Top of page

Archive: 2021 (21 Posts)

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

New Collection Online: the Italian Americans in the West Project

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Italians in the United States are commonly associated with communities in cities in the east. But during the course of research on ranching culture in Nevada between 1978 and 1982, American Folklife Center researchers met Italian American ranchers and found architectural evidence of Italian settlement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Italians, like …

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

Katherine Dunham’s Ethnographic Research in the Caribbean

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Katherine Dunham is perhaps most famous for her influence on modern American dance with the introduction of African and Caribbean dance movement. That work began with ethnographic work in the Caribbean in 1936. Films made during her research have been put online by the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Selections from the …

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

African American Art Dolls and Puppets for Identity and Healing

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

On February 18, 2020, the Library of Congress hosted an unusual event, a celebration of African American dolls and puppets sponsored by the American Folklife Center’s Benjamin Botkin Lecture Series. Folklorist Camila Bryce-Laporte and fellow artist, Dr. Deborah Grayson,  presented several artists from Maryland and the District of Columbia. The event also included a wonderful …