Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
In "The Grand Generation: Folklore and Aging", the Smithsonian honored elder craftspeople, performers, cooks, and storytellers for maintaining the traditions that keep us in touch with our cultural foundations. This core of aesthetic and moral values helps to order and give meaning to our lives. In the eyes of organizers, the conservation role of these elders - the preserving and passing down of heritage - is much the same as that of the Smithsonian as a whole.
The program explored what seems to be an especially close relationship between the folk arts and the elderly. What we see, over and over again, not just in the United States but around the world, is that the three generations that overlap in their individual lifetimes interact in the following pattern: the grandparents inspire and instruct the children while the adult parents work to support and protect both the young and the old, until such time as they themselves become the grandparents and their own children take up the middle year tasks and a new generation of young ones comes along.
Our traditional arts are the essential preserve of experienced and senior practitioners. They often appear simple, but a lifetime may be needed to get them just exactly right. All this experience, all this devotion and skill turns to ashes if the human chain is not in working order, if there is no one to pass the art on to. Nevertheless, the program insisted, there are elderly people all over America, waiting only to be asked about their stories and folk art. Their memories and works are stored in boxes in cellars, in trunks, in attics; their poems are locked in drawers, needing only a witness to bring them to light, a recipient to complete the interchange that is requisite to all cultural transmission. Folk art is a means not only of communication across generations but at the same time assisting the elderly gain autonomy over their own images. By arranging for elders to present their own artistic works and interpretations of their culture in a context in which they see themselves as major figures, the Festival and other similar activities sought to enhance their self-worth and political empowerment.
The Grand Generation: Folklore and Aging was made possible through the generous support of the American Association of Retired Persons in celebration of 25 years of service to older Americans, the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, and the Music Performance Trust Funds.
Marjorie Hunt served as the Grand Generation Program Coordinator and Ann Dancy, as Assistant Coordinator. The Festival program later grew into a film [hyperlink], exhibition [hyperlink], interviewing guide [hyperlink], and book [hyperlink].
Consultants and fieldworkers:
Mary Hufford, Barbara Myerhoff, Steven Zeitlin, Marjorie Hunt
Presenters:
Elena Bradunas, Cheryl Brauner, Rayna Green, Mary Hufford, Geraldine Johnson, Susan Kalcik, Amy Kotkin, Jack Santino, Nicholas Schidlovsky, Gregory Sharrow, Nick Spitzer, Steve Zeitlin
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: 1984 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 24, 1981.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
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.
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 27, 1981.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
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.
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, July 5, 1981.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
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.
111 Roads of Freedom / Christopher Stanley, Tom Hughes. Guitar.
112 Seperate Ways / Tom Hughes. Guitar.
113 Dimlit Bay / Christopher Stanley. Guitar.
202 Thinking of Ways to Sell Death: A Song About a Meetingof the Advertising Executives of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co / Robert Adams. Guitar,Whistle. English language.
203 Hard Daily Life / Dan Schatz.
204 White Medicine / J.J Johnson, Jimmy Johnson.
205 Save the Children / Jimmy Johnson.
206 Tears Mama Cried / Jimmy Johnson.
207 Chessboard World / Mike Gubser.
208 May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister / Jean Normandy-Dolberg.
209 Political Chants (instructional) / Michael Beer.
210 Ballad of the Broom-Corn Canary / Bruce Glassco.
Local Numbers:
FP-1990-CT-0113
General:
SC4
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), Washington, United States, July 5, 1990.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access.
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.
Occupational theater workshop; Jim Garland introduces Florence Reece; Reece- Living on the side of the mountain--Ragweed-Poem about her uncle--The marines: Sarah Gunning--I'm going to organize, baby mine; Florence Reece- Which side are you on; Sarah Gunning--Rocking alone in an old rocking chair
General note:
DPA number 74.501.76
Local Numbers:
FP-1974-7RR-0336
General:
CDR copy
74.501.76
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, July, 1974.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
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.
The papers of African American artist and writer Emilio Cruz measure 5 linear feet and date from 1961 to 2008. The collection includes biographical material, correspondence, writings, personal business records, exhibition and project files, printed material, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist and writer Emilio Cruz measure 5 linear feet and date from 1961 to 2008. The collection includes biographical material, correspondence, writings, personal business records, exhibition and project files, printed material, and photographic material.
Biographical material includes Cruz's career narratives, an interview with Ben Looker for a book about the Black Artists' Group, an address book, and a recording of Emilio Cruz's memorial service.
Correspondence includes drafts and final copies of correspondence sent and received by Cruz. Though primarily professional in nature, some letters include Cruz's theories regarding art and literature.
Writings includes two subseries: general writings as well as literary work and performance material. General writings consist of Emilio Cruz's writings about art, exhibition text, and other essays and writing. Literary work and performance material includes poems, short stories, novels, and plays, as well as materials related to the performance of these works. This subseries includes audiovisual material in a variety of formats related to Cruz's performances.
Personal business records include shipping invoices and a small number of gallery records.
Exhibition and project files include correspondence, planning documents, financial documents, printed material, and photographic material related to Emilio Cruz's exhibitions and projects.
Printed material includes publications in which Emilio Cruz's writing was published or in which he was written about; exhibition and performance catalogs, programs, and invitations; and clippings of reviews.
Photographic material includes photographs of Emilio Cruz and slides of his artwork.
Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-2008 (Box 1, 0.9 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1969-2004 (Boxes 1-3, FC 5-6, Box 7-9; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1989-2000 (Box 3; 5 folders)
Series 5: Exhibition and Project Files: 1963-2004 (Boxes 3-4; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1964-2003 (Box 4; 0.6 feet)
Series 7: Photographic Material, 1961-2003 (Box 10, OV 11; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Emilio Cruz (1938-2004) was an African American artist, playwright, and novelist of Cuban descent. He was born in the Bronx and spent much of his life in New York. He taught at the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1970s and was active in the Chicago art scene. In the 1980s he returned to New York where he continued to exhibit. He later taught at Pratt Institute and New York University. His two plays Homeostasis: Once More the Scorpion and The Absence Held Fast to Its Presence were first performed in New York in 1981, and later in Europe as part of the World Theater Festival.
Throughout his career, Cruz received a number of honors and awards, including a John Hay Whitney Fellowship and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Emilio Cruz died in 2004.
Provenance:
The Emilio Cruz papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Patricia Cruz, Emilio Cruz's widow, in 2016.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of electronic records with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that she may own, in the following material: Emilio Cruz's unpublished short stories, poems, plays, and novels.
Occupation:
Dramatists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
