American Folklife Center & Veterans History Project
AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER & VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT Library of Congress Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2009 (October 2008-September 2009) The American Folklife Center (AFC), which includes the Veterans History Project (VHP), had another productive year. Over half a million items were acquired, and over 127,000 items were processed by AFC's archive, which is the country’s first national archive of traditional culture, and one of the oldest and largest of such repositories in the world. VHP continued making strides in its mission to collect and preserve the stories of our nation's veterans, acquiring 7,408 collections (25,267 items) in FY2009. The VHP public database provided access to information on all processed collections; its fully digitized collections, whose materials are available through the Library’s web site to any computer with internet access, now number over 7,000. Together, AFC and VHP acquired a total of 524,363 items in FY2009, of which 105,939 were Non-Purchase Items by Gift. AFC and VHP processed a total of 127,003 items in FY2009, and cataloged 21,856 items. AFC and VHP attracted well over a million visits to the Library of Congress website. ARCHIVAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS KEY ACQUISITIONS George Pickow and Jean Ritchie Collection (AFC 2008/005; final increment): The latest addition to this collection includes approximately 150 linear feet of manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera, as well as over 400 audiotapes. The material extensively documents the long career of Jean Ritchie, the celebrated singer of traditional Appalachian ballads. As well, it includes documentation of the folklore of the Cumberland Mountains, and related Old World traditions in the British Isles, that was created by Ritchie and her husband, George Pickow, a professional documentary filmmaker and photographer.
[Show full text]