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The American South

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Object Details

Introduction
The Olympic Games join athletes from across the globe in the highest levels of competition and excellence. The games have included, since their inception, a cultural component, but never before as extensively as in Atlanta in 1996. The Centennial Olympic Games brought together musical and dramatic performances, exhibitions, and artists from around the world. But most importantly, the Olympic Arts Festival highlighted the American South. Southern culture was born from the interactions over past centuries of Native Americans, European settlers, and peoples from Africa. In the South, various forms of expression have arisen and transcended boundaries of race, gender, religion, and geography. So powerful have these expressions been - jazz, blues, gospel, rock 'n' roll, civil rights songs, Southern oratory, and food - that they have constituted unique American contributions to world culture. At the 1996 Festival on the National Mall, these forms of expressive culture were celebrated. Later the same summer in Atlanta during the Olympic Games, the program was the core of Southern Crossroads, a festival of Southern culture mounted in the new Centennial Olympic Park - the gathering spot for several hundred thousand visitors a day and billions more through television coverage. An Enhanced-CD Smithsonian Folkways recording with Internet connections and other educational material derived from the Festival program reached countless more after the Olympic Games. The 1996 program not only exposed regional cultural roots but also showed how many of them have become part of traditions known to America and the world. Technology amplified the stories and songs of Southern rivers and roads, travails and struggles - as documenters recorded, disk jockeys broadcast, and performers toured these cultural expressions, helping them bridge race, gender, class, and ethnicity and producing forms of music now identified with American culture as a whole. The world of Southern culture celebrated in the 1996 Festival was one of family, home, and community. The program explored new points of juncture and the evolution of new identities. In these could be discovered in today's South the roots of a new, evolving American culture. Philippa Thompson Jackson was Program Curator and Phyllis K. Kimbrough was Program Coordinator. The American South was made possible by and was produced in collaboration with The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Cultural Olympiad and in cooperation with the Southern Arts Federation. Additional support was provided by The Recording Industries Music Performance Trust Funds.
Presenters
Dori Addison, Tara Browner, Katherine Hagedorn, Joyce Jackson, Worth Long, Derek Lowery, Tim Patridge, Henry Willett Ill, Otis Williams, Joe Wilson
Particpants
Performance Traditions BEAUSOLEIL AVEC MICHAEL DOUCET Jimmy Breaux, Acadian accordion, Lafayette, Louisiana David Doucet, lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, Lafayette, Louisiana Michael Doucet, lead vocals, fiddle, Lafayette, Louisiana Al Tharp, vocals, banjo, bass, fiddle, Lafayette, Louisiana Billy Ware, percussion, Lafayette, Louisiana THE BIRMINGHAM SUNLIGHTS Reginald Speight, tenor, Birmingham, Alabama Barry Taylor, bass, Birmingham, Alabama James Taylor, light tenor, Birmingham, Alabama Steve Taylor, bass, Birmingham, Alabama Wayne Williams, tenor, Birmingham, Alabama CALLIOPE HIGHSTEPPERS Henry Freeman, dancer, New Orleans, Louisiana Johnny Stevenson, dancer, New Orleans, Louisiana James Taylor, dancer, New Orleans, Louisiana THE FREEDOM SINGERS Betty Mae Fikes, 1946-, vocals Rutha Harris, vocals Charles Neblett, 1941-, vocals Cordell Hull Reagon, 1943-1996, vocals GENO DELAFOSE & FRENCH ROCKIN' BOOGIE Geno Delafose, diatonic, Acadian & piano accordion, vocals, Eunice, Louisiana Bobby Broussard, guitar, Eunice, Louisiana John Espre, bass, Eunice, Louisiana Germaine Jack, drums, Eunice, Louisiana Steven Nash, rub board, Eunice, Louisiana IFÉ ILÉ Philbert Armenteros, congas, Miami, Florida Rodolfo L. Caballero, vocals, Miami, Florida Catalino Diaz, dancer, Miami, Florida Ruben Romeu, congas, Miami, Florida Luis E. Torres, bata, congas, chekere, Miami, Florida Neri Torres, lead dancer, Miami, Florida Tony Littleturtle Clark, Lumberton, North Carolina Kat and Ray Littleturtle, Lumberton, North Carolina Willie Lowery, Lumberton, North Carolina MAGGIE LEWIS WARWICK WITH TILLMAN FRANKS' OLD TIME LOUISIANA HAYRIDE BAND Maggie Lewis Warwick, guitar, vocals, Shreveport, Louisiana Jimmy Day, lead guitar, Shreveport, Louisiana Tillman Franks, acoustic bass, Shreveport, Louisiana Paul Griffith, drums, Shreveport, Louisiana John Peck, fiddle, Shreveport, Louisiana Felton Pruitt, steel guitar, Shreveport, Louisiana Kenny Bill Stinson, keyboards, Shreveport, Louisiana NEW COON CREEK GIRLS Dale Ann Bradley, guitar, Renfro Valley, Kentucky Kathy Kuhn, fiddle, White Creek, Tennessee Vicky Simmons, bass, Berea, Kentucky Ramona Church Taylor, banjo, Wilkesboro, North Carolina Eddie Pennington, Princeton, Kentucky Douglas Quimby, 1936-, Brunswick, Georgia Frankie Quimby, Brunswick, Georgia Arnold Richardson, London, Kentucky SKEETER BRANDON & HWY 61 Skeeter Brandon, vocals, keyboards, North Carolina Chris Grant, bass, North Carolina Armand Lenchek, guitars, North Carolina Kelly Pace, drums, North Carolina Rusty Smith, trombone, North Carolina Wally West, tenor saxophone, North Carolina TREME BRASS BAND Benny Jones, Sr., snare drum, New Orleans, Louisiana James Andrews, trumpet, vocals, New Orleans, Louisiana Lionel Baptiste, bass drum, vocals, New Orleans, Louisiana Kirk Joseph, tuba, New Orleans, Louisiana Frederick Shepherd, trumpet, vocals, New Orleans, Louisiana Gregory Veal, trombone, New Orleans, Louisiana ULALI Pura Fe Crescioni, Cherokee-Tuscarora, vocals, rattles, hand drum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Jennifer Kreisberg, Cherokee-Tuscarora, vocals, rattles, hand drum, Hartford, Connecticut Soni Moreno, Aztec-Maya, vocals, rattles, hand drum, Staten Island, New York Craft Traditions David Allen, cane carver, Homer, Louisiana Anna Branham, potter, Rock Hill, South Carolina Monty Branham, potter, Rock Hill, South Carolina Nola Campbell, potter, Rock Hill, South Carolina Melissa Darden, Chitimacha basket weaver, Charenton, Louisiana Mary Jackson, sweetgrass basket maker, Charleston, South Carolina Eric Miller, potter, Brent, Alabama MISSISSIPPI CULTURAL CROSSROADS (MCC) Essie Buck, quilter, Port Gibson, Mississippi Patty Crosby, quilter, Port Gibson, Mississippi Geraldine Nash, quilter, Port Gibson, Mississippi Mary Ann Norton, quilter, Port Gibson, Mississippi Shirley Motlow, patchwork clothing, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Donnie Tolson, biblical carver, Winchester, Kentucky Elsie Trivette, rug maker, Zionsville, North Carolina Alvin Wood, basket maker, Murfreesboro, Tennessee Trevle Wood, basket maker, Murfreesboro, Tennessee Foodways Traditions Larry Frey, food demonstrations, Eunice, Louisiana Julietta Garcel, food demonstrations, Miami, Florida Lucky Grissette, food demonstrations- Mountain View, Arkansas Johnny Kallus, food demon¬strations, Katy, Texas Steve Orsak, food demon¬strations, Katy, Texas Larry Wietstruck, food demon¬strations, Katy, Texas Sara Wilson, food demonstrations, St. Helena, South Carolina Gospel Sing THE CHAPLIERS, UNION CHAPEL BAPTIST CHURCH Rev. Jimmy Strickland, minister, Pembroke, North Carolina PROSPECT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH CHOIR Rev. Bill James Locklear, minister, Maxton, North Carolina Harold Dean Jacobs, diatonal minister, Maxton, North Carolina THE SPIRITUAL TONES, WEEPING MARY FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH Rev. Henson F. Brooks, pastor, Salisbury, Maryland Rev. Russell Campars, Sr., Salisbury, Maryland Timothy Waters, II, manager, Salisbury, Maryland WESLEY TEMPLE GOSPEL CHOIR, UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Rev. Grant Johnson, minister, Salisbury, Maryland Diane West, choir director, Salisbury, Maryland Mary Winder, pianist, Salisbury, Maryland Janet Ames, president and business manager, Salisbury, Maryland WHITE HILLS FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH CHOIR Rev. Jerry Locklear, minister, Maxton, North Carolina Eddie Carter, music director, Maxton, North Carolina
Collection Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
See more items in
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1996 Festival of American Folklife
Archival Repository
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Identifier
CFCH.SFF.1996, Series 2
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1996 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
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 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.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503511513422-1503511513442-1
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk54efbe008-92f8-4085-aa1f-6e946fa15bab

Related Content

  • Online Finding AidSmithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1996 Festival of American Folklife

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