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 1985 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.
Missing Title
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: Cultural Conservation
Series 3: Louisiana
Series 4: Mela! An Indian Fair
Series 5: Special Events
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 1985 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:
From the first Festival of American Folklife in 1967 through the 1984 Festival, more than 10,000 participants traveled to Washington to share their wisdom and talent with visitors, Festival Director Diana Parker recalled in the 1985 Program Book. In explaining and demonstrating their skills as singers, dancers, musicians, cooks, artisans, storytellers, and workers, they represented legions more in their home communities. Because of the time and knowledge they shared, lives had been enriched, while the cultural understanding of the aesthetic variety in this and other nations had broadened. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian's archive of folklife research and programming experience had grown incrementally each year. There remained much still to be learned, and each participant's story added to our understanding of the mosaic of folk culture.
Festival participants often spoke of their struggle to maintain traditions in the face of overwhelming odds. Each year brought another person to inform visitors, "I am the last who knows how to do this the old way." For this reason the Folklife Programs viewed conservation of culture as an issue equal in urgency to the conservation of natural resources, for the pluralism reflected at each year's Festival would be terrible to lose. The Smithsonian was not, of course, the only organization concerned with cultural conservation. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress consistently contributed on a national scale to research and preservation of traditional culture. Numerous state and local programs were also hard at work in similar efforts and have made notable contributions. As the National Endowment for the Arts celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1985, the Smithsonian was especially aware of the immense contributions of its Folk Arts Program.
The 1985 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 26-30 and July 3-7) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 10th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan).
For the 1985 Festival, more than two hundred participants came to Washington to share in a great celebration of cultural diversity. Three thematic programs were presented, complemented by a number of special events. The 1985 Program Book provides information on each of the programs.
The 1985 Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Office of Folklife Programs. In addition to specific support (acknowledged below) for the Louisiana and Mela! programs, the recording industry provided support in part for the instrumental music in performances at the Festival through the Music Performance Trust Funds (Martin A. Paulson, Trustee).
Office of Folklife Programs
Peter Seitel, Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Marjorie Hunt, Folklorist; Alicia María González, Folklorist and Program Developer; Kazadi wa Mukuna, Ethnomusicologist; Richard Derbyshire, Archivist; Laurie Kalb, Foodways Coordinator
National Park Service
William Penn Mott, Jr., Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region
Shared Stewardship of Collections:
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1985 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 to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
Craft presentations at the 1969 Festival focused on two themes: 1) sheep shearing and wool processing, and 2) corn culture. For the former, visitors could see sheep being sheared and the resulting wool carded, spun, and used in weaving. Milling songs from Scotland and from Massachusetts rounded out the program. The corn culture program showed different methods of milling and grinding corn, foodways from cornbread to corn liquor, and various crafts utilizing corn shucks. In addition, craft demonstrators included basket makers, blacksmiths, carvers and toy-makers, and a potter, with a special focus on Seminole crafts from Florida.
The sheep shearing and wool processing demonstration was sponsored by the American Sheep Producers Council, Inc. and the Wool Bureau, Inc. The corn culture exhibit was sponsored by the American Corn Miller's Federation and the Corn Refiners Association, Inc. Arkansas Arts and Humanities supported the participation of Arkansas craftspeople, and National Airlines sponsored the Seminole Indian participants.
Participants:
Sheep Shearing and Wool Processing
Jack Matthews, exhibit consultant & shearing, Maryland
Taft Greer, 1908-1986, weaving, Tennessee
Norman Kennedy, 1934-, spinning, vegetable dyeing, weaving & milling, Virginia
Kay Basler, milling songs, Massachusetts
John Beaton, milling songs, Massachusetts
Joseph MacKenzie, milling songs, Massachusetts
Peter MacLean, milling songs, Massachusetts
Malcolm MacCellan, milling songs, Massachusetts
Christine Gillis, milling songs, Massachusetts
Ellen Smith, Navajo, carding, spinning, weaving, Arizona
Bea Hensley, 1919-2013, blacksmith, North Carolina
Mike Hensley, blacksmith, North Carolina
Mrs. Roy Harris, wooden figures & miniature tools carver, Arkansas
Edsel Martin, dulcimer-maker & figure-carver, North Carolina
Sal Paper, 1891-1972, lead toy maker, New York
Edgar Tolson, 1904-1984, wooden figure carver, Kentucky
Maisey Coburn, apple face doll maker, Arkansas
Mrs. Roy Harris, poppet doll maker, Arkansas
Vernon Owens, 1941-, potter, Jugtown Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1969 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
This program celebrated the centenary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Korea, and the equally-long relations between the Smithsonian and Korean scholars. Many of the kinds of traditions the first Smithsonian researchers encountered a century earlier were represented at the 1982 Festival, including musical instrument making, musical performance, pottery making and rituals from the indigenous shamanic religion of Korea. Visitors could also enjoy other venerable traditions including masked dance drama, hemp-cloth and hat making, and the occupational songs of farmers and women divers. Korean Americans presented traditions brought from Korea that have taken root in the American land.
The crafts represented at the Festival were typical of those produced during Korea's late feudal period, which ended with the termination of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Before the eighteenth century, most of the handcraft industries, such as pottery-making, metal smithing, and stone-working, were strictly regulated by the royal court, which controlled much of the country's commerce. During the declining years of the dynasty, however, small cottage industries thrived, as court artisans entered private life and peasant farmers sought to improve their precarious economic situation by producing textiles, baskets, and other crafts for market. On appointed market days in the villages, peddlers, local vendors, and farmers would spread their wares on the ground or in booths, where they could be viewed by passersby. This traditional open-air market remains a feature of modern Korean life, even though many of the older handcrafts were supplanted over the last few decades with machine-manufactured goods.
The great influx of technology to the Republic of Korea in the 1960s and 1970s tended to leave all traditional arts in its wake - both elite and folk traditions. As a result, folk survivals in the 1980s tended to be grouped together with the high arts because they were considered to be old, traditional, venerable. Together with the tendency towards professionalization, this led to the current state of such folk traditions as the Farmer's Dance (nongak), taught by professional musicians in conservatories. Farmers may still know how to do it, but most people would say that one has to go to the cities to hear it done well, done precisely. If someone in a village turns out to have performing talent, he or she studies with the best masters; then, if really good, it is on to the big city to try to make a career in the performance and recording-studio world.
In choosing and presenting Korean and Korean American participants at the 1982 Festival, Smithsonian organizers sought to explore the range of vernacular styles in music, dance, crafts, foodways, games, and so forth, as expressed through the skills of the best available practitioners. The intention was to provide a glimpse of the country, its cultures, and its peoples.
Korean Participants:
Note: In Korea, it is customary to list the family name followed by the first names. We have listed our Korean National participants in that manner while Korean-Americans are listed according to their preference.
Mask Dance Drama | Yangju Byeolsandae Nori | 양주별산대놀이
Hwang Kyung-hee, Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Kim Chung-sun, Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Kim Soon-hong, Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Ko Myung-dal (1911-1992; National ICH No.2), Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Suk Chong-kwan, Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Yoo Kyung-sung (1918-1989), Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Sinawi-Folk Instrumental Ensemble
Kim Chung-mahn, Seoul | 서울, Korea
Kim Moo-kyung, Seoul | 서울, Korea
Kim Moo-kil, Seoul | 서울, Korea
Kim Tong-jin, Seoul | 서울, Korea
Pahk Duk-yong, Seoul | 서울, Korea
String Instrument Maker | 악기장
Choi Tae-soon (Gyeonnggi-do ICH No.30), Seoul | 서울, Korea
Hwanghae Province | Hwanghae-do | 황해도, Folk Ritual
Choi Enm-jun, Incheon | 인천, Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Kim Keum-hwa (1931-2019; National ICH No. 82-b), Seoul, Korea
Lee Ok-ja, Incheon | 인천, Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Kim Jum-soon (1918-2008; National ICH No. 32), South Jeolla Province | Jeollanam-do | 전라남도, Korea
Earthenware Pottery Maker
Shim Sang-oon, Gyeonggi Province | Gyeonggi-do | 경기도, Korea
Horsehair Hat (Gat) Maker | 갓일
Chung Choon-mo (National ICH No.4), South Gyeongsang Province | Gyeonsangnam-do | 경상남도, Korea
Korean American Participants:
Note: In Korea, it is customary to list the family name followed by the first names. We have listed our Korean National participants in that manner while Korean-Americans are listed according to their preference.
Children's Area
Mark Chang, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hein Kim, Bloomfield, Michigan
Sue Ann Lee, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Wook Lee, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Noodle and Kimchi Maker
Lee Young Sil, Fairfax, Virginia
Embroiderer
Kim Jung Ja, Arlington, Virginia
Seamstresses
Park Hea Sun, 1916-1980, Rockville, Maryland
Kim Sung Duk, Silver Spring, Maryland
Shin Bok Soon, College Park, Maryland
Folding Screen Maker
Yoon Sam Kyun, Arlington, Virginia
Music
Au Myung-ja, 1953-, -- gayageum -- | 가야금, Honolulu, Hawaii
Choi Kyung-man, 1947-, -- piri -- | 피리 & -- taepyeonso -- | 태평소 player, Glendale, California
Lee Byung Sang, 1946-, -- daegeum -- | 대금 & -- danso -- | 단소 player, Ontario, California
Lee Yun-ja, 1952-, dancer, Ontario, California
Park Hi-all, dancer, Leucadia, California
Sung Kum-you, 1923-1986, dancer, Honolulu, Hawaii
Un Bang-cho, dance artist, Chicago, Illinois
Yim Hwa-yon, dancer, Chicago, Illinois
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1982 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of John Joseph Honigmann (1914-1977) consist largely of research material of a specialist in personality, socialization, and social problems of Subarctic and Arctic people. Trained at Yale University (M.A., 1943; Ph.D., 1947), Honigmann spent most of his professional career at the University of North Carolina (1951-77) and was chairman of its Department of Anthropology from 1970-1975. Some material reflects his classroom teaching and administrative work. There are also general reference materials and materials relating to the history of anthropology.
Correspondents include David F. Aberle, Saeed K. Alizai, Nels Anderson, Asen Balikci, Victor Barnouw, Harry Basehart, Ronald Berndt, William E. Bittle, Gordon Blackwell, Walter Boek, Paul J. Bohannan, Robert J. Braidwood, Robert Carneiro, Joseph B. Casagrande, Norman A. Chance, Yehudi A. Cohen, Earl W. Count, David Damas, William Davis, Pierrette Desy, Cora du Bois, Richard Duncan, Fred R. Eggan, Loren C. Eiseley, Gary L. Emmons, Vincent Erickson, Sam J. Ervin, Arthur Evans, Lita B. Fejos, Paul Fejos, William N. Fenton, F.L. Fischer, Regina Flannery, Don Charles Foote, Clellan Ford, Morris Freilich, Clifford Geertz, Mickey Gibson, John P. Gillin, Thomas F. Gladwin, Walter R. Goldschmidt, Ward H. Goodenough, Theodore D. Graves, John Gulick, Zachary Gussow, Charles Hamori-Torok, Asael T. Hansen, Edward B. Harper, S.I. Hayakawa, Dwight B. Heath, June Helm, Maria Herzmaier, George K. Hindley, Tom R. Hopkins, Francis L.K. Hsu, Katherine Jocher, Berton H. Kaplan, Michael Kenny, Solon T. Kimball, Harriet J. Kupferer, Gordon B. Laing, L.L. Langness, Margaret L. Lantis, Oscar Lewis, Nancy O. Lurie, Donald S. Marshall, Abraham H. Maslow, John S. Matthiasson, Selz C. Mayo, Tom F.S. McFeat, Margaret Mead, Betty J. Meggers, George P. Murdock, Raoul Naroll, George Nelleman, Arthur Niehall, Marrilee Oakes, Morris E. Opler, Harold Orlans, Cornelius Osgood, Simon Ottenberg, John G. Peck, William Pollitzer, Ruben E. Reina, David Reisman, Marcel Rioux, Frank H.H. Roberts, Jr., Edward S. Rogers, Irving Rouse, Beate R. Salz, A.H.A. Siddiqi, Norman Simpkins, Leon Sinder, Richard Slobodin, Edward H. Spicer, Leslie Spier, Robert F.G. Spier, George D. Spindler, Sol Tax, Morton I. Teicher, Laura Thompson, Mischa Titiev, Brian du Toit, John Trudeau, Arthur Tuden, Victor F. Valentine, Frank G. Vallee, Clark Vincent, Fred W. Voget, Evon Z. Vogt, C. Von Furer-Haimendorf, Willard Walker, Anthony F.C. Wallace, Gene Weltfish, and Eric R.Wolf.
Arrangement note:
The Honigmann papers are not fully processed and are only broadly desccribed in this finding aid. The collection is arranged into (1) Churchill, five northern towns, and Schefferville, undated; (2) the Cree of Attawapisdat, Ontario, 1947-1956; (3) Frobisher Bay, 1963; (4) Great Whale River; (5) Inuvik, 1967; (6) Material concerning the Kaska of Lower Post, British Columbia, and Southern Yukon Territory, 1944-1945; (7) General anthropological subjects and teaching;(8) General and miscellaneous material on peoples of the world; (9) West Pakistan; (10) Canadian Wildlife Service Arctic Ecology Map; (11) Understanding Culture; (12) Miscellany; (13) Correspondence, ca. 1950s-1970s
Biographical / Historical:
Honigmann was regularly in the field. In 1943, this began with an ethnographic study of the Fort Nelson Slave in Canada. In 1944-1945, he was with the Kaska in British Columbia. In 1947-1948, he worked at Attawapiskat on James Bay and, in 1949-1950, at Great Whale River on Hudson Bay. He investigated town life in Pakistan in 1952 and 1957-1958. During the summers of 1960-1962, 1964-1966, 1972, and 1975, his studies carried him to a village in Austria. In 1963, he worked at Frobisher Bay and in 1967 at Inuvik.
1914 -- Born June 7, New York City, New York
1937 -- Married Irma Grabel
1942 -- Student at Columbia University Received BA from Brooklyn College
1943 -- Received MA from Yale University Field trip with the Fort Nelson Slave in Fort Nelson (3-6 months)
1944-1945 -- Field trip with the Kaska in British Columbia, Canada (3-6 months)
1946-1947 -- Assistant professor of Sociology and anthropology at State College, Washington
1947 -- Received PhD in anthropology from Yale University
1947-1948 -- Field trip at Attawapiskat, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Research anthropologist for the National Committee for Community Health Studies in Toronto, Canada
1948-1951 -- Assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at New York University
1949 -- Published Anthropology, Culture and Ethos of the Kaska Society
1949-1950 -- Field trip at Great Whale River, Hudson's Bay, Ontario, Canada
1951-1955 -- Associate professor of anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
1952 -- Field trip at Pakistan
1955 -- Field trip at Attawapiskat, James Bay, Ontario, Canada
1955-1957 -- Professor of anthropology, UNC, Chapel Hill
1957-1958 -- Field trip at Pakistan
1959 -- Published The World of Man
1960 -- Field trip at Austria
1962 -- Published Foodways in a Muskeg Community Field trip at Austria
1963 -- Published Understanding Culture Field trip at Frobishers Bay, Baffin Island, Canada
1964 -- Field trip at Austria
1965 -- With wife Irma, co-authored Eskimo Townsmen
1966 -- Field trip in Austria
1967 -- Published Personality in Culture Field trip at Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada
1967-1970 -- Postdoctoral fellowship and grants: NSF grant
1970 -- Co-authored Arctic Townsmen Chairman of the department of anthropology, UNC, Chapel Hill
1972 -- Field trip at Austria
1975 -- Field trip at Austria
1977 -- Died at Chapel Hill, NC, August 4
Provenance:
Most of Honigmann's papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Irma Honigman, his wife, between October 1977 and January 1979. Honigmann's daughter, Karen Honigmann Schaefer, donated her father's field journals in July 1993.
Restrictions:
Some materials concerning the operations of the University of North Carolina Department of Anthropology are restricted.
Rights:
Honigmann used pseudonyms when referring to his informants in publications. Irma Honigmann has requested that researchers refrain from publishing their names.
