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Posted by: Stephanie Hall
One hundred years ago this month, February 26, 1917, what is generally acknowledged as the first recording of jazz was released. “Livery Stable Blues,” performed by the Original Dixieland Jass Band [1] was a best-selling record for Victor, but is a problematic “first” as it is a recording of a white band performing an African …
Posted in: African American History, African Americans, Blues, Folk Music, Folksong, Jazz
Posted by: Guha Shankar
In remembrance of the Reverend Martin Luther King’s birthday, the Library of Congress and other federal agencies, will be closed on Monday, January 16th (to be faithful to the facts, the Reverend’s actual birthday is January 15, 1929). To commemorate the occasion, this blog draws from the American Folklife Center’s documentary collections to present selected …
Posted in: 1965, African American History, African Americans, Civil Rights, Freedom Struggle, Glen Pearcy Collection, Holidays, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King, Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March, SNCC
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following guest post by Jennifer Cutting is part of a series of blog posts about the 40th Anniversary Year of the American Folklife Center. Visit this link to see them all! The American Folklife Center (AFC) is pleased to announce the availability online of four titles from our historic series of record albums, Folk …
Posted in: AFC 40th Anniversary, AFC Events, AFC History, African American History, African Americans, Alan Jabbour, Alan Lomax, Cowboy and Western Music, Cowboys, Duncan Emrich, ethnomusicologists, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, John Lomax, John Wesley Work III, Marshall W. Stearns, Native American History, Old Time Music, Willard Rhodes
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest post by folklorist and blues scholar Barry Lee Pearson. It introduces the Sherman Holmes Project, which will play in the Library’s Homegrown Concert Series on Wednesday, April 15. More concert information is at this link! During the 1940s, job opportunities in Northern industrial centers attracted rural African Americans from throughout …
Posted in: AFC Events, African American History, African Americans, Folk Music, Homegrown Concert Series
Posted by: Guha Shankar
Montgomery in March, 1965, Reconsidered: The Perspective from the Other Side of the Lens This week’s blog is a companion piece to my previous post on the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Campaign in Alabama. Both blogs have provided a great opportunity for the AFC to share examples of Glen Pearcy’s singular photo documentation from the front …
Posted in: 1965, African American History, African Americans, Civil Rights, Civil Rights History Project, Freedom Struggle, Photographs, Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March, SNCC
Posted by: Guha Shankar
Montgomery in March, 1965: Images from the front lines of the freedom struggle Selma has been much in public consciousness in recent months, owing to the release of the movie of the same name, the city’s historical place and symbolic importance in the (renewed) contention over voting rights in the nation and, of course, this …
Posted in: 1965, African American History, African Americans, Civil Rights, Civil Rights History Project, Glen Pearcy Collection, Martin Luther King, Photographs, Preservation, Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March, SNCC, Students
Posted by: Kate Stewart
Two weeks ago, Beth Domingo of AARP’s Life Reimagined Institute and journalist Vern Smith came to the American Folklife Center to talk with us about their work on the Voices of Civil Rights project (AFC 2005/015), sponsored by AARP and donated to the Library of Congress in 2005, and to hear about our recent work …
Posted in: AFC Reading Room Visitors, African American History, African Americans, Civil Rights, Civil Rights History Project, Freedom Struggle, Oral History, Voices of Civil Rights Project collection
Posted by: Kate Stewart
The following is a Q & A with one of our long-term researchers, Jeannette Estruth. KS: Hi Jeannette! Tell us a little about your background and why you came to the Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center. JE: Hi Kate, thanks so much for inviting me to take part in the American Folklife …
Posted in: AFC Reading Room Visitors, African American History, African Americans, Civil Rights, Civil Rights History Project, Freedom Struggle, Oral History
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Folklorist John Wesley Work III lived in an extraordinary time in the development of African American music. He was in college as the Harlem Renaissance began. African American composers were developing traditional blues into elite compositions and the piano became an instrument for new styles such as jazz and boogie-woogie. Work, like his brother Julian, …
Posted in: African American History, African Americans, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, John Wesley Work III