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Category: James Madison Carpenter

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

The Homecoming of the James Madison Carpenter Collection: A Transatlantic Collaboration

Posted by: Stephen Winick

On March 27, 2018, at Cecil Sharp House in London, the English Folk Dance and Song Society and the Elphinstone Institute of the University of Aberdeen hosted the public event ”40,000 Miles in Quest of Tradition: A Celebration of Carpenter Folk Online.” The event celebrated the launch of AFC’s James Madison Carpenter Collection at the Vaughan …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

AFC’s James Madison Carpenter Collection Is Online

Posted by: Stephen Winick

On behalf of the American Folklife Center, I am pleased to announce that our James Madison Carpenter collection is now online. The collection, which consists of manuscripts, audio, photographs, and drawings documenting British folk music, song, and drama in the first half of the 20th century, is available worldwide through the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library’s …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

St. George and the Arrearage Monster: A Mumming in Process

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, …

A group of people including Rosanne Cash look at a disc sleeve

Arthur McBride, Carrie Grover, Paul Brady, and Rosanne Cash: More About a Classic Song

Posted by: Stephen Winick

In a previous post, I discussed one of AFC’s most influential field recordings, Carrie Grover’s “Arthur McBride,” and the popular tracks it inspired: versions by Paul Brady and by Bob Dylan. I was inspired to write about the song again by Rosanne Cash, a fan of both Dylan and Brady, who enthused about “Arthur McBride” …