of the American Folklife Center Muddy Waters – 29. (Head of the house) Farms 16 acres. Been knowing Son House since ’29. Learned how to play with bottle neck from him by watching him for about a year – followed after where he …