Finding Aids to Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture

SWEDEN COLLECTIONS
IN THE ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE

Compiled by: Daniel Schultz
Series Editor: Ann Hoog
Revised: August 2011

AFC 1951/029: Swedish Folk Music
Ten discs of Swedish folk music. Gift of Radiotjanst of Sweden, 1951. (AFS 10,153-10,162) (LWO 5111)

AFC 1951/044: Cooperative Acquisitions Project / Music of Sweden
Two discs of folk music of Sweden transferred to Music Division from Cooperative Acquisitions Project, 1951. (AFS 10,296-10,297) (LWO 5111)

AFC 1952/010: Swedish Broadcasting Corporation Collection of Swedish Folk Music
Eleven 10-inch discs of Swedish folk music. Gift from the Swedish Broadcasting Corp, 1952. The collection includes a song list. (LWO 5111)

AFS 10,442: One disc containing "Dal Jerks Gånglåt" (Dal Jerk's Marching Tune) from the province of Dalarna, Sweden, performed by a spelmanslag (an orchestra made up of several country fiddlers).

AFS 10,443: One disc containing "Orsa brudmarsch" (Bridal March from Orsa) from the province of Dalarna, Sweden, performed by a spelmansag (an orchestra made up of several country fiddlers).

AFS 10,444: One disc containing "Brudmarsch från Jämtland" (Bridal March from Jämtland), performed by a group of fiddlers.

AFS 10,445: One disc containing "Two Polskas" and "Spelmansglädje" (Fiddler's Joy, waltz) both from the province of Uppland, Sweden, performed on bowed hurdy-gurdy by Erik Sahlström.

AFS 10,446: One disc containing 5 tunes from the west coast of Sweden, arranged by Gunnar Hahn: "Bordlät" (Table Tune), "Engelska," "Polska," "Skänklåt" (Wedding Gift Tune), and "Visa" (Air) performed by Gunnar Hahn's Fiddlers' Quartet.

AFS 10,447: One disc containing "Gånglåt från Bingsjö and Boda" (Marching Tune from Bingsjö and Boda) from the province of Dalarna, Sweden, performed on fiddle.

AFS 10,448: One disc containing "Skaffarepolskan" (Polska of the Host and Hostess) from the island of Gotland, Sweden, performed by a spelmanslag (an orchestra made up of several country fiddlers).

AFS 10,449: One disc containing "Gotlands bröllopsmarsch" (Gotlandian Wedding March) and "Groddavalsen" (The Grodda Waltz) from the island of Gotland, Sweden, performed by a spelmanslag (an orchestra made up of several country fiddlers).

AFS 10,450: One disc containing "Staikstrik" (Meet Tune), "Blinde Hans Polska," and "Skräddarekadriljen" (The Tailor's Quadrille), all from the island of Gotland, Sweden, performed by a spelmanslag (an orchestra made up of several country fiddlers).

AFS 10,451: One disc containing "Polska," "Vallåt" (Herding Tune), and "Brudmarsch" (Bridal March) both from the province of Dalarna, Sweden, performed by Carl Grudmundsäter and Sundfors Matts on fiddle.

AFS 10,452: One disc containing "Polska," "Kadrijl" (Quadrille), "Waltz," and another "Polska" from the Scania province of Sweden, performed by Carl-Eric Berndt and Richard Isacson on fiddles and träskofiol (a wooden shoe adapted to a fiddle).

AFS 11,911: Johannes Riedel / Folksongs from Minnesota
One 10-inch tape of an instrumental and 19 songs in English, Norwegian, and Swedish songs recorded by students of Johannes Riedel, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April-August 1961. The collection includes 13 pages of notes and 12 pages of textual transcriptions. (LWO 3419)

AFC 1964/010: Art Rosenbaum and Pat Dunford Recording of Oscar Parks
One 7-inch tape of a song performed by Oscar Parks, recorded in Alton, Indiana, by Patrick Dunford and Arthur Rosenbaum, December 30, 1963; and 6 instrumental songs by Swedish fiddlers, Röjas Jonas and Pahl Olle, duplicated from a commercial 7-inch disc. The collection includes one newspaper article in Swedish and a 2-page song list. Sveriges Radio commercial phonodisc, Svensk Folkmusik. (AFS 12,052) (LWO 4183)

AFC 1971/021: Bengt Olsson / Arab, Lapp, Gypsy, and Blues Music
Music of Saudi Arabia, Lapland, Gypsy music in Europe, and Negro blues. Music from Arabia (on Swedish radio); music from Jojkard (Lapland), also on Swedish radio. Music as performed at a gypsy celebration in late May in memory of Black Sarah (live at St.-Maries-de-la-Mer); also Manitas de Plata and family recording for Swedish TV. Flamenco from Malaga. Guitar Nubbit (Boston, Massachusetts); Rosa Lee Hill (daughter of Sid Hemphill); Furry Lewis, Charlie Burse, Will Shade, Sleepy John Estes, Abe McNeil -- George Mitchell and Roger Brown recordings in Memphis 1962-63; Joe Callicott (Nesbit, Mississippi); Jim Bunkley (Geniver, Georgia). (AFS 14,514-14,515)

AFC 1975/031: Swedish Music by Olga Lindgren Nilsen
One 7-inch tape of Swedish vocal music [by Olga Lindgren Nilsen], recorded live and from commercial 78s [from the 1920s by Ollie I. Skratthult] at radio station KSJN, St. Paul, Minnesota, March 30, 1974. (AFS 17,584)

AFC 1975/046: Richard K. Spottswood and Maury Bernstein Collection of Swedish Dalarna Fiddling Four 7-inch tapes of Swedish Dalarna fiddling played by Paul Dahlin, Bruce Johnson, and Edwin Johnson. Recorded at radio station KSJN, St. Paul, Minnesota, by Maury Bernstein and Richard K. Spottswood, January 1975. (AFS 17,639-17,642)

AFC 1975/047: National Public Radio / Folk Music in America Interviews
Collection
Four 10-inch tapes of four radio broadcasts by Maury Bernstein and Richard Spottswood on station KSJN-FM, St. Paul, Minnesota, distributed by National Public Radio. Library of Congress/Bicentennial Recording Project, religious songs and love songs. Part II (programs 3 & 4) features vocal and instrumental (fiddle) music from Swedish, Irish and other ethnic traditions recorded in Minnesota during December 1975 and January 1975 by Richard Spottswood and Maury Bernstein. (AFS 17,643-17,646)

AFC 1976/011: Pekka Gronow Collection of Ethnic Music
Two 7-inch tapes of dance tunes, humor, and songs, mostly immigrant and non-English language material, from 78 rpm commercial recordings of Armenian, Finnish, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Sicilian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Yugoslavian material. Gift of Pekka Gronow and Richard Spottswood. (AFS 18,000-18,001) (LWO 8858) [catalog record]

AFC 1979/009: Selma Jacobson Swedish-American Songbook and Humor Collection Selma Anderson of the Swedish Pioneer Historical Society in Chicago, Illinois, donated this collection of songbooks, ballads, and Swedish-American humor books, most of which were published by the firm of And. L. Lofstrom, Chicago. The Dalkullans Sangbok annual series, 1903-1933 [incomplete], has lyrics for songs and ballads; one volume, 1919, has music for piano and voice. The Visor series, no. 1-64 [incomplete] are broadsides, folded, uncut, with lyrics for ballads and songs; index, undated. Seven illustrated volumes of Scandinavian stories, wit, and humor, 1894-1931. Manuscripts include correspondence from Selma Anderson on her work preserving Swedish-American ethnic heritage materials in Chicago, 1978-1979. [catalog record]

AFC 1981/004: Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection
Ninety-nine 7-inch tapes and 245 audiocassettes,13 linear inches of contact sheets, eight and three-fourths linear feet of field notes and logs, 3080 slides, 210 photographs, and 2 videos from the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection, a field survey of ethnic artistic expression including dance, foodways, neighborhood gatherings, religious celebrations, and instrumental and vocal music. Recorded in the Chicago, Illinois, area by various collectors under the direction of Elena Bradunas, February-November 1977; under the joint sponsorship of the American Folklife Center and the Illinois Arts Council. The collection includes a 561-page report on the project published by the American Folklife Center in January 1978. Includes documentation of Swedish culture in Chicago. (AFS 20,524-20,867) [catalog record] [finding aid]

AFC 1981/018: Ethnic Broadcasting in America Collection
Eighteen 7-inch tapes, 2 5-inch tapes, and 117 audiocassettes of ethnic radio broadcasts recorded for the Ethnic Broadcasting in America Project of the American Folklife Center. Recorded mostly off the air by Elena Bradunas, Theodore Grame, Alan Jabbour, and others at various locations in the United States, 1977-78. Documentation includes Theodore Grame's Ethnic Broadcasting in the United States (Washington, D.C.: American Folklife Center, 1980) and 6 linear inches of manuscript materials. (AFS 23,019-23,155) (RXA 4458-4477; RYA 2887-3003) [catalog record]

AFS 23,074: One tape containing a Swedish broadcast from WHBI in New York, New York. Recorded March 8, 1978. (RYA 2933)

AFC 1992/010: Leif-Alpsjö / Music and Dance from Uppland Province, Sweden
Videotape documenting the noontime program of Oct. 26, 1992, held in the Mumford Room, Madison Building, Library of Congress. Leif Alpsjö, from the province of Uppland, Sweden, is best known for his teaching of the nyckelharpa (most often translated as "key fiddle"), but also plays fiddle and traditional wind instruments such as spildpipa and naverlur. Alpsjö was assisted by members of the Nordic Dancers of Washington DC.

AFC 1999/004: Sam Eskin Collection
Collection consists of manuscripts, field recordings, photographs, and ephemera documenting folk music and folk music revivals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from 1938 to 1966; plus manuscripts and field recordings of mostly unidentified artists performing folk music in Jamaica, Cuba, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Hong Kong, Philippines, India, and Thailand from 1953 to 1969 collected by Sam Eskin. Manuscript materials include correspondence, transcriptions of songs and lyrics, folk festival programs and flyers, a Japanese song book, Eskin's lecture notes, and his collection of bawdy songs and limericks. This collection consists of materials gathered and arranged by Sam Eskin, an ethnomusicologist who recorded and transcribed folk music he encountered on his travels across the United States and abroad. From 1938 to 1952, the majority of Eskin’s manuscripts and field recordings document his growing interest in the American folk music revival. From 1953 to 1969, the scope of the audio collection expands to include musical and cultural traditions from Latin America, the British Isles, the Middle East, the Caribbean Islands, and East Asia. [catalog record] [finding aid]

AFC 2003/027: Pete and Toshi Seeger Film Collection
Approximately 700 film and audio elements relating to Pete and Toshi Seeger's filmmaking from 1955-1965 at various locations in: Angola, Australia, Austria, Canada, England, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Somoa, Sweden, Tanzania, Trinidad, Ukraine, and the United States. In the United States, locations include Beacon, New York; Circle Pines, Michigan; Hamilton, Ohio; Huntsville, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Madison, Wisconsin; New York, New York; Newport, Rhode Island; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Washington, DC, among others. Collection includes three bamboo flutes. [catalog record]

AFC 2003/045: Minnesota Scandanavian Ensemble with Becky Weis concert and interview collection
Homegrown 2003 concert, dance and fiddle music from Minnesota. Collection consists of photographs and videorecording of the concert at the Library of Congress; program flyer and publicity materials, including biographical information on performers. The Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble performs repertoire based in "old-time" dance or "gammledans" music, primarily waltzes, schottisches, and polkas. Elizabeth "Becky" Weis plays and teaches the older "bygdedans" music of the Norwegian hardanger fiddle and Swedish nyckleharpa (key fiddle). Philip Nusbaum interviewed Becky Weis, June 4, 2003; LeRoy Larson, leader of the Ensemble on June 5, 2003; Mel Brenden on May 6, 2003; and Art Bjorngjeld on June 23, 2003; the collection includes sound recordings of the interviews and brief tape logs. [catalog record]

AFC 2009/006: Living and Building Between Tradition and Change: Vernacular Architecture in Northern Sweden, Lecture by Mats Widbom
Video recording and photographs of a lecture delivered by Mats Widbom in the Mary Pickford Theater, Library of Congress, on January 27, 2009, in the Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. Architect Mats Widbom presented his research on the traditional building culture of Dalecarlia in northern Sweden focusing on how the parstuga (double house) has been used and rebuilt over time in the parish of Lima, Sweden, illustrated with color images. [catalog record] [event flyer and webcast]