Preface
Carrie
B. Grover, Gorham, Maine, 1942.
(The Eloise Hubbard Linscott Collection. Photo probably
by Eloise Hubbard Linscott)
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The Eloise Hubbard Linscott Collection
of New England folksongs and folklore comprises the life's
work of an amateur collector devoted tothe preservation of
the traditional music of her region. The collection includes
dictaphone cylinders, acetate discs, and audiotapes, along
with field notes, transcriptions, photographic images, and
other materials. A number of the discs were made with a disc-recording
machine borrowed from the Library of Congress in 1941. At first,
Linscott sought to gather the songs she learned as a little
girl, so that she could teach them to her young son. As friends
and neighbors learned of her project, the collection of songs
grew and eventually resulted in a book, Folk Songs of Old New
England, published in 1939. The collection includes the performances
of several New England fiddlers, including Carrie B. Grover,
the only woman among them. |
Most of the ethnographic documentation in the American Folklife
Center’s Archive of Folk Culture was created in field situations
by folklorists, ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, and other
cultural specialists, working either as private individuals or
for the Library of Congress or other federal, state, or local agencies.
The purpose of ethnographic fieldwork is to make a systematic
record of human cultural activity in its natural context, and the
resulting collections may include sound recordings (in many different
formats), field notes and other manuscript materials, photographs,
videotapes, and ephemera. The earliest field documentation in the
Archive of Folk Culture dates from the 1890s; the most recent collections
were made only a short time ago. Folklife has been defined as the "traditional,
expressive culture shared within various groups," and documented
in the archive is an immense variety of folklife expression, from
every region of the United States, as well as from many people
and cultures worldwide.
Making a survey of the visual resources of the Archive of Folk
Culture was a daunting task. Folklife Center specialists were helpful
in offering suggestions from the vantage points of their areas
of interest and expertise. Also of great help were the many books,
newsletter articles, and finding aids on particular collections,
as well as a list of photographic resources in the archive prepared
by Carol Moran. A number of collections are available in online
versions, as part of the Library’s program called American
Memory: The National Digital Library. But, finally, it was necessary
to open boxes and search through files to make a selection of representative
and engaging images from the three million-item collection.
Cover
image: "Echoes from the Prairie," quilt by Constance
Finlayson, Carrollton, Missouri, completed June, 1991. The
1992 Missouri State Winner, Lands' End All-American Quilt
Contest.
(The Lands' End All American Quilt Contest Collection)
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Constance Finlayson made twelve
blocks of antique patterns to surround a central medallion,
an eight-pointed star, in her winning quilt design. She used "scraps
and pieces" of cotton fabric from around the house, in
the tradition of the resourceful pioneer women. Doing all the
work by hand, Finlayson described her techniques as "based
on those who had gone before me — a link that bound us
together." In 1997 the American Folklife Center acquired
documentation from the 1992, 1994, and 1996 Lands' End All-American
Quilt Contests, including images of approximately 180 winning
quilts form across the United States. |
This image and related collection
materials are available online as part of the presentation Quilts
and Quiltmaking in America 1978-1996. |
As work on the book proceeded, several members of the American
Folklife Center’s board of trustees suggested that a CD sampling
of sound recordings might be included and, indeed, would further "illustrate" and
illuminate the collections. Ralph Eubanks, director of publishing,
accepted the proposal, and center staff worked together to create
an audio sampling keyed as nearly as possible to references in
the text of the book.
I would like to thank Peggy Bulger, director of the American
Folklife Center, for her support and encouragement; and founding
director Alan Jabbour for his essays on the Folk Archive and the
Folklife Center, which served as the basis for the history chapter
in this guide.
For their help in making suggestions, reading text, and preparing
captions, I would like to thank the following: Peggy Bulger, Jennifer
Cutting, Judith Gray, Stephanie Hall, Todd Harvey, Joseph C. Hickerson,
Michael Taft, David A. Taylor, and Nora Yeh. In addition, David
Taylor suggested folklife expressions as the organizing principle
for the guide and was an especially discerning final reader. Todd
Harvey took on a number of assignments, particularly in the area
of caption writing. Contributing to the production of the CD were
Jennifer Cutting, Judith Gray, Ann Hoog, and especially Jonathan
Gold, who served as audio technician. Evelyn Sinclair, Publishing
Office editor, colleague, and friend, guided this project from
the start.
James Hardin
Editor, American Folklife Center
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