In June 2024, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi had a special viewing of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Records stewarded by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. This post details Pelosi's visit to the Library, her previous work to advocate for the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and the work American Folklife Center staff to steward these valuable collections.
On June 13th, a new exhibition titled, “Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress,” opened to the public in the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery in the Thomas Jefferson Building. This post highlights items from the collections of the American Folklife Center and the Veterans History Project featured in the exhibition.
A guest blog post by Professor Sarah Fouts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, on this year’s AFC Homegrown Foodways Film Series: Baltimore and New Orleans, which features two films premiering on the Folklife Today blog: El Camino del Pan a Baltimore on Tuesday November 7th @ noon ET; and El Camino del Mole a New Orleans on Tuesday November 14th @ noon ET.
The following is a guest blog post by Mary Claire Phillips, a recent graduate of University of Texas at Austin. Phillips utilized Veterans History Project (VHP) collections in her journal article and honors thesis examining the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) servicewomen during World War II. Happy Pride! This month marks the …
I never had a childhood hero, a celebrity or historic figure or famous athlete whom I looked up to above all others. To this day, it’s my friends and family whom I admire the most and try to emulate. That’s why, when someone asked me recently about a leader I admire, at first, the question …
Today Gay Pride parades occur on weekends in June throughout the United States, as well as in many other countries around the world. It is unusual for folklorists to be able to say exactly when and where a tradition began, but this is a rare case when history does record the events. The tradition of …