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Posted by: Megan Harris
June 6, 2019, marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Allies’ famed invasion of the beaches of Normandy. In honor of this momentous occasion, the Veterans History Project (VHP) is publishing a special series of blog posts revealing hidden facets of D-Day illuminated within VHP’s collections. This post is the fifth in a six-part series, …
Posted in: D-Day, Native American History, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
It’s Valentine’s Day. It seems everyone has love on their minds today—at least half of us, anyway. Last year, the National Retail Federation predicted that 54.7% of the United States adult population was planning to celebrate the holiday with their significant others, friends or pets to the tune of nearly $20 billion. Yes, billion with …
Posted in: Afghanistan War, African American History, African Americans, Disablity, Hispanic American History, Iraq War, Korean War, Narratives, Native American History, Oral History, Persian Gulf War, Photographs, Storytelling, Veterans History Project, Vietnam War, World War I, World War II
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
This photo of an unknown Crow Indian girl has always fascinated me. Everything about her tells a story — but I don’t know the full story. The American Folklife Center’s Montana Field Survey, which includes this photo, was done fairly quickly, identifying places and people that might be studied in more depth at a later …
Posted in: Native American History, Women's History
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
In the summer of 1894 James Mooney, a scholar of American Indian culture and language, made recordings of songs of the Ghost Dance in several languages. The James Money Recordings of American Indian Ghost Dance Songs have recently been updated and are part of the presentation, Emile Berliner and the Birth of the Recording Industry. …
Posted in: AFC Events, Native American History, Religion
Posted by: Michelle Stefano
In the last “Folklife at the International Level” post, Wend Wendland, Director of WIPO’s Traditional Knowledge Division, recounted that the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) was formed by WIPO member states in 2000. The aim was to discuss issues relating to the protection of TCEs (called at …
Posted in: AFC History, Fieldwork, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Native American History, WIPO
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
According to Hindu mythology, there is an unseen “planet” out there in the form of the head of a serpent god, Rahu Ketu. This god wanted to gobble up the sun. To prevent this Vishnu cut off his head. The head, Rahu, and the body, Ketu, became two entities out there circling the Earth (in …
Posted in: Animals, Beliefs, Hispanic American History, Myths, Native American History
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
A celebration of fathers and fatherhood took a long time to be established as a nation-wide observance. Mother’s Day was being locally observed as it was being promoted in the 19th and early 20th century, and became a regular holiday in May in 1914 by presidential proclamation. Father’s Day was locally celebrated around the country …
Posted in: African Americans, Cuban Americans, Father's Day, Folksong, Hispanic American History, Irish Americans, Narratives, Native American History, Storytelling
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
Kelly Revak is a new processing archivist at the American Folklife Center. She has a master’s degree in folklore and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Cumulatively, she has 20 years of experience in archives, including 7 years in various capacities at the Berkeley Folklore Archive. Since starting her job …
Posted in: American Folklore Society, Archival Practice, Native American History, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
“A lot of things come out of my chest,” Agnes Vanderburg explained in 1979 when folklorist Kay Young asked about her reasons for starting a school to pass on her knowledge of Salish Indian traditions (recording at the link, go to 1:50 minutes). She had felt frustrated at carrying knowledge that was disappearing as Indians …
Posted in: Folk Medicine, Foodways, Material Culture, Native American History, Women's History