The American Folklife Center (AFC) is delighted to announce that the estate of the late Peter Bartis has recently donated $100,000 to continue its support of the AFC Internship Fund. Bartis was a former staff member at the American Folklife Center, who began his work in the early days of the Center in 1977. Over the course of 40 years, Bartis worked in a variety of key positions at the AFC. [Editor’s note: See this blog post for an overview of Bartis’ career.] In his retirement, Bartis donated a portion of his estate to support interns at the American Folklife Center. After his death, a series of events facilitated another donation of $100,000 from the Bartis estate. This donation will be used to support new AFC interns for years to come. Thank you to the Bartis Family, and especially to Bartis’ nephew, Elliot, for this generous donation!
Previous donations to the AFC Internship Fund, made by several charitable individuals, have supported twelve AFC interns. Each intern has made valuable contributions to the work of the Center. To understand the impact of Bartis’ recent donation, consider the accomplishments of some our talented interns from 2018 to 2024:
Trelani Duncan and Mackenzie Kwok (2018)
Duncan and Kwok were instrumental in launching the Folklife Today podcast and the AFC’s initial engagement with the Story Map platform. The interns contributed to podcast scripts and appeared on an episode of Folklife Today to discuss their internship experiences. Kwok conducted research on AFC collections, which she used to draft a Story Map on fieldwork surveys undertaken by the AFC from 1977 to 1998.
Tali Gelenian and Edward Wang (2019)
Gelenian’s audio production and research skills were instrumental to the development of AFC’s second podcast, America Works. In collaboration with AFC staff, Wang researched, created, and published a Story Map highlighting collections from the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project—a fieldwork survey undertaken by the American Folklife Center in 1977.
Camille Acosta and Kennedi Johnson (2021)
Acosta worked on a Story Map related to collections from the Southwest United States. Johnson helped create a Story Map on Hispanic cultural performances and contributed to a podcast on the 2021 Homegrown concert series.
Elisa Alfonso and Bryan Jenkins (2022)
Alfonso and Jenkins worked collaboratively on a Story Map featuring 1930s collections from the California Folk Music project. The two also supported AFC’s podcast production, even appearing in an episode of Folklife Today to discuss their internship experiences.
Deena R. Owens and Joseph Z. Johnson (2023)
Johnson assisted with the curation of a full season of the America Works podcast. He was instrumental in eight episodes focused on African American workers. Johnson also created a research guide on African American banjo players and an accompanying blog post on Folklife Today. Owens facilitated research visits to the AFC Reading Room, created a research guide on shape-note singing traditions, and authored a blog to highlight her research. Johnson and Owens also appeared on an episode of Folklife Today to discuss their internship experiences. [Editor’s note: Drew Holley was also a 2023 AFC intern, supported by Utah State University.]
Maggie Jones and Hanna Salmon (2024)
Jones co-created a research guide on folklife and creative writing and assisted work on the COVID-19 American History Project. Salmon worked on a research guide on storytelling collections and authored a blog post on a Homegrown Concert Series performance. Both Jones and Salmon edited part of the sixth season of the America Works podcast and assisted the production of various AFC public events. [Editor’s note: Melanie Kimball was also a 2024 AFC intern, supported by Utah State University.]
If you would like to make a donation to support interns at the American Folklife Center, please visit this website.
Douglas D. Peach, Folklife Specialist at the American Folklife Center, assisted with writing and editing for this post.