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Posted by: Nicole Saylor
This is a guest blog post by 2018 summer project archivist Jesse Hocking, who is pursuing a master’s degree in library and information studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I grew up in West Virginia and Georgia and spent my undergraduate years in film and ethnic studies, so in many ways the American Folklife Center …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Archival Practice
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: 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: Stephanie Hall
Note: This is part of a series of blog posts about the 40th Anniversary Year of the American Folklife Center. Visit this link to see them all! When I was working on the article, “Dance!” in Folklife Today last month, I had planned to include the wonderful performance of the Lao Natasinh Dance Troupe of …
Posted in: AFC 40th Anniversary, Asian American History, Holidays, Religion
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Note: This is part of a series of blog posts about the 40th Anniversary Year of the American Folklife Center. Visit this link to see them all! April 29 is International Dance Day, established by the International Dance Council (CID) in 1982 to call attention to the importance of dance worldwide. So get your dances …
Posted in: AFC 40th Anniversary, AFC Events, African Americans, Asian American History, Dance, Homegrown Concert Series, Native American History, Pacific Islander History, Pacific Islands Americans
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Historically, the Omaha Indian Hethu’shka Society were a group of highly respected men, voted into the group by unanimous consent of the society, who aimed to set a strong example for their people of the best attributes of a warrior. Although traditionally deeds in combat were the central test for inclusion in the society, such …
Posted in: Alan Jabbour, Alice Cunningham Fletcher, Cultural Heritage, Dance, Folk Music, Folksong, Francis La Flesche, Native American History
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
This is a guest post from Lotus Norton-Wisla, an intern at the American Folklife Center working to improve access to materials in the Alan Lomax Collection related to choreometrics, which was Lomax’s methodology for studying dance performance style. These materials consist of more than 70 boxes of paper materials and more than 3,500 film elements. …
Posted in: Alan Lomax, Archival Practice, Dance
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: Guha Shankar
This post in the Homegrown Plus series features Nick Gaitan, musician, music historian, band leader, and proud exponent of Houston’s vibrant Chicano music scene. Like others in the series, the blog links to a concert video of Nick’s band in performance in the Coolidge Auditorium in Fall 2025, a video interview recorded with him prior to the concert and links to Latino/a educational resources held in the AFC. The group is composed of Nicholas Valdez (vocals, accordion), Charlie San Miguel (drums), Luis Gonzalez (bajo sexto, guitar), Nick Gaitan (vocals, stand up bass). The band’s self-described “Tejas [Texas] Roots Music” sound is a cover term for a repertoire that encompasses conjunto, cumbia, Louisiana swamp pop, country, and rhythm and blues. These stellar musicians slip seamlessly from one musical style to another during the course of performance and bring the sound of Texas and the wider Gulf Coast region to the Washington, DC, audience. In the interview, Nick Gaitan reflects on his documentation work for Sonidos de Houston, a Community Collections Grant project and his upbringing in the multi-cultural, polyphonic environment of his native Houston and its long-lasting influences on his personal and professional development.
Posted in: Chicano/a, Hispanic American History, Homegrown Concert Series, Homegrown Plus, Houston, Latino/a, music, Oral History, Texas