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Diana Davies photographs

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

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Object Details

General note
All contact sheets from the collection are digitized and accessible through this finding aid. Series-level slideshows accessible through this finding aid represent a small sampling from the collection.
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://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.
Photographer
Davies, Diana, 1938-
Performer
Bread and Puppet Theater
Everly Brothers
New Lost City Ramblers
Names
Newport Folk Festival
Performer
Pentangle (Musical group)
Names
Philadelphia Folk Festival
Performer
The Pennywhistlers (Musical group)
The Young Tradition (Musical group)
Andersen, Eric
Names
Asch, Moses
Performer
Bikel, Theodore
Musician
Bosco, John
Performer
Brand, Oscar
Cameron, John A.
Chandler, Len
Names
Chandler, Nancy
Performer
Collier, Jimmy
Collins, Judy, 1939-
Names
Dunson, Josh, 1941-
Performer
Fuller, Jesse
Photographer
Gahr, David
Performer
Gerrard, Alice, 1934-
Guthrie, Arlo
Hartford, John
Hjorth, Ole
Joplin, Janis
Kennedy, Norman, 1934-
Kershaw, Doug
Killen, Louis
Names
King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006
Performer
Kirkpatrick, Frederick Douglass
Koerner, John
McGhee, Brownie, 1915-1996
Mitchell, Joni
Monroe, Bill, 1911-1996
Muddy Waters, 1915-1983
Ochs, Phil
Perkins, Carl
Proffitt, Frank, Jr., 1946-2005
Rachell, Yank
Raim, Ethel
Ramsey, Frederic, 1915-1995
Reagon, Bernice Johnson, 1942-
Rinzler, Ralph
Sainte-Marie, Buffy
Seeger, Mike, 1933-2009
Names
Silber, Irwin, 1925-2010
Performer
Stabi, Björn
Sykes, Roosevelt, 1906-1983
Taylor, James
Traum, Artie
Traum, Happy
Watson, Doc
Watson, Merle
White, Elaine (Vocalist)
Wiseman, Mac
Names
Young, Izzy, 1928-2019
Place
New York (N.Y.)
Saint Simons Island (Ga. : Island)
Topic
Peace movements
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, D.C., 1963
Civil rights -- United States
Provenance
The Smithsonian Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections acquired portions of the Diana Davies Photograph Collection in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Ms. Davies photographed for the Festival of American Folklife. More materials came to the Archives circa 1989 or 1990. Archivist Stephanie Smith visited her in 1998 and 2004, and brought back additional materials which Ms. Davies wanted to donate to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. These two more recent donations of additional photographs (contact sheets, prints, and slides) consisted of documentation of the Newport Folk Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Poor People's March on Washington, the Civil Rights Movement, the Georgia Sea Islands, and miscellaneous personalities of the American folk revival. In a letter dated 12 March 2002, Ms. Davies gave full discretion to the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage to grant permission for both internal and external use of her photographs, with the provison that her work be credited in any use.
Photographer
Davies, Diana, 1938-
See more items in
Diana Davies photographs
Summary
The Diana Davies photographs consist of images taken by Diana Davies at various stages of her career. Locations include the Festival of American Folklife, the Newport Folk Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Poor People's Campaign, various peace and protest marches and outdoor performances, New York City, and the Georgia Sea Islands. The collection includes contact sheets, negatives, photographic prints, and slides. Original photographs, negatives, and color slides taken by Diana Davies. Materials date from 1963-2009. Bulk dates: Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1969, 1987, 1992; Philadelphia Folk Festival, 1967-1968, 1987.
Biographical/Historical note
Diana Davies is a well-known photographer of folk performers and festivals. Davies photographed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in its earlier years. Born in 1938, Davies grew up in Maine, the Catskills, New York City, and Boston. Her grandparents were local union organizers and Debs socialists; one grandfather was a gandy dancer with the railroad, and her grandmother was a textile worker in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Davies finds that her family background was later expressed in her own activist efforts. Davies left high school at 16, and worked sweeping out coffeehouses, which gave her the opportunity to listen to music while she worked. She became interested in theater and music. In Greenwich Village, she began doing some sound technician work, and then got interested in photography. She taught herself how to develop and print photographs in a darkroom, and began photographing in theaters, shooting from behind the scenes. Her theater photos are at Smith College in Northampton, where she presently lives. In the early 1960s, she began working with the editors of Broadside Magazine, Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen. She developed an interest in human rights work, which grew from her contact with Sis and Gordon, and also her own family background. She also worked as a photographer in a wide range of settings, including night clubs, weddings, and doing portrait photography. This led her to work for major national and international media including the New York Times, covering such events as the war in Biafra, and traveling to Mexico, Cuba, and Portugal on assignment. Davies' folk photographs represent about one-quarter of her body of work; her other major photographic work includes the Civil Rights Movement, the Peace Movement, and theater. Davies began photographing at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, which she covered for a number of years. She knew Ralph Rinzler, and found him a vibrant, alive person excited by all aspects of culture. He introduced her to Bessie Jones from the Georgia Sea Islands, and in 1966 she made a photographic journey to the islands. Her work from this trip is included in the collection. Davies has also been a musician. She became involved with the punk rock movement of the 1970s, and felt that there was a connection between the hard-hitting songs from the punk world and the songs being published in Broadside Magazine. In 1975, she became part of a folk/punk women's band in Boston, and later moved to Western Massachusetts. In addition to being a photographer and musician, Davies is also a writer. She wrote a play entitled "The Witch Papers" in 1980, which was produced in Boston and other locations. The play was a vehicle for her human rights activism, comparing the technology of inquisition with labor sweatshops. In 1998, her play "The War Machine" was produced in Amherst, Mass. She lives in Northampton, and enjoys and participates in street performance, which she describes as the "most essentially communicative stuff you can come up with."
Extent
3.83 Cubic feet (8 binders containing contact sheets, slides, and prints; 7 boxes (8.5"x10.75"x2.5") of 35 mm negatives; 2 binders of 35 mm and 120 format negatives; and 1 box of 11 oversize prints.)
Date
1963-2009
Archival Repository
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Identifier
CFCH.DAVIE
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Contact sheets
Slides (photographs)
Black-and-white negatives
Photographic prints
Citation
Diana J. Davies photographs, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution. or Photo by Diana J. Davies. Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and COllections, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement note
Each item in the Diana Davies Photographs has been assigned an accession number, and like materials have been put together such as the Newport Folk Festival photographs, in a chronological sequence as much as possible. Materials in the three more recent donation batches (1998, 2004, and 2006) were numbered and integrated into the collection. In some series, the accession numbers are in numerical order, and in others, the numbers are random because like items with different number sequences were pulled together in a series for subject coherence. The best way to find occurrences of a particular subject is to use the ctrl+F function. Please consult the archivists if you have any questions about the collection contents. Contact sheets, slides, and prints arranged in 8 binders; negatives and oversize prints are stored separately. Arranged in 14 series: Missing Title Series 1: Newport Folk Festival Series 2: Philadelphia Folk Festival Series 3: Broadside Magazine Series 4: -- Sing Out! -- Magazine Concerts Series 5: Miscellaneous Concerts and People Series 6: Festival of American Folklife Series 7: Recording Sessions Series 8: Instruction Book Shots Series 9: Jazz, Blues, and Salsa Musicians Series 10: Georgia Sea Islands Series 11: Social Justice Series 12: New York City Scenes Series 13: Miscellaneous Papers and Correspondence Series 14: Oversize Materials
Processing Information note
The records were processed in 2004-2005 by Stephanie Smith, Joyce Capper, Jillian Foley, and Meaghan McCarthy. Encoded by Brittany Dunton, December 2011.
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.
Genre/Form
Contact sheets
Slides (photographs)
Black-and-white negatives
Photographic prints
Scope and Contents
The Diana Davies photographs, 1963-2009, consist of black and white negatives, contact sheets and prints, as well as color slides and negatives. The bulk of materials depict major festivals and protest movements (including the Poor People's March of 1968) documented by Diana Davies (located in Series 1: Newport Folk Festival, Series 2: Philadelphia Folk Festival, Series 6: Festival of American Folklife, and Series 11: Social Justice). Also well-represented are non-festival performances (in locations such as clubs, concert halls, and homes), recording sessions, and other music-related images, mainly of notable figures in the American folk music revival (located in Series 3: Broadside Magazine, Series 4: Sing Out! Magazine Concerts, Series 5: Miscellaneous Concerts and People, Series 7: Recording Sessions, Series 8: Instruction Book Shots, and Series 9: Jazz, Blues, and Salsa Musicians). Series 10: Georgia Sea Islands consists of photographs depicting the culture, environment, and daily life of these coastal islands in 1966. Series 12: New York City Scenes contains photographs taken on the street depicting everyday life in NYC in the 1960s and 1970s. The collection also contains related papers in Series 13: Miscellaneous Papers and Correspondence.
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-1503513332931-1503513332960-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk59fa9fef6-8287-4b3c-8f47-119c519dd318

In the Collection

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  • Newport Folk Festival: Hedy West, Sippie Wallace, Jean Ritchie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Mimi Fariña, and Judy Collins

  • Newport Folk Festival: Bonnie Raitt

  • Peace with Justice in Central America

  • New York City: Jimmie Collier leads civil disobedience training workshop

  • Photos for Children's Guitar Guide, by Happy Traum

  • Newport Folk Festival: Young Tradition, Lee Hays, Jack Elliott, John Cohen, Bill Monroe, A.L. (Bert) Lloyd, and Arlo Guthrie

  • Gerde's Folk City Reunion: John Hammond, Jr., Patrick Sky, Michael J. Pollard, and Carolyn Hester

  • Newport Folk Festival: Joe Val, Bob Siggins, Mike Cooney, Ralph Rinzler, Bill Keith, Izzy Young, Fred Kirkpatrick, Taj Mahal, Jim Kweskin, and Eric Von Schmidt

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Penny Whistlers, Chris Smither, and bagpipe player

  • Newport Folk Festival: Bessie Jones and Georgia Sea Islands Group, and Jack Elliott

  • Newport Folk Festival: Spokes Mashiyane and Onward Brass Band

  • Newport Folk Festival: Norman Kennedy, Michael Cooney, Jim Kweskin, Chris Smither, Artie and Happy Traum, and David Gahr

  • National Women's Music Festival, University of Illinois: Jane Sapp, Suni Paz, Lou Crimmins, Suzi, and Marilyn Ries

  • New York City: Harlem supports the Selma, AL civil rights struggle: The Freedom Voices

  • Broadside Hootenanny: Pete Seeger, Julius Lester, Tom Paxton and others

  • Newport Folk Festival: Pete Seeger, Mark Spoelstra, and Len Chandler

  • Miscellaneous Concerts and People

  • Poor People's March on Washington: Marks, Mississippi -- waiting to board caravan buses and start of mule train

  • Brunswick, Georgia (railroad station): Bessie Jones, George and Mattie Jones, and grandchildren

  • Newport Folk Festival: Contra dancing and the Bread and Puppet Theater

  • Newport Folk Festival: Broadside and Topical Songs with Jimmy Collier, Len Chandler, Elaine White, Ike Everly and the Everly Brothers, Son House

  • Jazz, Blues and Salsa Musicians

  • Newport Folk Festival: Fannie Lou Hamer, Eric von Schmidt, John Koerner, Mimi and Richard Fariña, Pat Sky, and Richie Havens

  • Newport Folk Festival: Jimmy Collier, Fred Ramsey, Jr., Fred Kirkpatrick, and Fred Gerlach ?

  • Newport Folk Festival: Mike Seeger, Bob Siggins, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Worth Long, Bob Beers, Son House, Pat Sky, Rusty ?, and David Blue.

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Rosalie Sorrels and others

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Audience scenes

  • Newport Folk Festival: Brownie McGhee, Ralph Rinzler, Mike Seeger, Jean Bosco Mwenda, and Izzy Young.

  • Poor People's March on Washington -- Washington, D.C.: cops running people out of Resurrection City

  • Pat Sky

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Dave van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Norman Kennedy, and Joe Heaney

  • For Broadside Magazine: Len Chandler in performance

  • New York City: Jack Andrews

  • Sing Out! Woody Guthrie Concert: Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger

  • "SANE" Rally (Anti-Vietnam War Rally), Madison Square Gardens, New York City: Pete Seeger, Hans Morgenthou, Bob Parent (photographer), Norman Thomas

  • Poor People's March, Washington, D.C.: Jimmy Collier, Rev. Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.

  • Broadside: Len Chandler, Pete Seeger

  • "SANE" Rally (Anti-Vietnam War Rally), Madison Square Gardens, New York City: James Earl Jones, Pete Seeger, Tony Randall, A. J. Muste, Norman Thomas, William Sloane Coffin, Ossie Davis

  • Newport Folk Festival: Fred Kirkpatrick, Onward Brass Band, and David Gahr

  • Poor People's March on Washington: Marks, Mississippi Rally, and Eudora African Methodist Church

  • Poor People's March on Washington, Memphis, TN: SCLC rally at Mason Temple

  • Newport Folk Festival: Michael Cooney, Izzy Young, Bread and Puppet Theater, group sing, Anne Mayo

  • St. Simon's Island, Georgia: Christ Episcopal Church (ref. Lydia Parrish)

  • For Broadside Magazine: Alex Cohen, songwriter

  • Photos for Children's Guitar Guide, by Happy Traum

  • For Broadside Magazine: Mike Kellin, songwriter

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Chris Smither and Jesse Fuller

  • Newport Folk Festival: Billie and De De Pierce and Preservation Hall Jazz Band

  • New York City Scenes

  • Peggy Seeger at Left Bank Café, Blue Hill, Maine

  • For Broadside Magazine: Elaine White

  • Newport Folk Festival: Bernice Johnson Reagon, Fannie Lou Hamer, Guy Carawan, Len Chandler, Horton Barker, Theo Bikel, and Mark Spoelstra

  • Newport Folk Festival: Moving Star Hall Singers

  • Poor People's March on Washington, Memphis, TN: dedication of plaque at Lorraine Motel -- photographing from roof

  • Newport Folk Festival: Arlo Guthrie, Sippie Wallace, and audience shots

  • Peggy Seeger at Left Bank Café, Blue Hill, Maine

  • Broadside Hootenanny: Pete Seeger, Peter La Farge, Tom Paxton, Julius Lester, and Pat Sky

  • Photos for Harvey Vinson's Guitar Book

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Doc and Merle Watson, Len and Nancy Chandler, Tom Paxton, and Norman Kennedy

  • Newport Folk Festival: Roger Sprung and string band, Bread and Puppet Theater, and Fred Kirkpatrick

  • Newport Folk Festival: Jimmy Driftwood

  • Poor People's March on Washington, Memphis, TN: Memphis caravan, and mule train

  • Newport Folk Festival: Donovan Leitch and Theo Bikel

  • Sing Out! Concert: John Cohen, and group sing

  • Newport Folk Festival: Joan Baez

  • Broadside Hootenanny for Miners: David "Blue" Cohen, Jim and Jean, and Arthur Corson

  • Poor People's March, Washington, D.C.: Guy Carawan, Jimmy Collier, and Rev. Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Penny Whistlers and folk dancing workshops

  • Gil Evans Orchestra

  • Newport Folk Festival: Joan Baez

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Jesse Fuller, Carolyn Hester, Gordon Bok, and night stage

  • Washington, D.C. March for peace in Vietnam: Guy Carawan, Bessie Jones, Len Chandler, and Barbara Dane

  • Newport Folk Festival: Patty Larkin; Moses Rascoe; The Bobs

  • Newport Folk Festival: Tim Buckley, Artie and Happy Traum, and Michael Cooney

  • Boston Women's Rock Band: Lilith with Lou Crimmins

  • Newport Folk Festival: Workshop, Elizabeth Cotten, Doc Watson, and Izzy Young

  • Newport Folk Festival: Joan Baez and Mimi Fariña

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Tom Paxton, Carolyn Hester, and Jesse Fuller

  • Newport Folk Festival: Johnny Cash

  • Newport Folk Festival: Taj Mahal, Kweskin Jug Band, Fritz Richmond, Eric Von Schmidt, Fred Kirkpatrick, Izzy Young, and the Charles River Valley Boys

  • Gil Evans, jazz musician

  • Newport Folk Festival: miscellaneous

  • Gil Evans, jazz musician

  • Sing Out! Lead Belly Concert, Town Hall, NYC: Pete Seeger, Bernice Reagon, Julius Lester, and Alan Lomax

  • Broadside Concert: Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tom Paxton, Barbara Dane, and Phil Ochs

  • Newport Folk Festival: Buffy Sainte-Marie, Howlin' Wolf, Penny whistlers, Phil Ochs, Clara Ward Singers

  • Poor People's March on Washington -- Washington, D.C.: Solidarity Day "Juneteenth" rally

  • Newport Folk Festival: Peter, Paul and Mary

  • National Women's Music Festival, University of Illinois: Bessie Jones in a workshop

  • Newport Folk Festival: Kweskin Jug Band with Eric Von Schmidt, Mimi Fariña, Maria Muldaur, and the Charles River Valley Boys

  • Pete Seeger, Tanya Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Phil Ochs, and Dave Dellinger

  • WBAI-FM, New York City: Judy Pasternak, producer, Suni Paz, with Martha Siegel on cello

  • St. Simon's Island, Georgia: Christ Episcopal Church (ref. Lydia Parrish)

  • Newport Folk Festival: Bob Dylan

  • Izzy Young at the Folklore Center

  • Wendy Schwartz, Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton

  • Georgia Sea Islands

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival: Bob Davenport, Norman Kennedy, and Bernice Johnson Reagon (Old Pool Farm)

  • Newport Folk Festival: John Hartford

  • Newport Folk Festival: Ian and Sylvia, Theo Bikel, Odetta, and Horton Barker

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Newport Folk Festival
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