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1985 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: MELA! AN INDIAN FAIR AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. Mela! An Indian Fair on the National Mall sought to provide a culturally appropriate setting for a variety of Indian ritual, performance, craft, commercial, aesthetic, and culinary traditions. A mela, or Indian fair, is a large gathering of people who temporarily come together at a culturally appropriate time and place. The structures on the Mall were built largely with natural and handcrafted materials from India, while the site itself was designed to reflect indigenous Indian concepts. The exhibition ran June 4-July 28, 1985. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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32 Total pages
29 Contributing members
1985 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: SPECIAL EVENTS AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. The 1985 Festival featured several special events, including some that drew upon participants from two or more areas of the Festival. Three dance bands performed polka, Cajun and blues music, accompanied by dancers from their communities, on the music stages in the three main Festival areas every evening, except July 4. Each Saturday, an evening concert was held at the Sylvan Theatre on the Washington Monument grounds. These concerts presented music from the programs featured at the Festival. An evening of Indian performance, climaxed by burning a statue of the legendary demon Ravana, took place on the Mela! site on Friday, July 5. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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134 Total pages
55 Contributing members
1986 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: 20TH ANNIVERSARY MUSIC STAGE AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. The 20th Anniversary program consisted of one music stage with daily programming to help celebrate the anniversary of the first festival. Different musical genres from across the United States were presented. Among the performers were Creole and Cajun bands from Louisiana, cowboy singers from Louisiana and Texas, a Texas-Mexican conjunto band, gospel ensembles, an Irish band, old-time and country bands, a Piedmont blues singer-guitarist, and San Juan Pueblo singers and dancers. For the evening dance parties, Latino music from the Washington, D.C. area was featured, with Central American and Andean ensembles. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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97 Total pages
72 Contributing members
1986 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: AMERICAN TRIAL LAWYERS AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. American Trial Lawyers continued the Festival's 14-year attention to the folklife of occupational groups through presentation of and discussions about working skills, social organization, and lore. Lawyers can also be considered as storytellers in a profound sense: the stories they construct in court - the narratives of events and the interpretations of them - are meant to resonate with values held by jury members. In a mock courtoom installed on the Festival site, trial lawyers with lengthy experience and consummate skill demonstrated and discussed how they use language to construct such narratives and to convince jurors, inviting Festival visitors behind the scenes of a trial. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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94 Total pages
43 Contributing members
1986 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: CULTURAL CONSERVATION AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. The 1986 Cultural Conservation program presented a variety of craftspeople who singly and together define what is traditional about their crafts, how these are practiced in our country today, and why they are worth preserving for the future. Craft presentations including African American quilting, Cherokee basket making, Hispanic weavers and woodcarvers, Hmong needle workers, rag rug weavers, southern potters, split-oak basket makers, stone carvers, and Zuni maiden makers and potters. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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73 Total pages
48 Contributing members
1986 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: JAPAN AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. More than 50 Japanese and Japanese Americans demonstrated the cultivation and myriad uses of rice found in the traditional folk culture in Japan, and how many of them have been retained in the U.S. In addition to the craft presentations focused on crafts related to rice cultivation, performing groups presented several local folk music traditions, masked dance-drama, and the ritual of hand-transplanting rice (demonstrated in a flooded rice paddy constructed on the Festival site). Japanese Americans brought additional craft demonstrations, children's activities, and foodways to the Festival. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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350 Total pages
150 Contributing members
1986 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: TENNESSEE AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. The 1986 Tennessee Program sought to introduce Festival visitors to the diversity of traditions found within the State: East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Tennessee is culturally situated between the dominant pillars of Southern folklife - to the east, the upland traditions of the Appalachian Mountains; and to the west, the folkways of the Deep South. The Festival thus featured musical styles of the State including string bands, gospel music, rhythm and blues, rockabilly, ballads, and blues presented on three stages. Crafts traditions were also presented including sawmilling, furniture making, baskets, stoneworkers, quilts, broom makers, musical instrument making, and woodcarving. Occupations explored included distilling, moonshining, fishing, and hunting and trapping. There were also foodways demonstrations. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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119 Total pages
73 Contributing members
1987 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: CULTURAL CONSERVATION AND LANGUAGE AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. America's Many Voices addressed the importance of language in the preservation of cultural traditions. Spanish speakers from Texas, Chinese speakers from New York, Lao speakers from Virginia and Maryland, and English speakers from North Carolina challenged Festival audiences to hear the beauty of their voices, to understand the social significance of their languages, and to grasp meanings sometimes not easily translated. In addition, ongoing demonstrations included saddle making, barbacoa cookery, toymaking, quilting, and a sacred procession each day of the Matachines group from Laredo, Texas, through the Cultural Conservation area; the skills and lore of tobacco farming and the stories of hunters and their dogs; toymaking, face painting, and occupation lore of laundry operators. The Lao American area included floral arts, weaving, wood carving, basket making, rocket making, and, on Sunday June 28, an all day celebration of Boun Bang Fai, the Lao Rocket Festival. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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213 Total pages
94 Contributing members
1987 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. The 1987 program gave special emphasis to music among Washington's communities. People mark what they feel is distinctive and valuable through the use of music, frequently accompanied by dance and ritual. For instance, various Asian communities of Washington have maintained some of the seasonal ceremonies of their homelands, such as Lao or Chinese New Year's celebrations. In this urban milieu Hispanic, Caribbean, and African musicians constantly create new urban performance forms by drawing fragments from known repertoires and styles and transforming them into new expressions through the use of new harmonies, updated texts, and changes in tempo, rhythmic configurations, or performance style. More information about the program including participant names can be found here: https://sova.si.edu/details/CFCH.SFF.1987#ref26
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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191 Total pages
111 Contributing members
1987 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: MICHIGAN AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. From the State of Michigan, ninety of its residents came to the 1987 Festival to speak about and demonstrate some of the rich traditional culture from that region. Complementing a full performance schedule that highlighted Michigan's diverse musical heritage, ongoing demonstrations included lure making, fly tying, boat building, Native American quillwork, black ash basketry, finger weaving and beadwork, Dutch wooden shoe making, furniture carving, Afro American quilt making, Palestinian needlework, Ukrainian textiles and egg decorating, ski and sleigh making, decoy carving, rag rug weaving, cherry harvesting & pruning, evergreen nursery techniques, net making, and ice fishing. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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113 Total pages
81 Contributing members
1988 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY CENTENNIAL AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. It seemed especially appropriate to the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Folklife Programs to help celebrate the American Folklore Society's Centennial. For twenty years the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife had embodied many of the perspectives of the Society's founders: to observe and collect traditional performances and practices of the American peoples; to study this expressive life scientifically; to celebrate the diversity of American culture through presenting publicly the accomplishments of master performers and artisans. During the Festival, visitors could see and sense, in a tent on the National Mall, the living traditions of folklorists themselves - values and practices forged a century ago by pioneers, and now conserved, traditionalized, and elaborated by a new generation of their cultural descendants. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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1 Total pages
6 Contributing members
1988 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: MASSACHUSETTS AUDIO LOG SHEETS
Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed "class style" notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. The ingenious combination of old and new is repeated throughout Massachusetts by people as varied as black blues musicians, Cambodian craftspeople, Finnish cranberry farmers, Portuguese fisherfolk and Chinese computer assemblers. In examining Massachusetts traditions for the Festival program, scholars found that change, no matter what its cause, challenged individuals and communities to find creative ways to maintain traditions. Like the great transformations that have shaped Massachusetts and the country as a whole, traditions can undergo change and emerge transformed but still recognizable. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
