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Archive: November 2024 (8 Posts)

A portrait of singer and musician Thea Hopkins with guitar

Reclaiming “Red Wing” with Wampanoag Singer-Songwriter Thea Hopkins on the Folklife Today Podcast

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The latest episode of the Folklife Today podcast features award-winning singer-songwriter Thea Hopkins, a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Martha’s Vineyard. Thea took the Archive Challenge, adapting songs from the American Folklife Center archive. On the first occasion she arranged and sang a Creek lullaby which, according to Creek elders, was created during the Trail of Tears. For her second challenge, Hopkins wrote new lyrics for the song “Red Wing,” which originally contained damaging stereotypes of Native Americans. The new lyrics pay homage to pioneering Native film actress Lilian St. Cyr, who was known as “Red Wing.” In the episode, Thea discusses her process and the meanings of the songs with AFC staff members Stephen Winick, Jennifer Cutting, and Meg Nicholas; Meg, a fellow Folklife Today blogger, is one of the American Folklife Center’s specialists in Native song, and affiliated with the Munsee-Delaware Nation in southwest Ontario. The episode features the field recordings of both songs, as well as Thea’s new versions, and a fiddle tune by Chippewa fiddler Mary Trotchie. The blog post features the link to the podcast, full audio of most of the source songs, as well as relevant links to Native American resources and Archive Challenge tools.

Posted in: Archive Challenge, Native American History, Podcasts

Three women huddle around an in-progress game of Chinese checkers, set in the middle of a dinette table placed at the edge of a home kitchen.

The Games We Play

Posted by: Meg Nicholas

Are you looking to learn a new game to help celebrate National Game and Puzzle Week (November 20-26)? You’re in luck! The AFC archives include examples of games that can inspire your next family game night, including Ghost in the Graveyard, Pass the Trash, El Florón, bingo, and many others.

Posted in: Collection Highlight, Games

Soldiers draped in blankets pull a casualty on a sledge through the snow.

VHP’s Newest Online Exhibit: Battle of the Bulge

Posted by: Megan Harris

Today, the Veterans History Project launches a new online exhibit focusing on the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most pivotal and infamous battles of World War II. On December 16, 1944, the German army attacked Allied forces—mostly American units—positioned in the Ardennes Forest, a densely forested area along the borders of Belgium and …

Posted in: Oral History, Serving: Our Voices, Veterans Day, Veterans History Project, World War II

half-length portrait of Patrick Tayluer between two gum trees with the words "Walked from Brisbane to Perth."

The One that Found Galore: Patrick Tayluer in Australia

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Patrick Tayluer, the retired sailor who recorded 79 sea shanties, ballads, and stories for the Library of Congress in 1942, was fascinated by Australia. In this post we present several of his Australian songs and stories. We also recount his epic 7500 kilometer walk across the continent from late 1929 to early 1931. The post includes audio of two songs, including a bushranger ballad never collected from any other source.

Posted in: Folksong, Patrick Tayluer, Sea Shanties

A dragon, cobra, and bone-faced ghoul in a red jacket - painted in tempura paint - adorn a window in Egg City Harbor, New Jersey.

The American Folklife Center at Family Day

Posted by: Meg Nicholas

The American Folklife Center took part in the Library's Halloween-themed Family Day in October. In addition to showcasing a few items from the archive, AFC staff led visitors in an activity (making paper fortune-tellers) and encouraged participation in an engagement question around cryptids, ghost stories and urban legends.

Posted in: AFC Events, Halloween, La Llorona, Legends

A man in a sailor's cap shows a young girl a handmade ship model

Sung By Women Too: Patrick Tayluer and “The Leaving of Liverpool,” Part 2

Posted by: Stephen Winick

This post continues Stephen Winick's series on the sea songs of Patrick Tayluer, and finishes the story of "The Leaving of Liverpool," the lyric lament of a nineteenth-century mariner who leaves his hometown of Liverpool for San Francisco. In this post Steve outlines how the song became a major part of the folk revival, and gives links to versions and adaptations performed and recorded by everyone from the Clancy Brothers to the Kingston Trio and Ewan MacColl to Bob Dylan. He asks what can be learned from Patrick Tayluer's version of the song. Finally, he provides a fragmentary recording of the song from 1942, sung by a woman, and discusses who the mystery singer might be!

Posted in: Folksong, Patrick Tayluer, Sea Shanties