'Fire and Water are the two opposing elements.''One can destroy the other.''But if they come together and create steam, the force generated can run the motor of the world.'

'What you do today defines what you are going to be tomorrow.'

'Prayers are magic that can help you pull through anything.'

'... the restaurant industry, our industry... Everyone is in the same boat.'

'Hard work and talent finds its way even through the darkest tunnel.'

Please Join us for an American Folklife Center Summer Music Jam: Klezmer led by Howard Ungar and Seth Kibel

September 12, 2019, 7:00 to 9:00 pm 
Veterans History Project Information & Welcome Center (LJ-G51) 
Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

The American Folklife Center's series of informal jams to celebrate our living folk traditions, and to bring to life the collections from our vast ethnographic archive continues in 2019. This jam will be led by Howard Ungar and Seth Kibel. So grab your violin, clarinet, trumpet, or other instruments, and come on over to the Library of Congress for the Klezmer Jam.

Seth Kibel is the leader, clarinetist, and composer for The Alexandria Kleztet, an innovative award-winning klezmer band he founded in the Baltimore/Washington area. The band has released four albums that all recieved the Washington Area Music Award for best album upon their release. In addition to his activities with The Kleztet, Seth has fronted a variety of swing and jazz groups, including Bay Jazz Project.

Klezmer trumpeter Howard Ungar founded the DC Klezmer Workshop. Howard has been playing klezmer trumpet since he attended his first KlezKamp in 1999 and has attended many KlezKamp, Yiddish New York, and KlezKanada festivals. He is a founding member of the DC based klezmer band Mrs. Toretsky’s Nightmare, who have played at numerous weddings, bar-mitvahs, and holiday events. You can also hear him playing trumpet with the DC based Machaya Klezmer Band at the Washington Folk Festival and other venues around town. 

This event is co-sponsored by the DC Klezmer Workshop

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Find more information at this link!

Please us for our next Homegrown Concert:

Jones Benally Family Dancers
Navajo (Diné) traditional dance from Arizona
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2019, 12:00 PM
Coolidge Auditorium, Ground Floor
Thomas Jefferson Building
The Library of Congress

World Champion hoop dancer and traditional healer Jones Benally, his daughter Jeneda, his son Clayson, and his three young grandchildren form the Jones Benally Family Dancers. Navajo dance is a sacred tradition encompassing a wide variety of forms, all of which aim to heal the body, mind, or spirit. When presented outside the Navajo community, these dances are modified for public viewing, but they retain their deep capacity to move hearts and minds. The family sings, chants, plays traditional rhythm instruments, and performs a repertoire of over 20 dances, including traditional forms such as basket dance, eagle dance, feather dance, and corn grinding. They are particularly well known for the hoop dance, in which they evoke traditional figures and shapes using five, nine, a dozen, or many more hoops.

Jones Benally is a respected elder of the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. His skill as a hoop dancer has won him worldwide acclaim and multiple world champion titles as well as the first Heard Museum Hoop Dance Legacy Award. Jones was featured as a singer in the 1993 film Geronimo. He works as a traditional healer, and was among the first traditional medical practitioners to be employed by a "Western" medical facility, where he worked for nearly 20 years. Jones Benally is also recognized by the state of Arizona as an Arizona Indian Living Treasure. Jeneda and Clayson Benally have performed with their father for over three decades, and have also made their mark (along with brother Klee) as the Native American Music Award-winning "alter-Native" punk band Blackfire. The siblings' newest project is the duo Sihasin ("hope"). Jones Benally's grandchildren are the next generation to take up the family legacy of Navajo music and dance.

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

More information is at this link!

Please Join us for our next Homegrown Concert:

2019 NEA National Heritage Fellows: Las Tesoros de San Antonio: Tejano Singers from San Antonio, TX

Beatriz "La Paloma del Norte" Llamas
Blanquita "Blanca Rosa" Rodríguez

Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Coolidge Auditorium, Ground Floor
Thomas Jefferson Building
The Library of Congress

A conversation with two NEA fellows, accompanied by music from Mariachi Esperanza: Henry Gomez (Director), virhuela, Moises Perez, trumpet, Jose Luis Vaca, violin, and Rafael Aguirre, guitarron

Las Tesoros de San Antonio are a group of elder women performers who teamed up to preserve Mexican and bicultural musical expressions through their singing and storytelling. Janet “Perla Tapatia” Cortez, Beatriz “La Paloma del Norte” Llamas, Blanquita “Blanca Rosa” Rodríguez, and Rita “La Calandria” Vidaurri each had impressive singing careers that soared both locally and internationally from the 1940s to the1960s before tapering off in later years. Through the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center in San Antonio, these women reemerged and teamed up as the group Las Tesoros in the 2000s. Although Janet “Perla Tapatia” Cortez and Rita “La Calandria” Vidaurri passed away in recent years, Llamas and Rodríguez continue to perform and maintain the legacy of the group.

All four women grew up in the West Side of San Antonio, Texas. Each singer, with her personal style and grace, forms part of this unique ensemble that represents the important sound of the Mexico/Texas border. They were all inspired by and connected to many other important Tejana singers, including the great Lydia Mendoza (1982 NEA National Heritage Fellow) and the internationally renowned Eva Garza.

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

More information is at this link!

Homegrown Concerts from the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress

Les Filles de Illighadad
Tuareg Music and Song from Niger 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019, 12:00 PM, No Tickets Required
Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building

Fatou Seidi Ghali, lead vocalist and guitarist of Les Filles de Illighadad, is one of the only Tuareg female guitarists in Niger. Sneaking away with her older brother's guitar, she taught herself to play. While Fatou's role as the first female Tuareg guitarist is groundbreaking, it is just as interesting for her musical direction. In Tuareg society, woman have traditionally been musicians, but not guitarists. They have been deeply involved with tende, a form of music centered on a drum traditionally made out of a mortar and pestles. Tende rhythms also deeply informed the development of Tuareg guitar music, which is mostly the province of men. In a place where gender norms have created these two divergent musics, Fatou and Les Filles de Illighadad are reasserting the role of tende in Tuareg guitar. In lieu of the djembe or the drum kit, so popular in contemporary Tuareg rock bands, Les Filles de Illighadad incorporate the traditional drum and the pounding calabash, half buried in water. They are thus reclaiming the importance of this forgotten inspiration of Tuareg guitar and asserting the power of women to innovate using the roots of traditional Tuareg music.

Fatou Seidi Ghali, Alamnou Akirwini, Fitimata Ahmadelher, and Abdoulay Madassane Alkika are from Illighadad, a secluded commune in central Niger, far off in the scrubland deserts at the edge of the Sahara. The village is only accessible via a grueling drive through the open desert and there is little infrastructure, no electricity, and no running water. But what the nomadic zone lacks in material wealth it makes up for deep and strong identity and tradition. The surrounding countryside supports hundreds of pastoral families, living with and among their herds, as their families have done for centuries.

Visit the concert page at this link for more information.

Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Please join us for a day-long symposium:

Women Documenting the World
Women as Folklorists, Ethnomusicologists & Fieldworkers
Thursday, September 26, 2019 
9:30 am -5:00 pm
Mary Pickford Theater, James Madison Building, Library of Congress

The American Folklife Center launches its multi-year initiative to highlight, explore, and celebrate the contributions of women as ethnographic fieldworkers and scholars with Women Documenting the World, a day-long program of talks, interviews, and discussions on Thursday, September 26. 

The free event, which is open to the public, calls attention to the role of women in establishing many of the foundational collections that enrich the American Folklife Center archive as well as other ethnographic archives throughout the world. It features presentations by contemporary researchers who are currently engaged in both national and international fieldwork, and includes brief presentations by American Folklife Center staff about important fieldwork collections in the American Folklife Center archive that were created by women, and that are too often overlooked.

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Find further information at the link!

You're receiving this email because you subscribed to the American Folklife Center's "News and Events" updates.  But did you know there other ways of keeping in touch? In addition to this list, we have the Folklife Today blog, the Folklife Today podcast, and a facebook page, with more podcast series on the way. Now that our heavy event season is slowing down, we thought we'd use the list to alert you to some of these other ways to learn about folklife and the mission of the AFC. 

Let's begin with the Folklife Today Podcast, since a new episode was released today for Halloween! Folklife Today tells stories about the cultural traditions and folklore of diverse communities, combining brand-new interviews and narration with songs, stories, music, and oral history from the collections of the Library of Congress's American Folklife Center. The new episode features scary stories for Halloween, including Jackie Torrence's "The Golden Arm," Mary Celestia Parler's "The Witch who Kept a Hotel," and Connie Regan-Blake's "Mr. Fox." The very first episode, from a year ago, featured spooky songs. In between, there was a whole year filled with audio goodies!  Find it all at the link.

Click here for the Podcast homepage.

The American Folklife Center Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon on Women Fieldworkers

Primary Place: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Saturday, February 8, 2020
11:00 AM – 3:00 PM EST

Join the American Folklife Center (AFC) on Saturday, February 8 for an edit-a-thon to expand the online presence of women who documented the world. This event is part of the AFC’s multi-year initiative to highlight, explore, and celebrate the contributions of women as ethnographic fieldworkers, and to call attention to the role of women in establishing many of the foundational collections that now enrich the AFC archive and ethnographic archives throughout the world.

During the edit-a-thon, we plan to add and/or expand entries for 25-30 women, both historical and contemporary, who have documented traditional culture. We will focus on collections in the AFC archive. The list of featured fieldworkers whose entries are to be edited will be posted in the near future. Activities will be centered at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, but off-site participation is encouraged. The event starts with a “How to Edit” session presented by Wikipedia Foundation staff. They will be joined by AFC staff, who will assist on-site and off-site researchers and provide archival materials

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Register for the event at the link!

African American Dollmaking and Puppetry: Renegotiating Identity, Restoring Community
Various speakers and artists, moderated by Camilla Bryce-Laporte

February 18, 2020, 11:30am-2:00pm
119 First Floor
Thomas Jefferson Building

African American artisans utilize ancient skills and innovative technologies to create dolls and puppets that are both whimsical and starkly serious. Their creations — incorporating clay, textiles, wood, glass, and found objects — embrace the somber reality of African American experiences and optimism for a boundless future. Working alone and in communities these artisans create dolls and puppets that articulate Black beauty, strength, style, spirituality, and truth. Their works, embodying older traditions and innovative vocabularies for storytelling, are designed to amuse, educate, and heal. Dolls of each of 8 makers will be displayed on tables from 11:30-12:00 pm and 1:30 pm-2:00 pm.

Folklorist Camila Bryce-Laporte will present six makers as they discuss their work and the stories behind that work. This will be followed with a question and answer session from 12 noon to 1:30 pm.

This program may deal with sensitive subjects and is aimed at adults rather than children.

Some of the dolls will be for sale through the auspices of the Library of Congress sales shop.

Click here for more information.

Please join us for an afternoon symposium:

James Hogg: Scotland's Shepherd Poet
February 21, 2020 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Whittall Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

This symposium will explore the work of James Hogg, “The Ettrick Shepherd” (1770-1835), an influential Scottish song-maker, folklore collector, novelist, and poet. Inspired by Robert Burns, colleague of Walter Scott, and friend of Lord Byron, Hogg played a major role in creating and promoting Scottish culture, within Scotland and internationally.

This free event, which is open to the public, will compare his work with that of more recent American performers and collectors, who also served as intermediaries between the worlds of folk, popular, and literary culture for the first time. Speakers will explore issues around field collecting, song transmission and creation over the past three centuries. An afternoon of presentations and discussions will be capped by a performance featuring renowned singer Sheena Wellington, who has recorded and performed some of Hogg’s best known songs.

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Find further information at the link!

This is a reminder that the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress invites applications for the Henry Reed Fund Award, which supports activities directly involving folk artists such as recording projects, apprenticeships, or performances. Find information about the Henry Reed Fund Award and other fellowships at the link--scroll down for the Henry Reed Fund. The past recipients link will also help provide a useful history of the award.

The deadline is 12:00 midnight, March 2, 2020.

Click here for more information.

The American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress is delighted to announce that four (4) new Occupational Folklife Project collections are now available on the Library of Congress website. They are “Working the Waterfront: New Bedford, Massachusetts;” “Funeral Service Workers in the Carolinas;” “Illuminating History: Union Electricians in New York City;” and “Homeless Shelter Workers in the Upper Midwest.” The collections consist mainly of audio recordings of oral history interviews, with supporting photos and documents. The four new collections join previously released collections documenting the experiences of home health care workers, beauty shop employees, circus workers, gold miners, ironworkers, racetrack employees, and workers in the Port of Houston.

Through the Occupational Folklife Project (OFP), the AFC has now amassed more than 1,000 interviews with hundreds of contemporary American workers representing scores of trades and occupations. These hour-long oral history interviews feature workers discussing their current jobs, formative work experiences, training, aspirations, occupational communities, hopes for the future, and on-the-job challenges and rewards. They tell stories of how workers learned their trades, their skills and work routines, legendary jobs (good and bad), respected mentors, and flamboyant co-workers. They document the knowledge, dedication and insights of American workers, and add workers’ voices to the permanent record of America’s history preserved at the Library of Congress, America’s national library. Adding the collections to the Library of Congress website enables researchers, educators, and members of the public to access them from their homes, schools, and local libraries. OFP interviews can also be accessed at the AFC’s Reading Room at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

AFC Director Betsy Peterson notes: “AFC’s innovative Occupational Folklife Project enables researchers and members of the public to have direct access to hundreds of hours of fieldwork with some of America’s most eloquent, engaging, and passionate spokespeople for the trades and occupations that shape our shared national culture. These oral histories not only enrich our current understanding of our fellow Americans, but will inform scholars and researchers for generations to come about the lives of workers at the beginning of the 21st century. Listeners will be able to access the oral histories, images and fieldwork that previously could be accessed only by visiting the Library of Congress in Washington. ”

The OFP was launched in 2010. It is funded in part by AFC’s Archie Green Fellowships, which support teams of researchers throughout the United States, who perform interviews documenting a particular occupation.

New OFP collections available online are:

Working the Waterfront: New Bedford, Massachusetts
The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center (NBFHC) received an Archie Green Fellowship to document workers on the New Bedford, Massachusetts, waterfront for the Occupational Folklife Project (OFP). Folklorist and NBFHC Executive Director Laura Orleans, working with anthropologists Madeleine Hall-Arber and Corinn Williams and oral historian Fred Calabretta, recorded oral histories with 58 workers involved in diverse fishing-related trades on the New Bedford waterfront. Documented tradespeople range from fish packers to net makers, navigational electronic technicians to marine divers, and maritime upholsterers to ice house workers. The individual interviews are supplemented by striking workplace portraits taken by gifted New Bedford photographer Phillip Mello, who was also interviewed about his job as general manager at Bergie’s Seafood. Mello has been taking photographs of his fellow waterfront workers since 1975, and his work is currently on exhibit at the American Folklife Center.

Funeral Services Workers in the Carolinas
Folklorist Sarah Bryan of Durham, North Carolina, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to document the work of funeral services workers in North and South Carolina. She explored how, through their work, funeral service workers engage with the funerary folklore and religious beliefs of diverse Carolina communities, including African American, Gullah, Jewish, Scottish and Scots-Irish, as well as more recently arrived immigrant groups. Interviewees included directors of multi-generational funeral homes and other funeral workers from diverse backgrounds and experiences. A total of 16 interviews are included in this collection; many are accompanied by photographs and historical images.

Homeless Shelter Workers in the Upper Midwest
Social services worker, writer, and documentarian Margaret Miles of Minneapolis, Minnesota, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to document workers in the emergency homeless services in three interrelated Midwestern urban centers: Bismarck, North Dakota; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; and Chicago, Illinois. She recorded interviews with overnight shelter advocates, meal and clothing center coordinators, street outreach workers, daytime drop-in supervisors, and housing case managers and others who work to resolve housing issues and assist individuals with financial crises, employment, addiction, illness, or mental health concerns. As she notes: their work makes them "master-navigators of complex systems such as healthcare, social security, corrections, veterans’ benefits, and tenant-landlord law." This collection consists of 18 interviews with shelter workers serving diverse communities of clients, including ex-offenders, abused women, LGBT and Native American youth, and individuals with HIV/AIDS. Many of the interviews are accompanied by images by Miles's co-documentarian, photographer Catherine ten Broeke. Troyd Geist, Folklorist for the North Dakota Arts Council, served as a consultant to the project.

Illuminating History: Union Electricians in New York City
New York researcher and electrician Jaime Lopez, in affiliation with SUNY Empire State College's Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies (HVASLS) and The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW, Local #3) in Queens, New York, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to document the occupational culture of urban IBEW electricians, who “through manufacture, installation, and maintenance serve the greater New York City area.” Lopez worked with a research team that included labor faculty Barrie Cline and labor historian Anne D’Orazio from HVASLS, Queens-based artist/documentarian Setare S. Arashloo, and Local #3 electrician Paul Vance. Folklorist Naomi Sturm served as consultant to the project. The team recorded 22 oral histories with IBEW Local #3 electricians reflecting a wide range of ages, backgrounds, experiences, and occupational specialties. Many interviews are accompanied by worksite photographs and photographs of union-related activities.

Click here for more information.

On the Neta app, which describes itself as “Leaders ka report card”, users can also share their opinion in the form of video reviews and comments, tag their MLA and conduct polls, with the most active users being highlighted in a separate section called ‘star citizens’

When conditions are warm and moist, such as those near a sweating body, the fabric allows heat to pass through. When conditions become cooler and drier, the fabric reduces the heat that escapes, researchers said.

Barker Library - TA440.N68 2013

Barker Library - TA444.F73 2012

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Barker Library - TA444.F53 2015

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Barker Library - TA441.E286 2013

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Barker Library - TA438.I58 2017

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Hayden Library - TA439.J34 2017

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