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Folklife News & Events: The American Folklife Center is Hiring
Just a reminder that the American Folklife Center is hiring! We have a job for a folklife reference librarian, and two archivist positions for work on our Community Collections Grant materials. Find out all about the positions and apply at the link!
Click here for more information.
News from the Library of Congress
Folklife News & Events:"Native America: Language Is Life" Screening and Discussion November 9, 6:00 pm
The American Folklife Center invites you to a reception, screening, and panel discussion around "Language is Life," a new film from the PBS Series "Native America."
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Thursday, November 9, 2023
6:00 pm - 8:40 pm EST
Thomas Jefferson Building - Members Room (LJ162)
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Registration is required. Follow the link for more info and a link to registration.
From Hollywood films on the big screen to sacred writing deep within the Earth, from long-lost voices captured in wax cylinders, Native people are fighting to keep their languages and ways of life alive. Though many of the approximately 170 Native languages spoken across the United States remain at risk today, it is a time of hope. A revolutionary effort to revitalize traditional languages is unfolding across Native America; and Native innovators are applying 21st-century technologies to save a core element of their culture and inspire future generations. “Language Is Life” highlights how Native heroes are using every tool to recover, revitalize and restore their linguistic traditions. This episode from the PBS series explores the use of a laser-assisted needle to recover Passamaquoddy songs recorded over a century ago and housed at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. It shows a team creating digital scans of Cherokee writing hidden under graffiti in a Georgia cave. In addition, Manny Wheeler (Navajo) shares his mission to dub Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars into Navajo. Their successes are changing Native America and the world at large.
Part of the PBS series Native America Season 2.
Presented with the support of PBS, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Providence Pictures
Click here for more information and a link to registration.
Folklife News & Events:Homegrown Foodways Film Series 2023: Mexican Food in Baltimore and New Orleans
At the link, find 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 at noon ET; and "El Camino del Mole a New Orleans" on Tuesday November 14th at noon ET. Then come on back to the blog for the films!
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events:NEA Heritage Fellows Ceremony September 29 5:30 pm
Join us for the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award Public Ceremony
Friday, September 29, 2023 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm EDT
Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium (LJG45A)
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC
Come join us as we honor the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows and acknowledge the 2020-2022 honorees in a live ceremony in Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress, September 29, 2023, 5:30 pm-6:45 pm. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships is the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts. Each year since 1982, the program recognizes recipients' artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage. The ceremony is free and open to the public to attend in person, and will also be livestreamed on the Library's YouTube channel.
Click here for more information including the livestream link.
Folklife News & Events: Lecture Video Premiere: The Significance of Folklife Education in the Schools by Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje September 25 Noon
Join us for the American Folklife Center's latest Botkin video lecture, starting September 25 at noon. "Teaching Culture, Teaching Culturally: The Significance of Folklife Education in the Schools" by Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje.
Note:Â The video won't appear until about noon on September 25, at which point it will be at the link! If you visit the link before that, you can check out our blog...and subscribe!
Folklorists Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje present an overview of folklore in K-12 education in the U.S. They discuss their work with the influential non-profit organization Local Learning: The National Network for Folk Arts in Education, their visions, and the diverse and dynamic ways that folklorists and traditional artists are currently engaged in K-12, museum, and community education. For 30 years, Local Learning has trained American educators in folkloristics, created opportunities in education for traditional artists, created resources that bridge folklore and education, and developed important partnerships, including an ongoing relationship with Teaching with Primary Sources here at the Library of Congress.
Paddy Bowman is a prominent folklorist, author, educator and Local Learning’s Founding Director; Lisa Rathje is Executive Director of Local Learning and co-edits the peer-reviewed, multimedia Journal of Folklore and Education.
Click here for the premiere!
Folklife News & Events: Alejandro Brittes Quartet Live Concert September 21 7:00 pm
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Alejandro Brittes Quartet. Join the Library as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of exciting programs and activities, beginning with this celebration of music from Brazil and Argentina. Alejandro Brittes Quartet innovatively explores the traditional, cross-border chamamé musical genre, a confluence of indigenous Guaranà and Iberian Baroque influences, slow-cooked over centuries.
The concert will occur on September 21 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
The unique ensemble, based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, is composed of Alejandro Brittes (accordion) from Argentina, as well as Charlise Bandeira (flute), AndrĂ© Ely (seven-stringed guitar), and Carlos de CĂ©saro (contrabass), all three from Brazil. ChamamĂ©, whose epicenter is northeast Argentina, has been  inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.Â
Brittes's musical career spans over 30 years. He has published 100 original compositions and 9 albums, and has performed in 10 nations in the Americas and Europe, collaborating with chamamĂ© legends such as RaĂşl Barboza and Chango Spasiuk. For 2023 U.S. touring, Alejandro Brittes Quartet is supported by IbermĂşsicas/Mid Atlantic Arts´ Iber Exchange program, and the Lei de Incentivo a Cultura – Rouanet of the Federal Government of Brazil. Â
This event is made possible in part with the support of the Embassy of Argentina.Â
This event is supported by the Hispanic Cultural Society.
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events:Singing in Solidarity Women's Concert September 6 Noon
We hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day! To keep the recognition of labor going this week, we wanted to honor the contributions of women to all forms of labor, of both the past and present, and what better way to do that than through song. So we started looking back at our Homegrown Concert videos, of which many are available online, as well as our Archive Challenge series and other documented performances, to create a special concert video. The result is a compilation video of performances by Thea Hopkins, the women’s ensemble Ialoni, Martha González, Rachel Sumner and Traveling Light, Piper Hayes, and the group Windborne. They all feature the voices of women, with the support of their male colleagues. We'll premiere the video this Wednesday, September 6, at noon, on the Folklife Today blog. If you visit the link before that, you can subscribe to the blog and receive announcements about upcoming concerts! The concert will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
Folklife News & Events:German Folk Music Concert with Deitsch, August 23 Homegrown Video Premiere
On August 23 at noon, we'll premiere a brand-new concert video by Deitsch, a lively quartet playing folk music from the heart of Germany! The concert will be at the link at noon on August 23. If you visit the link before that, you can explore the blog. Then please subscribe so you'll receive notification of the concert when it premieres!
Deitsch plays traditional songs and dance tunes from Germany, some of them 250 years old. For years, German folk music was neglected and nearly forgotten, or derided as old-fashioned and conservative. But now, arranged and interpreted in the style of modern folk music from Germany's European neighbors, it emerges timeless and contemporary at the same time. Geographically, Germany is situated between Scandinavia and the Alpine countries, between France, England, Ireland and Poland, and this is true also for the band sound of Deitsch: it has common elements with the music of all these neighbors, but it stays distinct and unique as well. This music may seem anachronistic in a globalizing world, the members of Deitsch say, but it can contribute to creating cultural identity and celebrating diversity and common bonds with others.
Gudrun Walther (voice, violin, viola, diatonic accordion) and Jürgen Treyz (guitar, mandolin, mandola, voice) had built up years of experience with award-winning bands and projects before founding Deitsch as a duo in the mid 2000s. Their duo recordings won many awards, including the German Record Critics' Quarterly Prize in 2009. They have since added Barbara Hintermeier (violin, viola, voice) and Steffen Gabriel (flute, bagpipes, voice) to the lineup. All four are master musicians. Walther is also an accomplished singer, bringing old songs to life in a clear, memorable voice, and the other members complement her singing with four-part harmonies.
The band has consciously avoided electronic instruments and studio effects such as looping, to keep the sound consistently acoustic. Nevertheless, they imbue traditional folk music with contemporary arrangements that catapult it into the 21st century.
The concert was shot on location in a historic house and an open-air museum in Germany, and will be presented for the first time by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, along with an interview with the band which explains some of their traditions and instruments. Both videos will be embedded in a blog post at Folklife Today. At noon on August 2, you'll find it at the link below. Once again, if you visit the link before that, you can explore the blog, and then subscribe so you'll receive notification of the concert when it premieres.
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
Folklife News & Events: Botkin Lecture by Marilyn White August 16 Noon
Please join us Wednesday, August 16, 2023, at noon in the Whittall Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, for a special lecture by Dr. Marilyn White:
Folklore Today/Folklore Tomorrow: Expanding the Conversation
Folklorist Marilyn White, current President of the American Folklore Society, retired Professor at Kean University, and a pivotal member of such influential groups as the Association of African and African American Folklorists, City Lore
(NYC), and the New Jersey Folklore Society, reflects on her career and the challenges that must be met for the field to become more inclusive and reflective of 21st century America.
Dr. Marilyn M. White is a retired Professor of Anthropology at Kean University in New Jersey, (1985 to 2011). She previously taught at Western Kentucky University for eight years. For the American Folklore Society, she served on the Executive Board and was an early member and then Chair of the Cultural Diversity Committee. Her research interests include African American folklore, family folklore, stratification, jokes and humor, and she has been conducting long-term research in Little Cayman.
This lecture will be recorded on video and placed online at the Library of Congress website at a later date.
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events: Botkin Lecture by Marilyn White August 16 Noon
Please join us Wednesday, August 16, 2023, at noon in the Whittall Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, for a special lecture by Dr. Marilyn White:
Folklore Today/Folklore Tomorrow: Expanding the Conversation
Folklorist Marilyn White, current President of the American Folklore Society, retired Professor at Kean University, and a pivotal member of such influential groups as the Association of African and African American Folklorists, City Lore
(NYC), and the New Jersey Folklore Society, reflects on her career and the challenges that must be met for the field to become more inclusive and reflective of 21st century America.
Dr. Marilyn M. White is a retired Professor of Anthropology at Kean University in New Jersey, (1985 to 2011). She previously taught at Western Kentucky University for eight years. For the American Folklore Society, she served on the Executive Board and was an early member and then Chair of the Cultural Diversity Committee. Her research interests include African American folklore, family folklore, stratification, jokes and humor, and she has been conducting long-term research in Little Cayman.
This lecture will be recorded on video and placed online at the Library of Congress website at a later date.
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events:German Folk Music Concert with Deitsch, August 23 Homegrown Video Premiere
On August 23 at noon, we'll premiere a brand-new concert video by Deitsch, a lively quartet playing folk music from the heart of Germany! The concert will be at the link at noon on August 23. If you visit the link before that, you can explore the blog. Then please subscribe so you'll receive notification of the concert when it premieres!
Deitsch plays traditional songs and dance tunes from Germany, some of them 250 years old. For years, German folk music was neglected and nearly forgotten, or derided as old-fashioned and conservative. But now, arranged and interpreted in the style of modern folk music from Germany's European neighbors, it emerges timeless and contemporary at the same time. Geographically, Germany is situated between Scandinavia and the Alpine countries, between France, England, Ireland and Poland, and this is true also for the band sound of Deitsch: it has common elements with the music of all these neighbors, but it stays distinct and unique as well. This music may seem anachronistic in a globalizing world, the members of Deitsch say, but it can contribute to creating cultural identity and celebrating diversity and common bonds with others.
Gudrun Walther (voice, violin, viola, diatonic accordion) and Jürgen Treyz (guitar, mandolin, mandola, voice) had built up years of experience with award-winning bands and projects before founding Deitsch as a duo in the mid 2000s. Their duo recordings won many awards, including the German Record Critics' Quarterly Prize in 2009. They have since added Barbara Hintermeier (violin, viola, voice) and Steffen Gabriel (flute, bagpipes, voice) to the lineup. All four are master musicians. Walther is also an accomplished singer, bringing old songs to life in a clear, memorable voice, and the other members complement her singing with four-part harmonies.
The band has consciously avoided electronic instruments and studio effects such as looping, to keep the sound consistently acoustic. Nevertheless, they imbue traditional folk music with contemporary arrangements that catapult it into the 21st century.
The concert was shot on location in a historic house and an open-air museum in Germany, and will be presented for the first time by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, along with an interview with the band which explains some of their traditions and instruments. Both videos will be embedded in a blog post at Folklife Today. At noon on August 2, you'll find it at the link below. Once again, if you visit the link before that, you can explore the blog, and then subscribe so you'll receive notification of the concert when it premieres.
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
Folklife News & Events: Applications Open for AFC's Community Collections Grants--Reminder!
The Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center recently announced the opening of applications for the third round of Community Collections Grants, with a deadline of August 18, 2023 at 2:00PM Eastern Time. Find more information, and instructions on how to apply, at the link!
These grants will support individuals or non-profit organizations in producing cultural documentation–photographs, interviews, audio or video recordings about their community from the community’s perspective. Materials gathered through this program will become part of the Library’s permanent collection, while locally-held copies can enhance (or seed) community archives. This exciting program is part of the larger Of the People: Widening the Path initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation that creates dynamic opportunities for more people to engage with the Library. All activity under the initiative will expand the Library’s efforts to ensure that our historical record reflects a diversity of experiences, thus weaving a more inclusive American story.
Formal Notices of Funding Opportunity can be found on Grants.gov for individuals and for organizations. The due date for applications is August 18, 2023 at 2:00PM Eastern Time. Grants will be up to $50,000, and will support projects of up to 12-months in length.Â
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events:Homegrown Concert: Hudaki Village Band from Ukraine's Carpathian Region
On August 2 at noon, we'll premiere a brand-new concert video by the Hudaki Village Band, a colorful and lively band playing multi-ethnic music from Ukraine's Carpathian mountains! The concert will be at the link at noon on August 2. (If you arrive at the link a few minutes early, remember to refresh your browser at noon!)
The Hudaki Village Band is made up of nine master musicians from the Ukrainian Carpathians. In the Maramures region, a mountainous area of Southwest Ukraine on the border with Romania and Hungary, village musicians are called hudaki. Various ethnic musical influences make the traditional music multifaceted and unique. Archaic Slavic vocal traditions, Romanian melodies, Jewish rhythms and Romany temperament blend together in a local cross culture that has evolved over centuries of living side by side. In 20 years of performing at hundreds of festivals and concert halls across Europe, the band has learned to make their ancient music accessible to the uninitiated. They have played the most prestigious festivals in Hungary, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, and elsewhere. The members are Kateryna Yarynych (vocal), Olha Senynets (vocal, ütögardon), Vitaliy Kovach (vocal, guitar), Mykhailo Shutko (vocal, violin), Volodymyr Tishler (double bass), Serhiy Kovach (accordion, plonka), Volodymyr Korolenko (cymbalom), Vasyl Rushchak (drums, percussion), Yuri Bukovynets (clarinet, taragot, flutes).
The concert was shot on location in their village in Ukraine, and will be presented for the first time by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, along with an interview with the band which explains some of their traditions and instruments. In the interview we also talked about the current war in Ukraine, about how people are bearing up un the strain, and especially about how music can help in the war effort, both by boosting morale within Ukraine and by spreading the word about the war to people in other countries.
Both videos will be embedded in a blog post at Folklife Today. At noon on August 2, you'll find it at the link below. If you visit the link before that, you can explore the blog, and then subscribe so you'll receive notification of the concert when it becomes available.
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
July News from the Library of Congress
June News from the Library of Congress
Folklife News & Events:Online Keynote Address June 16: Alessandro Portelli on the Federal Writers' Project
Rewriting America, Reconsidering the Federal Writer's Project 80 Years Later: A Symposium
Friday, June 16, 2023
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
ONLINE--Sign up at the link!
Join us for Dr. Alesandro Portelli’s keynote speech at the Federal Writers Project (FWP) symposium that brings together the contemporary perspectives of public scholars, documentary producers and curators on the legacy of the FWP. Dr. Portelli, the renowned oral historian, will travel from Italy to deliver the keynote address, situating the FWP within the trajectory of the field and its intersection with current public humanities projects. (This is the only part of the in-person symposium that will be available online in real time, but the rest of the symposium will be recorded and added to the Library of Congress website at a later date.)
...
Alessandro Portelli is an Italian scholar of American literature and culture, oral historian, writer for the daily newspaper il manifesto, and musicologist. He is a professor of Anglo-American literature at the University of Rome La Sapienza. In the United States he is best known for his oral history work, which has compared workers' accounts of industrial conflicts in Harlan County, Kentucky, and Terni, Italy.
...
This program is made possible with the generous support of the American Folklore Society, the Oral History Association, and City University of New York.
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events: Christylez Bacon Hip Hop and Roots Concert June 15 7:00 pm
We're sorry to report that the Reverend Robert Jones has had to postpone his Homegrown 2023 appearance in the Coolidge Auditorium as part of Thursday's Live at the Library festivities. But our friend Christylez Bacon has agreed to perform instead! Bacon's performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When entering the Library, please tell the officers on duty you are there for a concert event.Â
Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a Grammy Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, DC. As a performer, Christylez multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human beat-box (oral percussion), all while continuing the oral tradition of storytelling through his lyrics.
With a mission towards cultural acceptance and unification through music, Christylez is constantly pushing the envelope – from performances at the National Cathedral, to becoming the first Hip-Hop artist to be featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has composed and performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, collaborated with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and created an intentional culture exchange project and subsequent documentary between Washington, DC and BrasĂlia, Brazil.
In Washington, DC, Christylez began a cross-cultural collaborative concert series, “Washington Sound Museum” (WSM). WSM is a monthly intimate celebration of music featuring guest artists from diverse musical genres with Christylez Bacon and his progressive hip-hop orchestra. Since WSM’s inception, Christylez has collaborated with artists from various cultural backgrounds, ranging from the Hindustani & Carnatic music of India, the contemporary Arabic music of Egypt, and the music of Brazil. At the beginning for the pandemic, Christylez saw this socially-distant period as an opportunity to bring international artists and audiences together in an online video series titled, Beatbox Remix Series.
When we contacted Christylez about stepping in, he was on his way to an appearance at the White House! We're excited to see what he brings to the Coolidge Auditorium!
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events: Rev. Robert B. Jones Blues and Folk Concert June 15 7:00 pm
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Rev. Robert B. Jones, an award-winning musician and a scholar of African American musical traditions. Jones’s performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
Reverend Robert B. Jones, Sr. is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor, and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. As an ordained minister and a Baptist pastor, he has an unwavering faith the cultural importance of sacred and traditional American roots music. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity is a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Rev. Jones makes his home in Detroit, Michigan, and performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he is accomplished on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and ukulele. He has recorded six albums of original and traditional songs. In addition to his solo performances, he often collaborates musically with his wife, Sister Bernice Jones, and his friend Matt Watroba. In 2017 Robert and Matt co-founded “Common Chords”, an educational organization designed to create community, cultural and historical connections through music and the arts.
Jones is an award-winning blues radio host, has taught music history at Wayne State University, and serves as a member of the affiliate faculty at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. He has written, performed, and recorded a one man show entitled “An Evening With Lead Belly.” Jones is also a nationally recognized storyteller, and has been featured at many festivals including the National Storytelling Festival.
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events:Live Symposium June 16: Rewriting America, Reconsidering the Federal Writer's Project
Rewriting America, Reconsidering the Federal Writer's Project 80 Years Later: A Symposium
Friday, June 16, 2023
9:00 am - 5:30 pm EDT
James Madison Building - Mumford Room (LM649)
101
Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress will host this free public symposium bringing together the contemporary perspectives of public scholars, documentary producers, and curators on the legacy of the Federal Writers’ Project (1935-39). The event focuses attention on the ways in which the Library’s extraordinary archival collection of FWP materials continues to inform and inspire public outreach and interdisciplinary scholarship in fields ranging from public and oral history to journalism to ethnic studies and folklore. The symposium is anchored by contributing authors to the recently published book Rewriting America: New Essays on the Federal Writers’ Project.
It will feature a rich array of scholarship on topics including new readings of the narratives of formerly enslaved African Americans, the practice and production of oral history podcasts in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and emergent research into the once-obscured work of Asian American and Mexican American writers in the FWP. Prominent historians Catherine Stewart, Jerrold Hirsch, and John Edgar Tidwell will participate in roundtable discussions alongside emerging scholars, LC curators, policy makers, and media producers. Renowned oral historian Alessandro Portelli will travel from Italy to deliver the keynote address.
If you can't make it to the symposium, the keynote address will be livestreamed on Zoom--find out how to register at the link!
Find a full description of the symposium, biographies of the speakers, and a link to registration, all at the link.
This program is made possible with the generous support of the American Folklore Society, the Oral History Association, and City University of New York.
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events: Rev. Robert B. Jones Blues and Folk Concert June 15 7:00 pm
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Rev. Robert B. Jones, an award-winning musician and a scholar of African American musical traditions. Jones’s performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
Reverend Robert B. Jones, Sr. is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor, and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. As an ordained minister and a Baptist pastor, he has an unwavering faith the cultural importance of sacred and traditional American roots music. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity is a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Rev. Jones makes his home in Detroit, Michigan, and performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he is accomplished on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and ukulele. He has recorded six albums of original and traditional songs. In addition to his solo performances, he often collaborates musically with his wife, Sister Bernice Jones, and his friend Matt Watroba. In 2017 Robert and Matt co-founded “Common Chords”, an educational organization designed to create community, cultural and historical connections through music and the arts.
Jones is an award-winning blues radio host, has taught music history at Wayne State University, and serves as a member of the affiliate faculty at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. He has written, performed, and recorded a one man show entitled “An Evening With Lead Belly.” Jones is also a nationally recognized storyteller, and has been featured at many festivals including the National Storytelling Festival.
Click here for more information.
Folklife News & Events:Live Symposium June 16: Rewriting America, Reconsidering the Federal Writer's Project
Rewriting America, Reconsidering the Federal Writer's Project 80 Years Later: A Symposium
Friday, June 16, 2023
9:00 am - 5:30 pm EDT
James Madison Building - Mumford Room (LM649)
101
Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress will host this free public symposium bringing together the contemporary perspectives of public scholars, documentary producers, and curators on the legacy of the Federal Writers’ Project (1935-39). The event focuses attention on the ways in which the Library’s extraordinary archival collection of FWP materials continues to inform and inspire public outreach and interdisciplinary scholarship in fields ranging from public and oral history to journalism to ethnic studies and folklore. The symposium is anchored by contributing authors to the recently published book Rewriting America: New Essays on the Federal Writers’ Project.
It will feature a rich array of scholarship on topics including new readings of the narratives of formerly enslaved African Americans, the practice and production of oral history podcasts in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and emergent research into the once-obscured work of Asian American and Mexican American writers in the FWP. Prominent historians Catherine Stewart, Jerrold Hirsch, and John Edgar Tidwell will participate in roundtable discussions alongside emerging scholars, LC curators, policy makers, and media producers. Renowned oral historian Alessandro Portelli will travel from Italy to deliver the keynote address.
Find a full description of the symposium, biographies of the speakers, and a link to registration, all at the link.
This program is made possible with the generous support of the American Folklore Society, the Oral History Association, and City University of New York.
Click here for more information.
May News from the Library of Congress
Folklife News & Events: Live Concert May 3: Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer & Chao Tian: From China to Appalachia
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with From China To Appalachia, featuring Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian. Â
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT
Thomas Jefferson Building, Room LJ 119
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Grammy Award winning American Roots artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer join with Chinese classical hammered dulcimer player Chao Tian in a show that includes music from China to Appalachia and beyond. Instrumentation includes yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), gourd banjo, five-string banjo, ukulele, guitars, dumbek, cello-banjo and mandolin.
The group’s repertoire includes traditional Chinese and Appalachian music as well as contemporary and traditional music from around the world. Unusual combinations explore new arrangements to old music. Cathy and Marcy join Chao in singing Chinese songs, and Chao easily adds her love of American Old-Time music to fiddle tunes and songs.
From China to Appalachia was born of a friendship and mutual love of musical exploration experienced in jam sessions that inspired a show speaking to the power of music to connect cultures. The trio’s inaugural performances include the Music Center at Strathmore (N. Bethesda, MD) and the Ashe Civic Center (Ashe Co., NC). On their own, these awesome artists have performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on PBS and National Public Radio.
You may need a timed-entry pass to enter the Library on May 3. For information on getting a pass, click on the concert in the list on the page at the link. Then find and visit the "Plan Your Visit" link at the left of the page.
For more information, please call 202-707-1743. Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.
Visit our upcoming concerts page for more information.
April News from the Library of Congress
The Transformation from an RSS Feed into a Blog
The end of this week marks the transformation of our two-year-old RSS feed into a new Prints & Photographs blog to be called "Picture This." This new blog will enable us to feature more of the pictorial marvels from our collections and enable you to participate in a dialogue with us and other readers. If you've been receiving the RSS feed via e-mail, you'll be "automagically" subscribed to receive "Picture This" in your inbox.
In honor of this last RSS post we feature a 1917 motion picture poster for "The Hungry Heart" which shows a butterfly with the shape of a woman hovering near roses. We look forward to having you along for the journey as "Picture This" takes flight! "The Phoenix of Prosperity"
Today we feature "The Phoenix of Prosperity," an Udo Keppler illustration published in the August 5, 1903 issue of _Puck_. The illustration shows a female figure labeled "Prosperity" holding a cornucopia labeled "Legitimate Business" overflowing with coins and papers labeled "Increased exports, Good crop reports, Higher wages, Larger R.R. earnings, [and] Trade ascendancy;" she is rising from the flames of "Watered stocks, Wildcat schemes, Mad speculation, Undigested securities, False values, [and] Overcapitalization."
"The Phoenix" is just one of some 900 covers and centerfold cartoons from the humor magazine _Puck_, roughly spanning the period from 1890 to 1910, to have been digitized and described. This growing body of images expands access to the cartoons, caricatures, and political satire offered in America's first successful humor magazine, while preserving the Library's fragile original copies.Two New Graphic Arts Galleries
Attention, fans of the the graphic arts! Two new graphic arts galleries introduce visitors to Library of Congress pictorial collections. The Swann Gallery features caricatures, political cartoons, comics, animation art, graphic novels and illustrations. The Herblock Gallery celebrates the work of editorial cartoonist Herbert L. Block--better known as "Herblock"--with an ongoing display of 10 original drawings, to change every six months. [View the Swann and Herblock galleries in myLOC: http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/Pages/Default.aspx]
Today, we feature a Russell Patterson illustration from the Swann Collection of Caricature and Cartoon, "Where There's Smoke There's Fire," of a fashionably dressed 1920s-era flapper standing with one hand on her hip and a cigarette in the other hand. A stream of smoke from the cigarette forms a curving, twisting, decorative line. So, be a dear, and pass on the word to your chums that there is something new to see during a visit to the Library of Congress. Bastille Day: Vue brillante de l'aniversaire du 14 juillet 1801
In honor of Bastille Day, France's National Celebration, we feature a hand-colored etching "Vue brillante de l'aniversaire du 14 juillet 1801," which shows a crowd viewing fireworks at a Bastille Day celebration in Paris. Notice also that a balloon appears in the upper right corner. This print is but one of approximately 975 items comprising the Tissandier Collection which documents the early history of aeronautics with an emphasis on balloon flight in France and other European countries. Vive la France! Two Photographers Taking Each Others' Picture
Flickr members inspired us to post a new set to the Library of Congress Flickr account called "Photographer in the Picture." After Flickr members spotted photographers in action in two of our photos, Prints & Photographs Division staff took up the challenge. We had a field day looking through our digitized collections and discovering even more photographers in reflections, in shadows, and in action, such as this National Photo Company image of two photographers, perched on a roof, taking each others' picture. How many photographers did it take to make this picture? The answer is three . . . think about it . . . and enjoy the set of photos on Flickr! Page took 6 seconds to load.
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