Folklife Center News AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER THE WORLD’S FIRST TEN YEARS OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES “KUMBAYA” MOMENT VETERANS HISTORY HEAR, O ISRAEL Congressional Appointees: C. Kurt Dewhurst, Chair, Michigan Jean Dorton, Kentucky Joanna Hess, New Mexico Margaret Robson, New Mexico William L. Kinney, Jr., South Carolina Charlie Seemann, Nevada Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Massachusetts Librarian Appointees: Jane Beck, Vice-chair, Vermont Maribel Alvarez, Arizona Tom Rankin, North Carolina “Kumbaya” has been a Ten years ago, AFC AFC has acquired Henry Donald Scott, Nevada 3 favorite of the folk revival, 13 launched the Veterans 17 Sapoznik’s treasure-trove Ex Offi cio Members as well as a target of ridicule. History Project. Catch up on the of recordings from the bygone James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress Find out the real story of the song! history of this great program! days of Yiddish radio. G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Rocco Landesman, Chairman, National AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER Endowment for the Arts Jim A. Leach, Chairman, National Endowment Th e American Folklife Center was created in 1976 by the U.S. Congress to “preserve and present for the Humanities American folklife” through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference Elaine Lawless, President, American Folklore service, live performance, exhibition, publication, and training. Th e Center incorporates an archive, Society which was established in the Music Division of the Library of Congress in 1928 and is now one of the Gage Averill, President, Society for largest collections of ethnographic material from the United States and around the world. Ethnomusicology Peggy A. Bulger, Director, American Folklife Folklife Center News publishes articles on the programs and activities of the American Folklife Center Center, as well as other articles on traditional expressive culture. It is available free of charge from the Judith McCulloh (Emerita), Illinois Library of Congress, American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20540–4610. Folklife Center News Folklife Center News does not publish announcements from other institutions or reviews of books Volume 32, Nos. 3-4, Summer/Fall 2010 from publishers other than the Library of Congress . Readers who would like to comment on Center Stephen D. Winick, Editor activities or newsletter articles may address their remarks to the editor. David A. Taylor, Editorial Advisor ONLINE INFORMATION RESOURCES: Th e American Folklife Center’s Website provides Morgan E. Greene & Stanley Bandong, full texts of many AFC publications, information about AFC projects, multimedia presentations Designers of selected collections, links to Web resources on ethnography, and announcements of upcoming Cover: Th is photo and advertisement are both events. Th e address for the home page is http://www.loc.gov/folklife/. An index of the site’s part of the Henry Sapoznik Collection, a vast contents is available at http://www.loc.gov/folklife/az-index.html. compendium of recordings and contextual information on the topic of Yiddish-language Th e website for the Veterans History Project provides an overview of the project, an online “kit” for radio. Th e collection, which includes dramas, participants recording oral histories of veterans, and a brief presentation of some examples of video- music, news programs, and quiz shows, has and audio-recordings of veterans’ stories. Th e address is http://www.loc.gov/vets. been acquired by the AFC archive. For more information, see the story on page 17. AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER STAFF Administration: Maggie Kruesi, Cataloger Veterans History Project: Lynette Brown, Processing Technician Peggy A. Bulger, Director Valda Morris, Processing Technician Robert Patrick, Director Tamika Brown, Processing Technician Mary Bucknum, Special Assistant to Marcia Segal, Processing Archivist Rachel Mears, Supervisor – Program Jennifer Eidson, Processing Technician the Director Nora Yeh, Archivist, Coordinator Specialist Megan Harris, Librarian (Collection Michael Taft, Head, Archive Bert Lyons, Digital Assets Manager Monica Mohindra, Supervisor – Liaison Specialist) David A. Taylor, Head, Research and Reference: Specialist Candace Milburn, Processing Technician Programs Jennifer A. Cutting, Folklife Specialist Tracey Dodson, Executive Assistant David Novack, Processing Technician Brock Th ompson, Administrative Specialist Judith A. Gray, Folklife Donna Borden, Program Assistant Amie Pleasant, Processing Technician Christy Chason, Liaison Specialist David Quick, Processing Technician Research and Programs: Specialist, Coordinator Pinesha Harrison, Program Assistant JoAnna Russo, Processing Technician Th eadocia Austen, Public Events Stephanie A. Hall, Automation Jeff rey Lofton, Liaison Specialist Gabrielle Sanchez, Archivist Coordinator Specialist Jason Steinhauer, Liaison Specialist Peter Bartis, Folklife Specialist Todd Harvey, Folklife Specialist American Folklife Center: Jamie Stevenson, Liaison Specialist Nancy Groce, Folklife Specialist Ann Hoog, Folklife Specialist Tel: 202 707–5510 Aron Swan, Program Specialist Guha Shankar, Folklife Specialist Fax: 202 707–2076 Audio Engineering: Lisa Taylor, Liaison Specialist Stephen D. Winick, Writer-Editor E-mail: [email protected] Jonathan Gold, Audio Technician Rachel Telford, Program Specialist www.loc.gov/folklife Processing and Cataloging: Digital Conversion: Tom Wiener, Librarian (Research Catherine Hiebert Kerst, Archivist John Barton, Specialist Specialist) Th e World’s First “Kumbaya” Moment: New Evidence about an Old Song By Stephen Winick are unfortunate, since the original is a to tell the story of the song [2]. However, beautiful example of traditional music, the recent rediscovery of two versions at umbaya,” once one of the most dialect, and creativity. However, the AFC—a manuscript taken down in 1926 popular songs in the folk revival, song’s recent fall from grace has at least and a cylinder recording made in the “K has more recently fallen on hard added some colorful metaphors to Ameri­ times. In its heyday, from the 1950s can political discourse, such phrases through the 1990s, the song was as “to join hands and sing ‘Kumbaya,’” recorded by dozens of artists, including which means to ignore our differences Joan Baez, the Weavers, Odetta, Pete and get along (albeit superficially), and Seeger, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Nanci “Kumbaya moment,” an event at which Griffith, and Raffi in the United States; such naïve bonding occurs [1]. Joan Orleans in Germany; Manda Djinn Regardless of the song’s fluctuating in France; the Seekers in Australia; and connotations, one question has long many others around the world. However, fascinated scholars: what was the first overlapping with that heyday, from the “Kumbaya moment?” In other words, 1980s through the 2000s, the song ex­ where and when did the song origi­ perienced a backlash. Musically, it came nate? To answer this question, there’s to be thought of as a children’s campfire song, too simple or too The Seekers, of Melbourne, silly for adults to bother with. Australia, was one of the Politically, it became shorthand groups that first popular­ for weak consensus-seeking that ized “Kumbaya” outside the fails to accomplish crucial goals. United States. Their version Socially, it came to stand for the fi rst appeared on their 1963 touchy-feely, the wishy-washy, debut album, then on various the nerdy, and the meek. These compilations including this one from 1967. recent attitudes toward the song same year—makes a more complete account possible, and helps dispel some com­ The Weavers (l-r: Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, mon fallacies about the song. Ronnie Gilbert) rehearse for a concert in Philadelphia, 1951. One of these common mis­ LC P & P Division: reproduction number LC-USZ62­ conceptions was espoused and spread by the song’s fi rst no better resource than the American appearances in the folk revival. The Folklife Center Archive at the Library of first revival recording of the song, which Congress. The song’s early history is very called it “Kum Ba Yah,” was released in well documented in the Archive, which 1958 by Ohio-based group the Folk- includes the first known sound record­ smiths. In the liner notes, they claimed ings of the song, and probably the earli­ that the song came from Africa, and est manuscript copy as well. In addition, presented as evidence a previous claim the Archive’s subject file on the song that the song had been collected from (which gives it the title “Kum Ba Yah”) missionaries in Angola. On the other contains rare documents pertaining to hand, some scholars have located the the song’s history. Several researchers, origin of “Kumbaya” in the work of an Credit: Robert Corwin/AFC Corwin Collection. Pete Seeger on March 16, 2007, in the most notably and recently Chee Hoo Anglo-American composer and evange­ Library’s Coolidge Auditorium. Lum, have used the Archive’s resources list named Marvin Frey. In 1939, Frey AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS 3 published and copy­ is also the song’s refrain. Each verse is one line repeated three righted sheet music for times, followed by this refrain. The repeated lines are: “Some­ one version of the song, body’s sick, Lord, come by here,” “Somebody’s dying, Lord, which he called “Come come by here,” and “Somebody’s in trouble, Lord, come by by Here.” Once “Kum­ here.” Although Boyd collected only the words, this structure baya” was established is enough to mark Lee’s performance as an early version of