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Posted by: Michelle Stefano
This post features an American Folklife Center Community Collections Grant recipient project focused on documenting Brooklyn, New York's J'ouvert Carnival traditions and community.
Posted in: AFC Awards, Caribbean Americans, Fieldwork
Posted by: Allina Migoni
The research guides from the American Folklife Center help researchers navigate the AFC collections by geographic region or by topic. One of our most recent guides, Latinx and Latin American Collections: Resources in the American Folklife Center, provides quick access to our Latinx and Latin American resources during National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Posted in: AFC Events, Caribbean Americans, Chicano/a, Cuban Americans, Día de los Muertos, Día de Muertos, Folksong, Haiti, Hispanic American History, Latin America, Latino/a, Narratives, Oral History, Puerto Rican Americans, South America, Storytelling
Posted by: Michelle Stefano
Below is an excerpt from a post on the Library’s Of the People blog highlighting artist, documentarian, and AFC Community Collections Grant recipient Jorge Félix and his project, Sofrito Conversations: Bridging the North and West of Chicago. Congratulations on the grant, Jorge! First, tell us a bit about you and your work. Thanks! It is …
Posted in: AFC Awards, Caribbean Americans, Fieldwork, Foodways, Latino/a, Puerto Rican Americans
Posted by: Michelle Stefano
Below is an excerpt from a post on the Library’s Of the People blog highlighting AFC Community Collections Grant recipient Russell Oliver and his project, Documenting the Stories, Agricultural Traditions, and Culture of Specialty Coffee Farmers in Puerto Rico. Congratulations on the grant, Russell! How did the idea for the project come about? Thank you …
Posted in: AFC Awards, Caribbean Americans, Foodways, Puerto Rican Americans
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean. Puerto Rican migration to the mainland United States has largely been driven by economic necessity, whether of individuals’ needs to earn more to support themselves and their families, or large scale economic events such as the Great Depression and other …
Posted in: Caribbean Americans, Folk Music, Folksong, Hispanic American History, Poetry
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
In the Homegrown Plus series, we present Homegrown concerts that also had accompanying oral history interviews, placing both together in an easy-to-find blog post. (Find the whole series here!) We’re continuing the series with a concert and oral history with Grupo Rebolú. Grupo Rebolú is an Afro-Colombian musical ensemble that includes some of the finest Colombian …
Posted in: African Americans, Caribbean Americans, Hispanic American History, Homegrown Plus
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Between 1976 and 1978 Karen S. Ellis recorded the playground songs of elementary school students on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. She was teaching at the Ricardo Richards School and many of the children she recorded were her students. This work culminated in a book and recording, Domino, a resource for children and teachers, published …
Posted in: Caribbean Americans, christmas, Folksong, Hispanic American History
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
The collections of the American Folklife Center reflect a long history of ethnographic interest in Luso-Hispanic American music and song. Much of the early collecting work focused on peoples of the regions that formerly belonged to Spain. In this post I’ll provide a quick overview of the Hispanic-American music in AFC’s online collections. Spanish Songs …
Posted in: Alan Lomax, Caribbean Americans, Easter, Folk Drama, Folk Music, Folksong, Hispanic American History, Holidays, John Lomax, Juan B Rael, Ruby Terrill Lomax, Sidney Robertson Cowell
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Caribbean American Heritage Month is a relatively new commemorative month, first created in June, 2006. The American Folklife Center has many collections that document aspects of Caribbean cultures and some of these are available online. This essay can only touch on a few examples, but I hope it will provide ideas on how to explore …
Posted in: African Americans, Caribbean Americans, Folksong, Herbert Halpert, Native American History, riddles, Sidney Robertson Cowell, Stetson Kennedy, Zora Neale Hurston