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Posted by: Meg Nicholas
Inspired by the murals and graffiti she encountered on her own recent travels, AFC Folklife Specialist Meg Nicholas explores the topic of street art and wonders if we can truly draw distinctions between official and unsanctioned examples of artistic expression.
Posted in: Folk Art, Photographs
Posted by: Megan Harris
A World War I scrapbook recently acquired by the Veterans History Project includes rare and fascinating photos of World War I aviation and aviators—including Teddy Roosevelt’s son Quentin Roosevelt, who was shot down over France in 1918. Read all about how the scrapbook illustrates the history of the 95th Aero Squadron.
Posted in: Army, Photographs, Veterans History Project, VHP 25th, World War I
Posted by: Megan Harris
This post announces the launch of “Forged By the Sea,” the Veterans History Project’s latest online exhibit, which celebrates the Navy’s 250th birthday. The post discusses Navy history in broad terms and spotlights some of the featured collections, as well as directing readers to additional Navy-related resources.
Posted in: Navy, Oral History, Photographs, Service Branches, Veterans History Project, VHP 25th
Posted by: Kerry Ward
This post recounts three stories of formal dresses that were made out of World War II silk parachutes. In two cases, they were wedding dresses, meaning that silk once intended for war had been transformed into a symbol of new beginnings. These stories are striking reminders that history isn’t just found in archives or interviews—it’s stitched into uniforms, tucked into footlockers and woven into parachute silk transformed into wedding gowns. These everyday artifacts speak volumes, capturing emotion, memory and meaning in ways words sometimes cannot. The stories come from the collections of the Veterans History Project.
Posted in: Oral History, Photographs, Veterans History Project, Weddings, Women's History, World War II
Posted by: Douglas D. Peach
The state of Minnesota is home to many traditions, communities, and forms of expressive culture. In this post, we highlight collection materials from the American Folklife Center pertaining to the folklife and cultural heritage of the North Star State.
Posted in: Cultural Heritage, Fieldwork, Folk Art, Folksong, Foodways, Minnesota, Norwegian Americans, Photographs
Posted by: Douglas D. Peach
On March 11, 2025, the American Folklife Center held a panel discussion with four cultural documentarians of the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of the COVID-19 American History Project. In this post, we feature the webcast of the panel discussion, alongside photos from the event.
Posted in: African Americans, Archival Practice, COVID-19 American History Project, COVID-19 pandemic, ethnomusicologists, Fieldwork, Folklorists, Kentucky, Latino/a, Narratives, Native American History, New York, Ohio, Oral History, Photographs, Storytelling
Posted by: Douglas D. Peach
The American Folklife Center recently acquired the collection of Tom Pich—an acclaimed photographer of traditional artists. Pich is best known for his photographs of recipients of the National Heritage Fellowship—the nation's highest honor in the traditional arts presented annually by the National Endowment for the Arts. In this celebratory post, AFC Folklife Specialist Nancy Groce highlights the importance of this acquisition, contextualizes Tom Pich's work, and details the beauty of his photographs.
Posted in: Acquisitions, Folk Art, NEA National Heritage Fellowship, Photographs
Posted by: Meg Nicholas
Summer gardening season is in full bloom, and the American Folklife Center is searching through the gardens featured in multiple archived collections in search of the friendly pollinators - like bees, butterflies and birds - that brighten our lives, influence our foodways, and impact our cultural heritage.
Posted in: Collection Highlight, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Photographs
Posted by: Stephen Winick
This post looks at photos and recordings of some important calypso stars of the 1940s New York music scene, Macbeth the Great (Patrick MacDonald), Duke of Iron (Cecil Anderson) and Lord Invader (Rupert Grant). The 1947 photos are part of the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress Music Division, while the recording of a full-length 1946 concert by the three performers is part of the American Folklife Center’s Alan Lomax Collection. These collections shed light on an interesting time in American music, before the emergence of rock and roll, when calypso and related Caribbean styles were vying for popularity with other folk music genres. In 1944, the Andrews Sisters had a major hit with Lord Invader's "Rum and Coca-Cola." In 1956, Harry Belafonte's "Calypso" became the first million-selling LP record. During the period between those milestones, it looked possible that calypso could emerge to be one of the leading styles of American pop music. Performers like Duke of Iron, Macbeth, and Lord Invader engaged in friendly competitions like the ones documented by Gottlieb and Lomax, using witty lyrics, catchy music, and personal charisma to fascinate audiences on stage and on record. Find the photos and a link to the concert audio in this blog post.
Posted in: African American History, Caribbean Americans, Caught My Eye, Folk Music, Folksong, Photographs