Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project Records Record Group 59
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TENNESSEE STATE PARKS FOLKLIFE PROJECT RECORDS RECORD GROUP 59 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project began in 1979 under Tennessee’s Division of Parks and Recreation to preserve the unique qualities of local cultural groups. Supported by a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and using equipment loaned from the American Folklife Center, the Division hired three professionally trained folklorists to: 1. establish a contact with local musicians, craftsmen, storytellers, etc. in communities around six state parks 2. present programs in the parks using those local people 3. document on film and audio tape the folk art and folklore of the area 4. organize and present one larger community folk arts festival within a state park Administrators of the Folklife Project divided the state into three regions - East, Middle, and West - with one folklorist assigned to each. They then identified two state parks in each region as target areas and to serve as the base from which the folklorist worked. In 1979, these were the Cumberland Mountain and Pickett State Parks in East Tennessee; Montgomery Bell and Cedars of Lebanon State Parks in Middle Tennessee; and Natchez Trace and Meeman Shelby State Parks in West Tennessee. In 1980, the target areas included Cove Lake and Norris Dam in East Tennessee; Fall Creek Falls and Rock Island in Middle Tennessee; and Chickasaw and Pickwick Landing in West Tennessee. Using state parks as a base, folklorists associated with the project surveyed the surrounding areas, taping and photographing people and events representative of the area’s folk tradition. Weekly programs took place in each of the “home” parks, with larger mini-festivals held in each region at the end of the summer. The Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project produced more than 500 hours of audio tape, 9,600 slides, and 2,200 black and white negatives, including duplicates of scores of historic photographs which had been cached for years by their owners. The folklorists presented forty-one programs, inviting local people as program leaders. Exhibits of folk art and old photographs of park and local history were on display in the park inns and interpretive centers. The records of the Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project consist of the Administrative Papers, including grant information, correspondence, interview sheets, recording logs, and news articles, for 1979 and 1980; audio recordings, both original reel- to-reel, and cassette duplicates (notated “cass” in many instances on the inventory), of interviews and programs; and black and white negatives, contact prints, and slides. Due to the nature of the material collected, this collection is a valuable resource for anyone studying the early life and ways of the settlers of Tennessee. The interviews include material on early history and settlement, early industries, educational practices, and such folk arts as quilting, spinning and weaving, molasses making, whittling, herbal medicines, farming techniques, and of course, music. The material in this record group will also be useful for the study of the lives of the many inhabitants of Tennessee’s smaller communities. For many citizens of Tennessee, life has changed little in the past 50 years. Many of the people interviewed by the Folklife Project are living examples of a way of life commonly assumed to have passed. The collection is divided into basic record types. Series I consists of the official written records generated by the project staff, and those written records of other projects donated to accompany and enrich the Folklife Project Collection. Series II contains the audio recordings produced by the Folklife Project, and those other projects which are subsumed under its title. Series III consists of photographic records, both negatives and slides produced for the Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project. This collection includes audio materials collected at Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park that are also part of the Tennessee River Folklife Collection. These materials, 82-NB-01 through 82-NB-39 and 83-NB-01 through 83-NB-16, are on reel-to-reel tape only. No cassette copies are currently available for public access. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROCESSED: 1984 ACCESS: Email [email protected] or call (615) 741-2764. Paper finding aid available in the repository, organized first by year, then state park name, then event (interview, performance, etc.). A control number, that reflects this arrangement, identifies materials. Users seeking to find all materials related to a particular park event might find items within each Series/format that are physically separated but have the same control number. RESEARCH FACILITIES: The audio/video material in this collection resides in a climate- controlled vault. Access requires a 24-hour notice to allow items to acclimate before use. The Tennessee State Library and Archives can provide audio equipment for listening, copies on CD, and duplication of photographs and slides. SIZE AND FORMAT: Includes approximately 1,300 unpublished tape recordings, 1,000 photo prints, 2,200 photo negatives, 9,600 slides, and reference books and journals in the library collection. KEY TOPICS: Folklore collection concentrates on all phases of Tennessee folklife and culture; music includes blues, bluegrass, country, old-time, ballads, and shape note singing. Images include photographs of folk art, quilts, informants, and programs associated with the project. INVENTORY: This electronic inventory reflects the original inventory and logsheets housed at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and retains all its variable notations. Record Group Number: 59 Title: Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project Series Title: Administrative Correspondence, 1979 Control # Description Dates 79-AC-1 Grant Proposals & Related Correspondence 1978-1979 79-AC-2 Correspondence, Administrative—General 1978-1979 79-AC-3 Park Programming: West Tennessee 1979 79-AC-4 Park Programming: Middle Tennessee 1979 79-AC-5 Park Programming: East Tennessee 1979 79-AC-6 Publicity: General (news clippings) 1974-1980 79-AC-7 Publicity: West Tennessee Parks (news clippings) 1979 79-AC-8 Publicity: Middle Tennessee Parks (news clippings) 1979 79-AC-9 Publicity: East Tennessee Parks (news clippings) 1979 79-AC-10 Honoraria/Certificates of Appreciation 1979 79-AC-11 Correspondence, Participants—Incoming 1979-1980 79-AC-12 Correspondence, Participants—Outgoing 1979-1980 79-AC-13 Elaine Lawless: Copy TACA Newsletter 1979 79-AC-14 Ray Allen: Copy of West Tenn. article: “Plateau Folklife” 1979 79-AC-15 Bobby Fulcher: TSPFP, 1979: Progress Report 1979 79-AC-16 Articles: Tennessee Conservationist 1979-1980 79-AC-17 Staff Meeting 19 June 1979 79-AC-18 Staff Meeting 3 July 1979 79-AC-19 Staff Meeting 24 July 1979 79-AC-20 Staff Meeting 7 Aug. 1979 79-AC-21 Staff Meeting 21 Aug. 1979 79-AC-22 Field Journal: Jay Orr, West Tennessee June-Aug. 1979 79-AC-23 Field Journal: Elaine Lawless, Middle Tennessee June-Aug. 1979 79-AC-24 Field Journal: Ray Allen, East Tennessee June-Aug. 1979 79-AC-25 Fulcher Photographs: Wilson, Van Buren Counties 1979 79-AC-26 Slides: Folk art—Sculptures 1979 Record Group Number: 59 Title: Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project Series Title: Cedars of Lebanon State Park, 1979 Control # Description Dates 79-CL-1 Dick Huddleston/Cedars of Lebanon Park History 5 June 1979 cass 79-CL-2 Dick Huddleston/Personal Narrative 6 June 1979 cass 79-CL-3 Heddie McFarland/Stories and tales 6 June 1979 cass 79-CL-4 Christine Sanders/Quilting 9 June 1979 79-CL-5 Cayce Russell/Old time music and tales 19 June 1979 79-CL-6 Cayce Russell String Band/Old time music 21 June 1979 79-CL-7 Photographs: Clyde and Belle Williams/Banjo and Quilts 22 June 1979 ? 79-CL-8 Interview with Elaine Lawless 27 June 1979 79-CL-9 Photographs: Cordell Kemp/Banjo 8 July 1979 79-CL-10 Dick Huddleston/Park and family history/Folk 11 July 1979 architecture, cemeteries 79-CL-11 Willard Walton/Woodcarving 20 July 1979 79-CL-12 String Band/Old time music 20 July 1979 79-CL-13 Elaine Lawless/Interview 31 July 1979 79-CL-14 Hatton Jones/Guitar music 2 Aug. 1979 cass 79-CL-15 Dick Huddleston/Cedars Park History Program 2 Aug. 1979 cass 79-CL-16 Mt. Juliet Church of God service 4 Aug. 1979 cass 79-CL-17 Ingram Family Photographs 10 Aug. 1979 79-CL-18 Cedars Folklife Festival 25 Aug. 1979 Record Group Number: 59 Title: Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project Series Title: Cumberland Mountain State Park, 1979 Control # Description Dates 79-CM-1 Photographs: Mrs. Mackie, Quilts/Log Pen 13 June 1979 79-CM-2 Perry Lee Durham/Banjo Tunes 25 June 1979 79-CM-3 Sam Norris, Lincoln Hawn/Fiddle and guitar tunes 27 June 1979 79-CM-4 Polly Page/Craft center 27 June 1979 79-CM-5 Joe Qualls/Stories/Murder/Moonshine/Mining 28 June 1979 79-CM-6 Alma Lee Hodgin/Songs and ballads 28 June 1979 79-CM-7 Helen Lane/Weather lore/Park Program 29 June and 26 July 1979 79-CM-8 Tim Jones, Howard Weaver, Louis Jones/Country music 29 June 1979 79-CM-9 Historical photographs: Big Lick Community 30 June 1979 79-CM-10 James Lane/Stories 8 July 1979 79-CM-11 Lola Ford; Photographs: Grassy Cove/Chairs/Baskets 11 July 1979 79-CM-12 Verda Carlock Ledbetter/Stories 12 July 1979 79-CM-13 Howard Weaver, Tim Jones/Songs and stories 12 July 1979 79-CM-14 Lyle Ledbetter/recording of Dewey Ledbetter 13 July 1979 79-CM-15 Carvell Russell/Gospel and fiddle music 13 July 1979 79-CM-16 Louis Jones/Unaccompanied songs 13 July 1979 79-CM-17 Ernest and Roy Hall/Songs and stories 14 July 1979 79-CM-18 Joe Campbell/Stories, herbs, and weather lore 25 July 1979 79-CM-19 Historical photographs: Crossville 26 July 1979 79-CM-20 Oma Burgess Hubbard/Stories/Midwifery 27 July 1979 79-CM-21 Mutt and Lester Lewis/Songs with guitar and banjo 27 July 1979 79-CM-22 Carvell Russell, Reba Reed/Gospel songs (tapes-need 28 July 1979 dubbing) 79-CM-23 Ray Bob and Ella Thompson Lewis/Stories/Mining 28 July 1979 79-CM-24 Goldie Anne and Ed Wright, Brenda Howard/Ghost stories 1 Aug.