The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress today launches its eighth season of “America Works,” an original podcast series that honors the creativity, resilience and dedication of the 168-million-strong American workforce. The new season features interview excerpts from the Occupational Folklore Project with 8 workers whose jobs involve health and healing – from an emergency room pediatrician to a hospital nutritionist, a large animal veterinarian to an anesthesiologist. Find links to the podcast, and to the full interviews with the participants, in this blog post.
This COVID Recollections entry details an upcoming American Folklife Center symposium and concert, both focused on COVID-19 and cultural heritage, which will take place at the Library of Congress on March 12 and 13, 2026. These events are free and open to the public, but the concert requires pre-registration. The American Folklife Center is organizing these events as part of the COVID-19 American History Project.
Inspired by the murals and graffiti she encountered on her own recent travels, AFC Folklife Specialist Meg Nicholas explores the topic of street art and wonders if we can truly draw distinctions between official and unsanctioned examples of artistic expression.
What are your goals for 2026? Are you looking to deepen your community connections through oral history? Interested in expanding your portfolio of humanities skills and professional networks? On Saturday, February 28, 2026, the Library of Congress Veterans History Project provides community and professional development opportunities through “The Open Door.” This public program includes two …
This blog post commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday draws on interviews recorded for the Civil Rights History Project collection, accompanied by selected images in the Glen Pearcy collection. The narratives offers viewpoints on the topic of non-violent direct action such as Dr. King's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” tensions surrounding the formation of SNCC, and the reality of life on the front lines for activists confronted by violent segregationists .
A World War I scrapbook recently acquired by the Veterans History Project includes rare and fascinating photos of World War I aviation and aviators—including Teddy Roosevelt’s son Quentin Roosevelt, who was shot down over France in 1918. Read all about how the scrapbook illustrates the history of the 95th Aero Squadron.
This post in the Homegrown Plus series features Nick Gaitan, musician, music historian, band leader, and proud exponent of Houston’s vibrant Chicano music scene. Like others in the series, the blog links to a concert video of Nick’s band in performance in the Coolidge Auditorium in Fall 2025, a video interview recorded with him prior to the concert and links to Latino/a educational resources held in the AFC. The group is composed of Nicholas Valdez (vocals, accordion), Charlie San Miguel (drums), Luis Gonzalez (bajo sexto, guitar), Nick Gaitan (vocals, stand up bass). The band’s self-described “Tejas [Texas] Roots Music” sound is a cover term for a repertoire that encompasses conjunto, cumbia, Louisiana swamp pop, country, and rhythm and blues. These stellar musicians slip seamlessly from one musical style to another during the course of performance and bring the sound of Texas and the wider Gulf Coast region to the Washington, DC, audience. In the interview, Nick Gaitan reflects on his documentation work for Sonidos de Houston, a Community Collections Grant project and his upbringing in the multi-cultural, polyphonic environment of his native Houston and its long-lasting influences on his personal and professional development.
What does it take to build a national archive from the ground up? In this installment of our 25th anniversary series, we hear from the Veterans History Project’s first director whose leadership helped turn a powerful idea into a lasting tribute to veterans' voices.
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (AFC) turns 50 today, January 2, 2026. To mark the occasion, AFC will sponsor public programs, special events, and other activities throughout the coming year, celebrating the Center’s role in the preservation and promotion of traditional culture. Events will include special editions of our Homegrown Concert series and Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture series; special symposia, including one dedicated to our COVID-19 Oral History Project; and a major exhibition of treasures from the Center’s collections, to launch in mid-September. The American Folklife Center dates back to January 2, 1976, when President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-201, The American Folklife Preservation Act. The Act created the Center and placed it here at the Library of Congress with a mandate to “preserve, support, revitalize, and disseminate” American folklife.
