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Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1997 Festival of American Folklife

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Object Details

Introduction
As the twentieth century neared its end, the entertainment industry dominated popular views of culture. Cultural enterprises including movies, television, theme parks, recordings, and video stores constitute one of the world's largest industries. Nevertheless, there is another world of culture created and sustained in homes, communities, places of work and worship. Our lullabies and hymns, liturgical chants and celebratory songs, songs of work, struggle, and mourning, are rarely heard in music stores or on radio stations. Yet it is those traditions and the cultures they represent that are highlighted at the annual Festival of American Folklife. The 1997 Festival featured three major programs, complemented by the third annual Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert. Sacred Sounds brought together people from a variety of religious communities, from around the nation, Jerusalem, and from South Africa. Their songs expressed spiritual feelings and convictions connecting their lives to tradition. At the Festival, audiences could hear some of the ways in which music flows from the spirit of a diverse humanity to express its highest aspirations. A second program, African Immigrant Folklife, illustrated the many traditions of recent immigrants to the United States from Africa. These immigrants participate in a changing culture, as people, families, and communities find their place in American society. Festival visitors could celebrate the enterprise and vitality of recent immigrants to the United States from Africa, who have brought their cultures across the Atlantic Ocean to the Washington metropolitan area. The Mississippi Delta, the subject of the third Festival program, is a culturally rich region of the United States that gave birth to blues, jazz, rockabilly and rock 'n' roll, honky tonk, distinctive forms of gospel, oratory, marvelous stories, folk and visionary art, and an encyclopedia of river lore - not to mention barbecue and fish fries. Native, Spanish, African, French, and American people all merged along the Mississippi, just as many tributaries flow into one river. Beginning even before the arrival of Europeans, the Mississippi has been a source of food and irrigation, a highway for commerce, a strategic center for political power, a source of inspiration for song and spirit. The region's cultural expressions, continually shaped by the daily experience - the work, worship, home life, and recreation - of the people who live there, were shared with Festival visitors on the National Mall. The 1997 Festival took place during two five-day weeks (June 25-29 and July 2-6) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 13th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan). It featured three programs, with special events that included the Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert. The 1997 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; essays provided background on the Festival and on each of the programs. The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies. Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies Richard Kurin, Director; Richard Kennedy, Deputy Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordngs; James Early, Director, Cultural Studies & Communications; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Olivia Cadaval, Chair, Research & Education; Betty J. Belanus, Marjorie Hunt, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Peter Seitel, Curators, Folklorists, Education and Cultural Specialists; Carla M. Borden, Program/Publications Manager; John W. Franklin, Program Manager; Cynthia Vidaurri, Coordinator, Latino Cultural Resource Network; Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Stephanie Smith, Assistant Archivist; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Charlie Weber, Media Specialist; Brenda Danet, Nadia Abu El-Haj, Roland Freeman, Ivan Karp, Alan Lomax, Worth Long, Kate Rinzler, Luise White, Fellows, Research Associates & Collaborators Folklife Advisory Council and Folkways Advisory Council Roger Abrahams, Jacinto Arias, Michael Asch, Jane Beck, Don DeVito, Pat Jasper, Ella Jenkins, Jon Kertzer, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, John Nixdorf, Bernice Johnson Reagon, John Roberts, Carol Robertson, Gilbert Sprauve, Jack Tchen, Ricardo Trimillos, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez National Park Service Terry Carlstrom, Acting Director, National Capital Region
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://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Names
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Topic
Folk festivals
Folklore
arts and crafts
Food habits
Folk art
World music
Folk music
Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
See more items in
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1997 Festival of American Folklife
Summary
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Historical note
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The 1997 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service. For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Extent
1 Cubic foot (approximate)
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
The Rinzler Archives is continually engaged in digitization of archival materials to facilitate preservation and ready access by users. However, given the diversity of legacy formats of the originals, some older materials may not be available. Notably, certain older audio recordings cannot be played because of deterioration of the tape stock, and the Archives has no playback equipment for EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) or multi-track audio recordings. Where listening or viewing copies are available, this is generally indicated for each item. Users are encouraged to contact Archives staff to verify that the materials of interest to them are already accessible, or to determine if they can be digitized as needed.
Date
June 25-July 6, 1997
Archival Repository
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Identifier
CFCH.SFF.1997
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Memorandums
Video recordings
Contracts
Videotapes
Digital images
Negatives
Correspondence
Photographic prints
Audiocassettes
Sound recordings
Slides (photographs)
Business records
Plans (drawings)
Audiotapes
Notes
Citation
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1997 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement note
Arranged in 5 series. Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera Series 2: African Immigrant Folklife Series 3: The Mississippi Delta Series 4: Sacred Sounds: Belief & Society Series 5: Special Events
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
Memorandums
Video recordings
Contracts
Videotapes
Digital images
Negatives
Correspondence
Photographic prints
Audiocassettes
Sound recordings
Slides (photographs)
Business records
Plans (drawings)
Audiotapes
Notes
Scope and Contents note
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1997 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
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.
Forms Part Of
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1997 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records . Smithsonian Folklife Festival records Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers 1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503511976007-1503511976017-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk51a775c21-6594-4445-9dce-1668207ea861

In the Collection

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  • Electronic resourceProgram Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

  • Festival Recordings: Music and Dance: Nile Ethiopian Ensemble; Liziba

  • Festival Recordings: Palaver Stage: Ansegromma Storytelling Theater

  • Festival Recordings: Music and Dance: Virunga/ Simba Waniyka Kasbah Band; Memory of African Culture

  • Festival Footage: Dance Party: Kokomos; Evening Concert: International Christian Church

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Shiru Shir; Elaine Purkey & Friends; Jerusalemite Religious Chant Group

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Sweet Miss Coffey & The Miss Burnin' Blues Band; Big Lucky & Men of Sound; Eddie Cusic

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyukai; International Christian Church

  • Festival Recordings: Palaver Stage: Vera Oye Yaa-Anna and Joe Ngwa; Abiodun Adepoju

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Sweet Honey In the Rock; Shiru Shir

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Tim Laughlin's N.O. Jazz Band, Sweet Miss Coffey, Kenny Bill Stinson & Ark-La-Mystics

  • Fieldwork Recordings: African Immigrant Program: Interview with Bigue N'Doye: Interviewer, Diana N'Diaye (in French)

  • Fieldwork Recordings: African Immigrant Program: Interview with Fadumo Muhamed; Somali cuisine

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Sweet Miss Coffey & The Miss Burnin' Blues Band; Kenny Bill Stinson & The Ark-La-Mystics

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Camp Cooking; Working the Water

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Bros. Inc 4 Da Lord; Old Regular Baptists; Natal '77

  • Festival Recordings: Palaver Stage: Nigeria: Ethiopian Wedding Activities

  • Festival Recordings: Community Talk: Immigration Stories; Old Traditions in New Settings

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Omo 'Nago; Monks of Wat Thai; St Augustine Gospel Choir

  • Festival Recordings: Delta Worship Stage: Myles Family; Revelators

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: International Christian Church

  • Festival Recordings: Music and Dance: Kankouran; Eritrean Cultural and Civic Center

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Seven Sons

  • Festival Recordings: Community Talk: African Immigrant Musical Traditions

  • Festival Recordings: Home Narrative: Tatting' Quilting

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Jerusalemite Religion. Chant Group; Natal '77; Shiru Shir; Bros. Inc 4 Da Lord

  • Festival Recordings: Community Talk: Work Experience Stories; Passing on Culture; Cultural Bridging; Promoting Arts

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Shiru Shir; Brothers Inc 4 Da Lord

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Ragamalika; International Christian Church; Jerusalemite Religion. Chant

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Natal '77; St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church Choir

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Tim Laughlin's N.O. Jazz Band; Eddie Cusic; Big Lucky & His Mighty Men of Sound

  • Festival Recordings: Music and Dance: Kokomos

  • Festival Recordings: Palaver Stage: Northern Sudanese Community Activities

  • Festival Recordings: Music and Dance: Pa Alex and Generations; River State Forum

  • Festival recordings: Sacred Sounds Music Stage: Seven Sons, Jerusalemite Religious Chant Group, South African acapella tape 4

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Shiru Shir; Omo 'Nago; International Christian Church; Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyukai JUL 04 1993

  • Festival Recordings: Delta Foodways: Collard Greens; Hot Tamales; Barbecue Sauce

  • Festival Recordings: Community Talk: Culture Bridging; African Immigrant Musical Traditions

  • Sacred Sounds: Belief & Society

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Brothers Inc 4 Da Lord; Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyukai

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Big Lucky & Mighty Men of Sound; Eddie Cusic; Tim Laughlin's N.O. Dixieland Jazz Band

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: International Christian Church; Shiru Shir

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Natal '77; Brothers Inc 4 Da Lord; Nancy Richardson

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Tim Laughlin's New Orleans Jazz Band; Eddie Cusic; Sweet Miss Coffey & The Mississippi Burnin' Blues Band

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Natal '77

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Brothers Inc 4 Da Lord

  • Festival Recordings: Delta Worship Stage: Lined-Out Hymns; Easter Rock; Oratory Skills; Gospel

  • Festival Recordings: Delta Worship Stage: Myles Family; The Gerald Lewis Singers; Oratory Skills

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Big Lucky & His Mighty Men of Sound; Sweet Miss Coffey & Mississippi Burnin' Blues Band

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Sweet Miss Coffey & The Mississippi Burnin' Blues Band

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Ragamalika; Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyukai; Elaine Purkey & Friends

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Brothers Inc 4 Da Lord; International Christian Church

  • Festival Recordings: Gerald Lewis Singers

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Kenny Bill Stinson & Ark-La-Mystics; Big Lucky & His Mighty Men of Sound; Eddie Cusic

  • Fieldwork Recordings: African Immigrant Program: Interview with Cecilia Olumba; African hairbraider: Interviewer, Ann Olumba

  • Festival Recordings: Palaver Stage: Nigerian Wedding

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Natal '77

  • Festival Recordings: Delta Worship Stage: Myles Family; Gerald Lewis Singers;

  • Special Events

  • Photographs

  • Festival Recordings: Delta Worship Stage: Music As Worship; Gerald Lewis Singers; Myles Family

  • Festival Recordings: Community Talk: Immigration Stories; Work Experiences; Old Traditions in New Settings

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: St. Augustine Gospel Choir; Jerusalemite Religious Chant Group 06 1997

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Willing to Take a Risk; Camp Cooking

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Delta Crops: Cotton and Catfish; Decoys, Blinds and Calls

  • Festival Recordings: Home Narrative: Barbecue Pits; Mah-Jong

  • Festival Recordings: Palaver Stage: Traditional Nigerian Drumming; Ethiopian Wedding Activities

  • Festival Recordings: Music and Dance: Kasbah Band

  • Festival Recordings: African Immigrant Foodways: Ethiopia: Coffee Ceremony; Ghana: Kelewele, Fu Fu

  • DAT Transfer: Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert 1997, part 2

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Party: Mahala & Chris Ntaka: South African Township Music

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Sweet Miss Coffey & The Miss Burnin' Blues Band; Big Lucky & His Mighty Men of Sound

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Old Regular Baptists; Nancy Richardson

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyukai; Jerusalemite Religious Chant Group; Omo 'Nago

  • Festival Recordings: Community Talk: Old Traditions in New Settings

  • Festival Recordings: Music and Dance: Mamaya and Djimo Kouyate; Pa Alex and Generations

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Natal '77

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Party: Nigerian Juju Highlife: Kokomos

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Making Nets and Traps; Traditional Blues; Camp Cooking

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Hall: Tim Laughlin's Jazz Band; Sweet Miss Coffey & B. Blues Band; Kenny Bill Stinson & A.L.M

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Natal '77; Shiru Shir

  • Festival Recordings: Dance Party: Ghanaian Highlife: Pa Alex & Generations; Marvin Myles Family

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Cotton Industry; Hunting Calls

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Jerusalemite Religious Chant Group; St. Augustine Gospel Choir

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Hunting and Fishing; Subsistence and Sport; Flood of 1927; Camp Cooking

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Hunting Stories; Tow boating on the Mississippi River

  • Fieldwork Recordings: African Immigrant Program: Interview with Abdirahman Abuka Mohammed; Somali painter

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Decoys, Blinds and Calls; Flood of 1927; Tall Tales from Camp

  • Festival Footage: Rinzler Concert: Alan Jabbour; Original Fat City String Band

  • Festival Recordings: Community Talk: Connections to Home; Passing on Culture; Mixed Marriages

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Narrative Stage: Seven Sons; International Christian Church; Old Regular Baptists

  • Audio Log Sheets

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Elaine Purkey & Friends; Jerusalemite Religious Chant Group

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Hunting Calls; Working the Land

  • Festival Recordings: Camp Narrative: Working the Water; Tall Tales from the Camp

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Jerusalem Religious Chant Group; Sweet Honey In the Rock

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Jerusalemite Religious Chant Group

  • Festival Recordings: Sacred Music Stage: Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyukai; Old Regular Baptists; International Christian Church

  • Rufus Thomas Tribute Concert 1997, part 3

  • Festival Recordings: Delta Worship Stage: Lined-Out Hymns with Penola Caesar; Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble

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