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Posted by: Stephen Winick
Every year, in the week of the Library’s holiday party, staff members of the American Folklife Center put on a play based on ancient traditions, dressed up with a modern twist. Dressed in costumes that range from striking to silly, we sing, act, rhyme, and dance for other Library staff members and for members of the …
Posted in: christmas, Folk Drama, Holidays, Mumming, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Earlier today, the great gospel quartet The Fairfield Four graced the stage of the Coolidge Auditorium, and I was fortunate enough to take photos of them. I thought I’d share a few of them here as “pics of the week.” A Cappella singing groups are often hard to photograph, because they stand in a straight …
Posted in: African American History, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
In late July, the American Folklife center was privileged to host a book talk by Billy Bragg, who spoke about his book, Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World. A new blog post over on the Library of Congress blog tells the story of how we came to get the well known English singer/ …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest post by Nancy Groce, Senior Folklife Specialist and Director of the Occupational Folklife Project. After seven years of planning, research, fieldwork, and archiving, the American Folklife Center is delighted to announce that the first installment of its Occupational Folklife Project (OFP) launches today on the Library of Congress’s website with …
Posted in: Acquisitions, AFC History, Archie Green, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
This blog post about the novelist Ralph Ellison is part of a series called “Hidden Folklorists,” which examines the folklore work of surprising people, including people better known for other pursuits. Ralph Ellison was born March 1, 1914 in Oklahoma City. The grandson of slaves, he grew up to be a brilliant writer, who produced …
Posted in: African Americans, Folklorists, Hidden Folklorists, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
[This post is part of a series of blog posts about the song “Hal An Tow.” You can find the whole series at this link.] It’s May 6, and the people of Helston, Cornwall, are celebrating Flora Day [1], a large outdoor festival featuring dancing in the streets throughout the town [2]. One of the …
Posted in: Celtic Music, Drama, Folk Music, Folksong, Hal An Tow, May Day, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest post from AFC folklife specialist Michelle Stefano. On February 22 at noon, the Library of Congress will host the talented dancers of Urban Artistry, Inc. in the Coolidge Auditorium as part of the Homegrown Concert Series of the American Folklife Center. Audience members are in for a treat: three rounds …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: this is the fifth, and probably the last, post on Folklife Today concerning Far Away Moses, a nineteenth century Jewish guide and merchant whose face was the model for one of the “keystone heads” sculpted in stone on the outside of the Library of Congress’s Thomas Jefferson building. For the other posts about Moses, …
Posted in: AFC History, Far-Away Moses, Jewish American History, Jewish Americans, Legends, Proverbs, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The American Folklife Center is pleased to welcome John B. Fenn III as the Head of the Research and Programs section. Fenn will be supervising the members of our staff involved in public programming, publications, research, and training in the field of folklife. John Fenn’s academic training is in folklore and ethnomusicology (Ph.D., Indiana University, …
Posted in: Uncategorized