Photographs made by Ralph Rinzler documenting steps in the traditional Korean pottery-making process, as well as images of potters, kilns, and pottery use and storage. Rinzler captioned and arranged the photographs into five series: 1. introduction; 2. clay preparation; 3. turning process (tools, preparation, turning); 4. drying and glazing; 5. firing and shipping.
Biographical/Historical note:
Ralph Rinzler (1934-1994) was a folklorist and musician. In 1964, he became Director of Field Programs at the Newport Folk Foundation, which involved the planning and programming of the Newport Folk Festival. Rinzler joined the Smithsonian in 1967 as the founding Director of what is now the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He also developed the annual Festival of American Folklife, Smithsonian Folklife Studies, a publication series, and conducted research for the Celebration exhibit, which opened at the Renwick Gallery in 1982. Rinzler was appointed Assistant Secretary for Public Service in 1983 and Assistant Secretary Emeritus in 1990.
During the 1960s, Rinzler started visiting traditional potters. A trip to Korea resulted in a film "Southern Korea Kitchen Pottery Making: A Study in Folk Technology," as well as a book, "The Korean Onggi Potter," written with Robert Sayers.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 86-17
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections holds the Ralph Rinzler papers and audiorecordings, 1950-1994.
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds an oral history interview with Rinzler from 1993 (SIA RU009569), as well as subject files, grant records, and agency history from Rinzler's time at the Smithsonian (SIA RU000367, SIA Acc. 95-149, SIA Acc. 11-186, SIA Acc. 11-279, SIA RS00081, SIA RS00762, SIA RS00763, and SIA AH00283).
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Descriptive Entry:
This collection is comprised of one hundred and sixty interview sessions, totaling approximately 68.5 hours of recordings and 289 pages of transcript. Thirteen of the
interview sessions have been transcribed, while the remainder of interview sessions have been described in short summaries.
Interviewees were Smithsonian staff, retirees, volunteers, and visitors, including:
Lorie Aceto - 033
Paul Allen - 044
Leslie Atkins - 034
Preston Atkins - 034
Betty Belanus - 123
Louise D. Belcher - 027
Stephen Belcher - 027
Dick Bell - 140
Cordelia Benedict - 141
Francine Berkowitz - 026
Maggie Bertin - 132
Carvester Booth - 050
David Bosserman - 133
Steven Bostwick - 137
Anita Buffaloe - 105
Josephine Burman - 057
Olivia Cadaval - 040
Richard Callwood - 139
Nathaniel Carleton - 071
Judy Chelnick - 099
Barbara Coffee - 091
Sheila E. Cogan - 095
Ronald Colaprete - 081
Judie Cooper - 058
Patricia Cox - 038
William E. Cox - 077
Myron Curtis - 009
Melissa Darden - 135
Herb Davis - 056
James Deutsch - 055
David DeVorkin - 006
Kathleen Dorman - 029
Doc Dougherty - 157
James Early - 062
Douglas Evelyn - 068
Edgar Farley - 101
Edward Fisher III - 153
Jody Fitterer - 008
Lou Fleming - 088
John Franklin - 085
William Gagham - 124
Jim Galvin - 096
Helen Gaul - 102
Mark Geiger - 083
John Gibson - 011
Jane Glaser - 041
Lee Galssco - 122
Andrew Goffrey - 042
Carol Gover - 036
Elease Hall - 092
Sara Harkavy - 080
Marguerite Harding - 021
Robert Harding - 078
Rebecca Hartman - 080
William Hartung - 017
Martha Hayes - 052
Leonard Hirsch - 125
Alice Hirschfeld - 002
Elaine Hodges - 134
Cynthia Hoover - 024
Bernard Howard - 136
David Howery - 131
Karin Hoyes - 001
Regina H. Ingrim - 160
Reuben Jackson - 111
David Jickling - 117
Myron Johnson - 047
Larry Jones - 042
Mitchell Jones - 149
Steve Jones - 042
Ken Jordan - 042
Martin Kaufna - 066
Walter Kelly - 144
Dana Kent - 065
David Kessler - 070
Kethshara Khlok - 147
Donald E. Kloster - 015
Ramunas Kondratas - 106
Amy Kotkin - 145
Kamille Kreger - 051
Michael Kreger - 051
Manjula Kumar - 010
Katharine Landfield - 114
Peggy Langrall - 086
Dorothy Laoang - 037
Felix Lapinski - 022
Jeffrey LaRiche - 152
Elyse Lattner - 159
Tom Lauderbaugh - 076
Myron Lecar - 059
Rose Lee - 061
Martin Levine - 107
Steven Lubar - 110
Marian Hope Lund - 003
Ian MacTavish - 073
Joseph Madeira - 014
Peter Magoon - 148
Barbara Manioc - 096
Sally Maran - 087
Kenneth Mason - 143
B. C. May - 004
Virginia McCawley - 121
Mary McCutcheon - 104
David McFadden - 025
Joseph H. McGuiness - 082
Adriana McMurray - 097
Jimmy Melendez - 044
Felicia Messina-D'Haiti - 084
Per Midboe - 073
Harry Miller - 138
Barbara Moore - 103
David Moore - 064
Marvin Nakashima - 005
Diana N'Diaye - 035
Norman Novack - 155
Jen Page - 146
Geoffrey Parker - 150
Joan Paull - 060
Marvette Perez - 109
Catherine Perge - 032
Don Phillips - 042
Jeff Place - 154
Nancy Pope - 119
Jean Porter - 007
Fred Price - 053
Louis R. Purnell - 089
Larry Randall - 054
Jahari Rashad - 158
Sharon Reinckens - 019
Sharon Rohnback - 093
Anne Roocker - 069
Rex Roocker - 069
Ingrid Roper - 031
Cordelia Rose - 115
Deborah Rothberg - 130
Lucile Rowe - 018
Margaret Santiago - 113
Lori Schlemmer - 098
Volkor K. Schmeissner - 127
Eric Scott - 046
Mina Smith Segal - 043
Ruth Selig - 108
Arnold Sperling - 048
David Squire - 156
John Stine - 030
Sally Sweetland - 023
Nancy Sweezey - 151
Charles Tamosa - 142
Kenneth Thomas - 045
L. Susan Tolbert - 112
Billy Turner - 020
Raineldo Urriola - 094
Vincent VanAllen - 128
Tom Vennum - 028
Jane Walsh - 012
Rita Wanpeha - 120
Mark H. Warmaling - 072
Deborah Watkins - 075
Mick Weltman - 067
David West - 079
Dennis Whigham - 074
Janice Whigham - 192
William White - 049
Amy Wilson - 063
Jennie Witthoff - 039
Douglas Wonderlic - 118
Mary Wood - 016
Chuck Woolf - 126
Steptoe Wrenn - 013
Holly Wright - 116
Agnes Yore - 090
Elizabeth Zimmer - 100
Amanda Zocchi - 038
Interviewers were Smithsonian staff and volunteers, including Francine Berkowitz, Maggie Bertin, Dorothy Blink, David Bosserman, Emily Botein, Olivia Cadaval, Tim Carr,
Vivien Chen, Martin Collins, Eduardo Contreras, Odette Diaz, John Franklin, Shenandoah Gale, Joanne Gernstein-London, Margy Gibson, Terrica M. Gibson, John McKiernan Gonzalez,
Pamela M. Henson, Paula Johnson, Katherine Kirlin, Felix Lapinski, Tom Lawrence, Brian LeMay, Magdelena Mieri, Pilar Somma Montalvo, Jen Page, Marvette Perez, Catherine Perge,
Sarita Rodriguez, and Polly Stewart.
Historical Note:
A section of the 1996 Festival of American Folklife was devoted to capturing the history and memories of Smithsonian for the Smithsonian Institution's celebration of
its Sesquicentennial in 1996. Staff and volunteers of the Institutional History Division and the Center for Folklife Programs conducted interviews with Smithsonian staff,
volunteers, and visitors about their memories of the Smithsonian. Between June 26 and July 7, 1996, some 173 individuals were interviewed alone and in groups. Interviewees
included a wide array of Smithsonian staff from many museums and organizations, several Smithsonian volunteers, and a number of visitors to the Festival. Staff interviewees
ranged from guards in a K-9 unit, to administrators, curators, educators, "skull" crews who move large objects, registrars, administrative staff, and horticultural staff,
among others. Interviews of visitors focused on their reminiscences of visits to the Smithsonian museums and previous Folklife Festivals. Additional interviews of collected
Smithsonian staff can be found in Record Unit 9508, Senate of Scientists Interviews; Record Unit 9522, Association of Curators Reminiscences; Record Unit 9595, Smithsonian's
150th Birthday Interviews; and Record Unit 9622, National Museum of Natural History Centennial Interviews.
Ripley, S. Dillon (Sidney Dillon), 1913-2001, interviewee Search this
Extent:
48 audiotapes (Reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Transcripts
Date:
1977-1993
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
S. Dillon Ripley was interviewed for the Oral History Collection because of his role as an ornithologist and as the eighth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from
1964 to 1984.
Descriptive Entry:
Ripley was interviewed by Pamela M. Henson from 1977 to 1993 at his offices at the Smithsonian and at his home in Litchfield, Connecticut. These interviews cover his
youth, early interests in natural history, education, career on the faculty at Yale, field work and expeditions, tenure as Secretary of the Smithsonian, involvement in international
conservation efforts, and reminiscences of individuals, including Sálim Ali, August Heckscher, Joseph H. Hirshhorn, G. Evelyn Hutchinson, and Ralph Rinzler. The collection
consists of 38.5 hours of audiotape recording and circa 831 pages of transcript.
Historical Note:
S. Dillon Ripley (1913-2001), ornithologist and eighth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, developed an interest in natural history in his youth. He received
the B.A. from Harvard University in 1936 and the Ph.D. from Yale University in 1943. He served briefly as a curator of birds at the National Museum of Natural History before
joining the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. From 1946 to 1963, he was on the faculty of Yale University and served as Director of their Peabody Museum from
1959 to 1963. In 1964, he was appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian. During his twenty year tenure as Secretary, he oversaw the development of the Anacostia Museum, Cooper-Hewitt
Museum, Festival of American Folklife, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of African Art, Renwick Gallery, Arthur M. Sackler
Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Associates, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and Smithsonian magazine. Ripley was also involved in numerous conservation organizations,
including the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands, International Council for Bird Preservation, and International Union for the Conservation of Nature. His
interests in international affairs also led him to play a role in the foundation of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Rights:
Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu to request permission.
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1979 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 7 series.
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: Caribbean Carnival
Series 3: Children's Area
Series 4: Folklife in the Museum - Folk Medicine
Series 5: Folklore in Your Community
Series 6: Medicine Show
Series 7: Native American Architecture
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1979 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Program of the Office of American and Folklife Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
The 1979 Folklife Festival continued to take community as its theme, as had been announced in 1978. The Festival celebrated the creative genius of many cultural groups - some had been on American soil only for months, others for millenia. The point of the Smithsonian festivals and the museums' displays of diversity struck home to the people who came to the museums and reached out for reaffirmation of identity. People feared the loss of identity in the sense of anomie that came with being a cipher, a numeral, a set of digits, organizers believed; they feared big government, big business, megastates that might rule the world. Coupled with the fear of homogenization was the fear of the loss of one's own soul. One way to strengthen our sense of identity and to demonstrate our essential humanity, the Festival asserted, was the reaffirmation of the differences among us, the persistence of our traditions at the ground roots of life, a countercurrent for survival.
In 1979 the Festival welcomed the newly-arrived ethnic community of Vietnamese, who had brought with them rich folklife traditions. From the West Indies came immigrants who enliven our cities with the folk theatrical spectacle of Carnival. Native Americans from several tribal groups shared their knowledge of ways in which their housing has been adapted to local environmental conditions.The International Year of the Child was celebrated at the Festival in the program book cover and articles, and in the living presentations of children's folklife in the Children's Area, where Lumbee Indian children re-created a Field Day celebration, and several other children's communities enacted Halloween traditions. Occupational communities were represented by D.C. firefighters, taxicab drivers, and stonecarvers from the National Cathedral. Other communities represented, which had formed around particular interests or institutions, were a medicine show, mom-and-pop neighborhood stores, street criers, and CB radio clubs.
As with the two preceding years, the 1979 Festival (October 3-8) was held on a site on the National Mall later to be occupied by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, between 14th and 15th Streets and between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive (see site plan). Indoor activities including a symposium focused on folk medicine took place in the National Museum of History and Technology, in the days preceding the outdoor Festival (September 27-30). The 1979 Program Book provided information on each of the programs.
The 1979 Festival was again co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Music Performance Trust Funds. It was organized by the Folklife Program within the Office of American and Folklife Studies.
Folklife Advisory Council
Wilcomb E. Washburn, Chairman, Roger Abrahams, Richard Ahlborn, Richard Dorson, William Fitzhugh, Lloyd Herman, Robert Laughlin, Scott Odell, Ralph Rinzler, Peter Seitel, E. Richard Sorenson, Thomas Vennum
Folklife Program, Office of American and Folklife Studies
Ralph Rinzler, Director; Richard Derbyshire, Archivist; Susan Kalcik, Folklorist; Jeffrey LaRiche, Program Coordinator; Jack Santino, Folklorist; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Ethnomusicologist; Steve Zeitlin, Folklorist
National Park Service
William J. Whelan, Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region
Fieldworkers and presenters:
Nicholas Bocher, Sylvia Grider, Glenn Hinson, Marjorie Hunt, Fred Lieberman, Susan Manos, Phyllis May, Robert McCarl, Maxine Miska, Peter Nabokov, Elliott Parris, Kate Rinzler, Betsy Seamans, Barbara Strickland, Katherine Williams, Peggy Yocum
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1979 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1980 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 7 series.
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: American Talkers
Series 3: Caribbean Americans
Series 4: Community Activities and Food Preservation
Series 5: Finnish Americans
Series 6: Folk Housing and Energy Efficiency
Series 7: Southeast Asian Americans
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1980 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
The 1980 Festival was the third to use "community" as its over-arching theme, and the last to be held in October. As with recent Festivals, it was held on a site on the National Mall later to be occupied by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, between 14th and 15th Streets and between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive (see site plan). It was also the first to be organized by the newly-established Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1992), successor to the former Folklife Program of the Office of American and Folklife Studies (1977-1980). The indoor programming in several museums that had characterized the 1977-1979 Festivals was discontinued and all activities were held outdoors.
When families and community groups gather to celebrate or to mourn, Festival Director Ralph Rinzler observed in the program book, they depend on traditional flavors, sounds, dances, and prayers to reinforce their sense of belonging, their group strength and cultural identity. At the annual Folklife Festival, the Smithsonian acknowledged the power of these traditions, which recall the value that Americans continue to place on being members of groups - familial, occupational, ethnic, regional, and religious. Festival organizers considered this recognition a step in the process of cultural conservation, in the belief that cultural variety, on a national and on a global scale, makes life itself more rewarding. Community and identity thus served as the twin poles around which Festival programs were organized.
The 1980 Festival (October 8-13) included a Caribbean Carnival with steel band and calypso competitions; Finnish Americans from northern Minnesota demonstrating a traditional "whip-sled" for children and such crafts as making Christmas tree ornaments from wood shavings; Southern carpenters building a traditional "dog trot" house; Southeast Asians demonstrating weaving, embroidery, stone carving, calligraphy; among others. The Festival asserted that rootedness is a tangible part of the fascination with history, our own or our country's or that of some distant place. This was seen as a part of life that everyone should value, and so the Festival not only celebrated customs and ways of doing things, but evoked the pride of being someone from somewhere. The 1980 Program Book provided information on each of the programs.
The 1980 Festival was again co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Music Performance Trust Funds. It was organized by the Office of Folklife Programs.
Folklife Advisory Council
Wilcomb E. Washburn, Chairman, Roger Abrahams, Richard Ahlborn, Richard Dorson, William Fitzhugh, Lloyd Herman, Robert Laughlin, Scott Odell, Ralph Rinzler, Peter Seitel, Richard Sorenson, Thomas Vennum
Office of Folklife Programs
Ralph Rinzler, Director; Richard Derbyshire, Archivist; Susan Kalcik, Folklorist; Jeffrey LaRiche, Program Coordinator; Jack Santino, Folklorist; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Ethnomusicologist; Steve Zeitlin, Folklorist
National Park Service
Russell E. Dickenson, Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region
Fieldworkers and presenters:
Steve Addiss, John W. Berquist, Charley Camp, Amy Catlin, Dennis Coelho, Héctor Corporán, Amanda Dargan, Richard Flint, Marjorie Hunt, Geraldine Johnson, Fred Lieberman, Howard Marshall, Von Martin, Maxine Miska, Bill Moore, Elliott Parris, Leslie Prosterman, Arthur Rosenbaum, Jack Santino, Marta Schley, Katherine Williams, Margaret Yocom, Steven Zeitlin
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1980 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
The first in what later became a series of annual tributes to Festival founding director Ralph Rinzler featured two of his earliest collaborators in the folk revival - Pete Seeger and Mike Seeger - as well as Piedmont blues from the duo of John Cephas and Phil Wiggins and African American music of the Appalachians from Ed Cabbell and Melissa Cabbell.
Other special evening concerts provided a preview of an ongoing project concerning African immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. While many recent African immigrant communities shared some social characteristics with each other, with others of the African diaspora, and with immigrant groups in general, they also varied considerably in size, in the length of time they had been in the United States, and in the circumstances that brought them to this country. Some individuals came with scholarships to American universities; others fled oppressive political situations with "only the shirt on their backs," as one Ethiopian educator and cab driver explains.
In the process of building community life in the United States, African-born immigrants in America in the 1990s were creating new and unique forms of expressive culture patterned after but not identical to African forms; they actively and explicitly used the language of tradition - ways of cooking food, of dressing, of dancing - to define themselves as Africans, in the context of the United States, to each other and to the world.
Fieldwork by the project team - primarily constituted of community-based scholars - during the project's first year hinted at the richness of the material available: from Ghanaian drumming to Zairian soukous music; from Nigerian jollof rice to Ethiopian coffee ceremonies; from Senegalese hair-braiding to Somalian women's songs; from South African poetry of invocation to personal experience stories of immigrants' first encounters with American culture. The African Immigrant Study Group hoped that the activities at the 1995 Festival as well as the full program in 1997 would make their cultures more accessible and more valued as an important part of the Washington area's cultural heritage.
Emily Botein was Program Coordinator for the evening programs and special events. The African Immigrant Folklife Study Project was directed by Diana Baird N'Diaye, with Betty Belanus serving as Education Specialist, Roland Freeman as Fieldwork Photography Advisor, and Sulayman Nyang as Head Advisor. Project Advisors included Mary Jo Arnoldi, Hayelom Ayele, Laura Bigman, Camilla Bryce-Laporte, Roy Bryce-Laporte, Olivia Cadaval, Roland Freeman, Philippa Jackson, Portia James, Niani Kilkenny, Michael Licht, Phyllis May-Machunda, Deborah Mack, Sharon Rienken, Beverly Robinson, Fath Ruffins, Peter Seitel, and Addisu Tolesa.
THE VOLTA ENSEMBLE, GHANAIAN (EWE) COMMUNITY -- THE VOLTA ENSEMBLE, GHANAIAN (EWE) COMMUNITYAdult performersGodwin AgodoRad AkoriiJosephine AkuDavid Aku, Sr.William AyensonEric AzumaEvelyn AzumaFelly BlegeNana BlegeKenzie DamankeWilliam DzathorKwame Koffle-LartSteve NashGeorgina NuwameEmmanual SawyerGladys VodiChild performersDela AgodoEmefa AgodoGamell AgodoSesime AgodoCynthia AkuDavid Aku, Jr.Amanda AzumaSefe AzumaSelom AzumaEnyonam BlegeEyram BlegeSitsofe BlegeAlexandra NuwamePascal NuwameSharon NuwameAfi VodiMawuii Vodi
THE NILE ETHIOPIAN ENSEMBLE, ETHIOPIAN COMMUNITY -- THE NILE ETHIOPIAN ENSEMBLE, ETHIOPIAN COMMUNITYSetagne Atena, masinko (one-stringed fiddle)Abebe Belew, kebero drumsAlmaz Getahun, danceAshenafi Miteku, danceSelamawit Nega, vocalsAsaye Zegeye, kraar (six stringed lyre)
SOUKOUS
PAPA LOUIS AND LIZIBA, CENTRAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY -- PAPA LOUIS AND LIZIBA, CENTRAL AFRICAN COMMUNITYPapa Louis, lead guitarJoselito De Kashama, vocals"Stick" Malowdo, drumsMartino, guitarGelo De Mingongo, vocalsWilly Naweza, vocals"Petit" Sammy, atalakuZino "Synthe", keyboards
THE SENEGALESE SUPPORT SOCIETY AND GAMBIAN ASSOCIATION -- THE SENEGALESE SUPPORT SOCIETY AND GAMBIAN ASSOCIATIONAwa Ba, danceMariama Diop, danceMagatte fall, talking drumMare Gueye, ndere drumIdrissa Gueye, mbeung-mbeung drumBara Mboup, lamb drumCheikh Tahirou MBaye, ndere drumMame Khoudia Niang, danceSophie Sar, danceHaddy Mu Ndow Sekka, dance
BASOTHO PRAISE POETRY
LESOTHO-SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY -- LESOTHO-SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNITYMike Mvelase, poet
NORTH AFRICAN
THE NORTH AFRICAN REGION ENSEMBLE -- THE NORTH AFRICAN REGION ENSEMBLEMohamed Habibi, luteSayed Ismeal, oud, group leaderAdel Al Khadi, violinKhalid, DrumMahmoud Tutu, niy flute
NGONJERA (POETIC CONVERSATION)
THE ASSOCIATION OF TANZANIAN COMMUNITY IN AMERICA -- THE ASSOCIATION OF TANZANIAN COMMUNITY IN AMERICAEmanuel Bandawe, performerJessica Kamala Mushala, performerPrimrose Mushala, performerMartin Ngireu, writerGeorge Sebo, performer
PRAISE POETRY INVOCATION, CELEBRATORY DANCE, NIGERIAN COMMUNITY
IGBO POETRY OF INVOCATION, THE ANIOMA ASSOCIATION -- IGBO POETRY OF INVOCATION, THE ANIOMA ASSOCIATIONAugustine Nwabueze, president, responseTony Dunkwu, responseFidelis Iwugo, responseGeorge Nwabuku, responseFlorence Nwaonye, responseSonny Obidi, responseChief Raphael Ogbolu, invocationKunirum Osia, responseMr. & Mrs. Elias Uwandi, response
EWI (YORUBA PRAISE POETRY)
Abiodun Adepoju, poetry
Kemi Oriowo, dance
Tayo Oriowo, talking drum
CELEBRATORY DANCE
THE AKWA IBOM STATE ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA -- THE AKWA IBOM STATE ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAFrank Akanem, presidentJustina Ikpim, vice presidentElizabeth Akanem, danceFlorence Inwang, danceHelen Inwang, danceEdemekong Isema, drumIbok Isema, drumSamuel Isema, drumWilson Oduk, drumEno Okon, danceGodwin Udo, drumRose Williams, dance
PAN-AFRICAN IMMIGRANT GOSPEL MUSIC
MIXED CHOIR OF THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD -- MIXED CHOIR OF THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GODLeslie Hawkins, senior choir directorSamuel Gyermah, junior choir directorSamuef Agyepong-Mensah, band leader, lead guitaristJuliana Agyepong-Mensah, lead vocalsSamuel Jr. Agyepong-Mensah, bass guitarNana Busia, alto vocalsYau Cann, congasErnest Frimpong, congasKwabena Larbi, drumsInnocent Onyeanusi, drums, bass guitar
A Tribute to Ralph Rinzler: July 2nd Evening Concert
Ed Cabbell, vocals, Morgantown, West Virginia
Melissa Cabbell, vocals, Tahens, West Virginia
John Cephas, vocals, guitar, Woodford, Virginia
Phil Wiggins, harmonica, Washington, D.C.
Mike Seeger, vocals, guitar, banjo, autoharp, Lexington, Virginia
Pete Seeger, vocals, banjo, guitar, Beacon, New York
Collection Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1995 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Rinzler was interviewed for the Oral History Collection because of his distinguished career as the founder of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Center for Folklife
and Cultural Heritage, as well as a Smithsonian administrator. Additional information about Rinzler can be found in the the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
in the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Descriptive Entry:
The interview of Rinzler, with friend and colleague Roger D. Abrahams, by Marc Pachter, Acting Assistant Secretary for External Affairs, covers his early life and interest
in music; involvement in the folk music scene at Swarthmore and organization of the festival there; time spent in London after graduate courses; life on the road with Joan
Baez; work with Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, and others; field work for the Newport Foundation; beginnings of the Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian and his subsequent career
at the Institution. It also includes reminiscences of many individuals at the Smithsonian and in the larger folklife community, including S. Dillon Ripley, Frank A. Taylor,
Charles Blitzer, David Challinor, Robert McC. Adams, Michael Seeger, Peggy Seeger, and Alan Lomax; and discusses the rise of the folklife movement including the political
and ethnological forces behind the movement. The interview consist of 2.5 hours of videotape and 94 pages of transcript.
Historical Note:
Ralph Carter Rinzler (1934-1994) was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and was interested in music at an early age. He was given a collection of ethnographic recordings
from the Archive of Folk Song of the Library of Congress by his uncle, Harvard University ballad scholar George Lyman Kittredge, and they soon became his favorites. He became
actively involved in folk music while attending Swarthmore College, organizing an annual folk festival on campus. He received his B.A. in 1956, and did graduate work at Middlebury
College and the Sorbonne in French literature and language. Upon his return to the United States, he played mandolin for four years with the Greenbriar Boys, touring with
singer Joan Baez. During the 1960s, he also studied and worked with performers of traditional music, such as Doc Watson and Bill Monroe, both of whom gained international
recognition, in part through his efforts. In 1964, Rinzler accepted the position of Director of Field Programs at the Newport Folk Foundation. Rinzler came to the Smithsonian
in 1967 as the founding Director of what is now the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, then in the Division of Performing Arts, to establish a center for research,
publication, and presentation of programs in American subcultures. As Director, he also developed the annual Festival of American Folklife. After the summer-long festival
of 1976, he initiated Smithsonian Folklife Studies, a publication series, and did research for the Celebration exhibit, which opened at the Renwick Gallery in 1982. Rinzler
was appointed Assistant Secretary for Public Service in 1983 and Assistant Secretary Emeritus in 1990.
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1967 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 5 series.
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: Fieldwork
Series 3: Photographs
Series 4: Audio
Series 5: Video
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1967 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Division of Performing Arts.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
In 1966, Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley engaged James R. Morris to serve as Director of Museum Services, soon to become a new Division of Performing Arts. Ripley charged Morris to develop a full program of performances on the National Mall - sound and light show, readings and concerts, films, live demonstrations, and special exhibitions. Morris, who had previously organized the American Folk Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1963, proposed that the Smithsonian host a folk festival as the centerpiece of the outdoors activities. Through the Asheville festival, Morris had come into contact with key people involved in the Newport Folk Festival, among them Alan Lomax. It was Lomax who suggested that the Smithsonian hire Newport's then-director of field programs, Ralph C. Rinzler, to help plan a Smithsonian festival. The term "folklife", drawn from Scandinavian usage, was chosen over "folk" as the name of the new Festival.
The first Festival of American Folklife was held July 1-4, 1967 in two tents - one for crafts and one for sales - a music stage, and a performance area on the terrace of the Museum of History and Technology (later, the National Museum of American History). Fifty-eight traditional craftspeople and thirty-two musical and dance groups from throughout the United States demonstrated and performed at the first open-air event. Mountain banjo-pickers and ballad singers, Chinese lion dancers, Indian sand painters, basket and rug weavers, New Orleans jazz bands and a Bohemian hammer dulcimer band from east Texas combined with the host of participants from many rural and urban areas of the U.S. The entire event was free to the public, the expense of the production having been borne by the Smithsonian aided by numerous civic and cultural organizations, business enterprises and State Arts Councils.
The 1967 Festival drew a huge crowd - estimated at more than 400,000 - and strong interest from the press, Members of Congress, and Smithsonian leadership. In the Smithsonian's annual report for 1967, Ripley reflected on the success of the Festival:
Within - in the Museum - the tools, the products of craft work, the musical instruments hang suspended in cases, caught in beautifully petrified isolation. Without, for the space of a few hours they came alive in the hands of specialists from all over America.... It was a moving spectacle and one that underscored the principle that a museum, to be a museum in the best sense of the word, must live and breathe both within and without.
The 1967 Festival marked the inception of a fresh attempt at the evaluation, documentation and celebration of a hitherto unrecognized area of vigorous American expression. Concurrent with the first Festival, an American Folklife Conference was organized (with assistance from Henry Glassie) to address topics of American and international folklife studies, the relationship between folklife and history, applied folklife, and folklife in schools, museums, communities, and government agencies.
The Festival was organized by the Division of Performing Arts, under the direction of James R. Morris. Ralph Rinzler was the Applied Folklore Consultant and Festival Artistic Director, and Marian A. Hope was Project Assistant. No program book or schedule was published, but news articles, congressional remarks, letters from the public, and a list of participants were later compiled in lieu of a program book. That document can be viewed in Series 1.
Participants:
Crafts
Harry Belone, 1912-1986, Navajo sand painter, Arizona
Herman Benton, 1914-1994, scoop maker, New York
Mary Bowers, 1922-2002, Seminole patchwork, needlework, Florida
Marie Z. Chino, 1907-1982, Acoma pottery, New Mexico
Mildred Cleghorn, 1910-1997, Indian cloth dolls, Oklahoma
Maisy Coburn, apple face and corncob dolls, Arkansas
Margaret Coochwytewa, 1923-1995, Hopi, coil and yucca leaves basket maker, Arizona
Victor Coochwytewa, 1922-2011, Hopi silversmith, Arizona
Freedom Quilting Bee, Alabama
Taft Greer, 1908-1986, weaver, Tennessee
Joseph Grismayer, 1888-1970, willow basket maker, Pennsylvania
Dewey Harmon, 1900-1972, whittler, North Carolina
Bea Hensley, 1919-2013, blacksmith, North Carolina
Louise Jones, 1910-1973, coil basket making, South Carolina
Robert Keith, chair maker, North Carolina
Mrs. Robert Keith, chair maker, North Carolina
Norman Kennedy, 1934-, carder, spinner, weaver, Massachusetts
Clifford Lucas, Indian dolls, New Mexico
Lila Suzanne Marshall, 1908-1994, corn shuck dolls, North Carolina
Charles Mayac, 1906-1971, ivory carver, Alaska
Leo J. Meyer, scrimshaw carver, Maryland
Alice Merryman, 1906-2007, corn shuck dolls, Arkansas
Norman Miller, 1905-1972, southern pottery, Alabama
Mrs. Norman Miller, southern pottery, Alabama
Hazel Miracle, 1915-2001, apple face, corn shuck dolls, Kentucky
Homer Miracle, 1910-1980, hand-hewn bowls, carver, Kentucky
Ann Mitchell, corn shuck dolls, Maryland
Golda Porter, spinner, North Carolina
Edd Presnell, 1916-1994, dulcimer maker, North Carolina
Wade Ward (1892-1971) and the Buck Mountain Band, mountain string band, Virginia
Yomo Toro Band, Puerto Rican music, New York
Ed Young (1910-1972), G.D. Young and Lonnie Young (1903-1976), African American fife and drum group, Mississippi
Young People's Chorus from the Scripture of Church of Christ, gospel, Virginia
Dance
Blue Ridge Mountain Dancers, cloggers, North Carolina
Chinese Lion Group, Washington, D.C.
Maurice Flowers, square dance caller, Maryland
Los Gallegos d'Espana, Galician dance, New York
Glinka Dancers, Russian dance group, New Jersey
Jochim Koyuk, King Island Eskimo dancer, Alaska
Mrs. Jochim Koyuk, King Island Eskimo dancer, Alaska
McNeff Dancers, Irish dancing with Ceilidh band, New York
Henry Paterick, square dance caller, Virginia
St. Andrews Society Group, Scottish dancing, Washington, D.C.
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1967 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1978 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 10 series.
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: Chesapeake Bay Traditions
Series 3: Children's Folklife
Series 4: Coal Miners & Oil Workers
Series 5: D.C. Folklore
Series 6: Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations
Series 7: Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery
Series 8: Mexican & Mexican American Traditions
Series 9: Other Programs
Series 10: San Juan Pueblo Culture
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1978 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Program of the Office of American and Folklife Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
With the 1978 Festival, the Smithsonian began a five-year cycle of variations on the theme of "community," exploring folklore as the artistic expression of community life, and the pleasure and dignity found in that process. When the Smithsonian Folklife Program staff decided to use "community" as the theme of the 1978 presentation, they were not grafting an idea onto the Festival, but featuring an aspect of the Festival that had been present throughout its history. Folklore consists of the traditional ways in which community people work and play together, and their customary forms of entertaining and instructing each other. Community is composed of people meeting regularly who have inherited or developed ways of celebrating their sense of coming together.
"Community" had been involved in the past eleven festivals in many ways. For communities - whether inherited or joined - serve as a vital buffer between individuals and a world of megastates and megacorporations. They are more manageable units in which all can participate - men and women, young and old - and give some living proof of Schumacher's notion that "small is beautiful." Festival organizers sought to reaffirm that humans are important, and that we are, like plants and other animals, dependent upon communities for survival.
As with the preceding year, the 1978 Festival (October 4-9) was held on a site on the National Mall later to be occupied by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, between 14th and 15th Streets and between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive (see site plan). Indoor activities took place in the National Museum of History and Technology, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Renwick Gallery. The San Juan Pueblo programs took place outside of the National Museum of Natural History. As had been the case in 1977, Festival programming in the museums sought to connect objects on exhibit with people who could demonstrate, explain, or comment upon them; programming was again marked by collaboration between Folklife Program staff and museum curators. Festival programs included:
Chesapeake Bay Traditions
Children's Folklife
Coal Miners & Oil Workers
D.C. Folklore
Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations (including presentations on Ellis Island, Dunham School,
family folklore, sleeping car porters, and a wheelwright)
Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery (featuring presentations on Mexican masks and on musical
instruments)
Mexican & Mexican American Traditions
Other Programs (featuring organ-building in the Hall of Musical Instruments and sharecroppers in the Hall
of Everyday Life in the American Past)
San Juan Pueblo Culture
The 1978 Program Book provided information on each of the programs, including a schedule and participant lists.
The 1978 Festival was again co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, McDonald's Washington Area Family Restaurants, and the Music Performance Trust Funds. It was organized by the Folklife Program within the Office of American and Folklife Studies.
Folklife Advisory Council
Wilcomb E. Washburn, Chairman, Roger Abrahams, Richard Ahlborn, Richard Dorson, William Fitzhugh, Lloyd Herman, Robert Laughlin, Scott Odell, Bernice Reagon, Ralph Rinzler, E. Richard Sorenson
Folklife Program, Office of American and Folklife Studies
Ralph Rinzler, Director; Jeffrey LaRiche, Program Coordinator; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Ethnomusicologist; Susan Kalcik, Folklorist; Steve Zeitlin, Folklorist; Jack Santino, Folklorist; Frank Proschan and Richard Derbyshire, Archivists
National Park Service
William J. Whelan, Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region
Fieldworkers and presenters:
Héctor Aguíñiga, Holly Baker, Karen Baldwin, Charles Camp, Susan G. Davis, Hazel Dickens, Jason Dotson, Ben Evans, Alicia González, Richard Haefer, Charlotte Heth, Marjorie Hunt, Amy Kotkin, Maria La Vigna, Phyllis May, Pat Mullen, Salvador Ortega, Keith Rollinson, Daniel Sheehy, Nick Spitzer, Peggy Yocom, Jean Alexander, Kate Rinzler, George McDaniels
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1978 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1977 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 9 series.
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: African Diaspora Street Culture
Series 3: America's Appetite (for Energy)
Series 4: Folklife in the Museum: Hall of Musical Instruments
Series 5: Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations
Series 6: Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery
Series 7: Native American Musical Styles
Series 8: Other Programs
Series 9: Virginia Folk Culture
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1977 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Program of the Office of American and Folklife Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
As early as 1974, managers within the Smithsonian had wondered what to do after the Bicentennial Festival - return to the pattern of smaller Folklife Festivals that had preceded, expand its scope to a Smithsonian Summer Festival that would present popular artistic forms as well, or discontinue it and focus on curating the research and Festival documentation. In the immediate wake of the Bicentennial Festival, plans were proposed for Ralph Rinzler to become head of a new, unnamed folklife unit that would process the documentary materials developed by the Festival and produce scholarly and educational publications. James R. Morris and the Division of Performing Arts would continue to produce the Festival. A broader Smithsonian Summer Festival was accordingly announced for 1977. However, a newly-constituted Folklife Advisory Council decided instead that the Festival's emphasis on traditional cultural should continue, but that the Festival should be moved to the fall and should be more closely integrated with the activities of relevant units of the Smithsonian, especially within the National Museum of History and Technology and National Museum of Natural History. A Folklife Program was established under Rinzler's direction, attached to the Office of American and Folklife Studies headed by Wilcomb E. Washburn (also chair of the Folklife Advisory Council).
The 1977 Festival was thus held October 5-10, on a site within the National Mall later to be occupied by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, between 14th and 15th Streets and between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive (see site plan). Additional outdoor activities were held on the terrace of the National Museum of History and Technology, and indoor activities took place in that museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Renwick Gallery. The Division of Performing Arts continued to provide overall technical support for the Festival, but each program component was curated by a different team, typically including cooperation between a Folklife Program folklorist and a curator within another Smithsonian museum (see the individual programs for the specific units collaborating on each presentation). Programming was originated by museum staff, then reviewed by the Advisory Council, to broaden the base of staff involvement in the research, planning, and presentation of this and other folklife endeavors.
The Festival featured several larger and numerous smaller programs; documentation of the 1977 Festival is divided into eight series:
African Diaspora Street Culture
America's Appetite (for Energy)
Folklife in the Museum: Hall of Musical Instruments (including presentations of hammered dulcimers andmusical traditions of India)
Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations (including presentations of saddle making, Dunham Schoollore, Ellis Island & immigrant lore, pencil making, baseball bat turning, ethnic foods, Hispanic crafts)
Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery (including presentations of paint on wood and crafting withnatural fibers)
Native American Musical Styles
Other Programs (including presentations of transportation, folklore in your community, family folklore,Louisiana Cajun social music)
Virginia Folk Culture
The 1977 Program Book provided information on each of the programs.
The Festival was jointly presented by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Council for Traditional Arts, and Music Performance Trust Funds. The 1977 Festival resulted from cooperation among a number of entities; those with overall responsibility included:
Folklife Advisory Council
Wilcomb E. Washburn, Chairman, Roger Abrahams, Richard Ahlborn, Robert H. Byington, Richard Dorson, William Fitzhugh, Lloyd Herman, Robert Laughlin, James Morris, Scott Odell, Bernice Reagon, Ralph Rinzler, E. Richard Sorenson
Folklife Program, Office of American and Folklife Studies
Ralph Rinzler, Director; Robert H. Byington, Deputy Director; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Ethnomusicologist; Susan Kalcik, Ethnic Folklore Specialist; Frank Proschan, Archivist; Steve Zeitlin, Family Folklore Specialist; Jack Santino, Occupational Folklore Specialist; Mike Herter, Documentation Coordinator; Jeffrey LaRiche, Energy Program Coordinator
Division of Performing Arts
James R. Morris, Director; Rosie Lee Hooks, African Diaspora Program Coordinator; African Diaspora Program Cultural Historian, Bernice Reagon; Shirley Cherkasky, Production Coordinator
National Park Service
William Whelan, Director
In addition, persons and bodies responsible for individual programs are identified in the relevant series note.
Fieldworkers, presenters, and curators:
Carl Scheele, William Sturtevant, Scott Odell, Eugene Knez, Nancy Groce, Holly Baker, Amy Kotkin, Karen Peiffer, Paul Wagner, William Foshag, James Leary, Diane Hamilton, Winifred Brendel, Robert Vogel, Richard Ahlborn, Roddy Moore, Chuck Perdue, Peter Row, Arnold Burghardt, Charlotte Heth, William Powers, Elaine Eff, Robert McCarl, Peter Seitel
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1977 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Container:
Box 1 of 4
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted for 15 years, until Jan-01-2027; Transferring office; 9/14/2015 Memo, Wright to Bell/Adams; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 17-133, Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Director's Administrative Records
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Container:
Box 2 of 4
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted for 15 years, until Jan-01-2027; Transferring office; 9/14/2015 Memo, Wright to Bell/Adams; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 17-133, Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Director's Administrative Records
