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Posted by: Megan Harris
The following is the second part of a two-part blog post on the George Pearcy and Robert Augur Veterans History Project (VHP) collections—you can read Part One here. “Dear Mr. and Mrs. Pearcy: I am a friend of your son George and am one of those who have been liberated from the hands of the …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Megan Harris
Do you believe in fate? If not, the story of a new Veterans History Project (VHP) acquisition may change your mind… As readers of Folklife Today may recall, this past February, VHP archivist Rachel Telford wrote a blog post about the newly received George Washington Pearcy collection. At the time of the donation, the …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Megan Harris
One look at Irving Greenwald’s diary is all it takes to bring to mind the old adage “good things come in small packages.” This World War I diary, written by Private Irving Greenwald from December 1917 to January 1919, was donated to the Veterans History Project (VHP) in December 2015 by his family. Original World …
Posted in: Acquisitions, World War I
Posted by: Megan Harris
The following is a guest post by Andrew Cassidy-Amstutz, archivist for the Veterans History Project. In our world of daily Facebook status updates and trending Twitter hashtags, an annotated map by Homer Bluford Clonts caught my eye as an example of how service members during World War II recorded their daily thoughts and activities in …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
This is a guest post by archivist Todd Harvey, the acquisitions coordinator at the American Folklife Center. Let’s imagine it is the summer of 1962 and you are 20, bursting at the seams with the songs of Joan Baez. She will be on the cover of Time magazine in a few months and her LP …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Archival Practice, Folksong
Posted by: Megan Harris
The following is a guest post by Rachel Telford, archivist for the Veterans History Project. Some of the most harrowing stories the Veterans History Project holds are those of prisoners of war (POW). Illness, inhumane treatment, and lack of sufficient food were common, but as prisoners endured the seemingly unendurable, many recorded their experiences and …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Megan Harris
A few days after his transfer from Fort Wolters, Texas to Fort Ord, California in 1943, Army Staff Sergeant Charles Otto Campbell wrote to his girlfriend, Phyllis, “This place is paradise, baby.” Campbell, known as Chuck to his friends and family, was awestruck by the “almost unbelievable weather” at Fort Ord, as well as by …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
This is a guest post by Maya Lerman, processing archivist at the American Folklife Center. She will be writing occasional guest posts as she makes discoveries during the processing of the Izzy Young Collection. In November 2015 the American Folklife Center acquired Izzy Young’s collection, including its rich manuscripts, journals, scrapbooks, photographs, and recordings. Israel Goodman …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Archival Practice, Folksong
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: This is part of a series of blog posts about the 40th anniversary of the American Folklife Center. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the American Folklife Center and its congressional mandate to “preserve and present American folklife,” we’re inviting people to share photos of their own folklife traditions. Do you prepare a family …
Posted in: Acquisitions, AFC 40th Anniversary, Photographs