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Posted by: Stephen Winick
In our last post, we presented the text and photos of our 2016 mummers play, St. George and the Arrearage Monster: A Mumming in Process. Below, see a video of the play, shot on AFC’s trusty tablet by Jonathan Gold, our audio engineer. The acoustics in the Library’s Great Hall make it rather difficult to …
Posted in: christmas, Dance, Drama, Folk Drama, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, Holidays, Mumming
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: Every year, in the week of the Library’s holiday party, staff members of the American Folklife Center put our research and performance skills into play, bringing collections to life in a dramatic performance that tours the halls of the Library of Congress. Dressed in costumes that range from striking to silly, we sing, act, …
Posted in: christmas, Dance, England, Folk Drama, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, James Madison Carpenter, Mumming
Posted by: Stephen Winick
As our longtime readers may recall, the first post on Folklife Today was for Halloween 2013. It called attention to Jack Santino’s Halloween article, and updated it with new information and scary collection items. Since then, we have collected Halloween photos and blogged about spooky stories and (most recently) bats. We have now blogged about …
Posted in: AFC History, AFC Reading Room Visitors, Clothing, Folklorists, Halloween, Holidays
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: This is part of a series of posts about Far Away Moses, a fascinating celebrity of the 19th century, who served as the model for one of the keystone heads on the Thomas Jefferson Building. Moses, a Sephardic Jew from Constantinople, knew some of the most prominent Americans of his era, including Theodore Roosevelt …
Posted in: Far-Away Moses, Jewish American History, Jewish Americans, Religion, Yom Kippur
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest post by Jennifer Cutting. The “Five Questions” interview was performed by Danna Bell, from the Library of Congress’s Educational Outreach office. A shorter version of her answers is available at their blog, Teaching with the Library of Congress. Describe what you do at the Library of Congress and the materials …
Posted in: AFC History, AFC Reading Room Visitors, African Americans, christmas, Dance, Drama, England, Folklorists, May Day, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: A shorter version of this article was published in the March/April 2016 issue of LCM: Library of Congress Magazine. Download a pdf here. We also transformed this article into episode 6 of our podcast. Find the podcast at this link! Scan your favorite newspapers or news websites this April 1, and chances are you’ll …
Posted in: April Fool's Day, Holidays, Practical Jokes
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: Some of this research, and an interview with the author, is being included in a report on CBS Sunday Morning, which should air Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016. While I was doing the research for my recent blog post on the history of the Easter Bunny, I noticed that the Library of Congress has …
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The Easter Bunny, like Santa Claus, is the bringer of gifts on a popular American holiday. Throughout the country, the swift little creature is said to deliver decorated eggs to children on Easter. In some variants of this story, the bunny is even said to lay eggs, presenting a challenge to biology teachers everywhere! So what’s the story on this odd tradition? Let’s take a look. We'll examine claims that the Easter Bunny is related to a pagan goddess, Eostre or Ostara. We'll also look at the origin of the Easter Bunny in Pennsylvania Dutch and German traditions, including the Easter Hare.
Posted in: Animals, Easter, Easter, German Americans, Holidays, Jacob Grimm, Legends, Myths