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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: Stephanie Hall
Bats show up everywhere at Halloween. Often they are playing a bit part, in the background of decorations and advertising as a kind of mascot for the holiday. But they do show up in their major role in horror movies and television programs, as the dreaded vampire transforms into a bat and flies away. The …
Posted in: Folksong, Halloween, Legends, Native American History
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
The following is a guest post by Andrew Huber, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). October 26th marks the National Day of the Deployed, which honors all those veterans and active duty soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who have spent time abroad in service to their country. As anyone who has been deployed …
Posted in: christmas, Holidays, Iraq War, Narratives, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans History Project, Vietnam War, World War I
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: Stephanie Hall
For many today, Labor Day is a day off: a day to go to the beach or have a barbecue, for example. Relaxing activities are certainly part of the tradition. But it should not be forgotten that Labor Day was born out of struggle for better treatment and recognition of the workers who built the …
Posted in: Folksong, Holidays, Labor Day, Narratives
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: Lisa Taylor
A version of this post was published on “The Library of Congress” blog, July 1, 2016. One of the many joys of working at the Veterans History Project (VHP) is discovering all of the out-of-the-box ways researchers find to use the collections. VHP’s congressional mandate is to collect, preserve and make accessible the war stories …
Posted in: Holidays, Independence Day, Narratives, Oral History, Photographs, Storytelling, Veterans History Project