American Folklife Center The Library of Congress

Summer 1989

Volume XI, Number 3

SONGS OF VIETNAM-ERA SOLDIERS FEATURED AT CENTER PROGRAM

By James Hardin

Among the collections that make up the Archive of Folk Culture are songs of the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the First and Second World wars. The researcher may be sur­ prised, however, to come upon a col­ lection of songs from a war of more recent vintage, one that evokes power­ ful and complex emotions. Two collections of songs that grew out of personal reactions to the Viet­ nam War were recorded or assembled by Gen. Edward Lansdale and donated by him to the Archive of Folk Culture in 1975 and 1977. The songs were composed and sung by soldiers and civilians and express a range of thoughts and feelings about being in Vietnam, "in country," as it was called- they are songs of bitterness, satire, loneliness, and humor, some with original words and lyrics, some with words that play ironically against the folk or popular tunes to which they have been set. To call attention to the collection and to honor the contribu­ tors to it, the Folklife Center presented a concert, reception, and symposium on July 13 entitled "In Country: Songs of the Vietnam-era Soldier." The program was supported by con­ tributions from the John W . and Clara C. Higgins Foundation and the Gen. Edward G. Lansdale entertaining himself with his harmonica, an instru­ Friends of the Vietnam Memorial. ment he used effectively to make new friends. Photo courtesy of Cecil Curr0' Folklorist Lydia Fish of Buffalo House Committee on Vietnam-Era AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER State College, who has been interview­ Veterans and himself a former THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ing Vietnam veterans and studying marine, remarked that the songs "tell their music for a number of years, pro­ a lot about the time, the war, and the Alan Jabbour, Director posed the program and assisted Center people who fought that war," and Ray Dockstader, Deputy Director folklife researcher Peter Bartis in orga­ thanked the Library for calling atten­ Carl Fleischhauer nizing it. The concert featured four tion to them and to the men whose Mary Hufford men who have gained reputations for feelings they express. Two themes David A. Taylor singing the songs, either their own or marked the day, and were expressed Folklife Specialists those of their colleagues: Col. James again and again at the reception that Peter T. Bartis, Folklife Researcher T. "Bull" Durham (United States Air followed the concert: the recognition Force, retired), a collector and per­ that a concert at the Library of Con­ Gerald E. Parsons, Riference Librarian former with a number of recordings of gress confers, and the thrill of the per­ James Hardin, Editor military songs to his credit; Bill Ellis, formers at meeting one another for the who served with the First Cavalry and first time. They had sometimes heard Magdalena Gilinsky, Public Events Coordinator was a well-known front-line performer and sung one another's songs, but had Lisa Oshins, Program Specialist whose songs were sent to Lansdale for always performed separately. Jennifer A. Cutting, Program Coordinator the collection; Chuck Rosenberg, a At the symposium the audience veteran of the Sixth Special Forces, learned more about the creation and Doris Craig, Administrative Secretary who is now a performer and researcher uscs of music during wartime and Tel: 202 707-6590 with a one-man show, "Jodie's Got about General Lansdale and the per­ Your Cadillac," although his own formers. Harold Langley, curator of work is not included in the Lansdale naval history at the Smithsonian Insti­ Archive of Folk Culture Collection; and Dolf Droge, who tution, noted that in writing history it served on active duty in the Korean is difficult to get at individual feelings Joseph C. Hickerson, Head War, was in Vietnam with the Agency because it is "hard to separate the feel­ Marsha Maguire, Archivist for International Development, and is ings of men from the actions of the the only one of the four who actually team." These feelings, he pointed out, Sebastian LoCurto, Program Specialist played for General Lansdale. are often recorded in song. Lydia Fish Aldona M. Kamantauskas Joseph, described the making of the Lansdale Staff Assistant The concert in the Library's collections and the musical climate in Tel: 202 707-5510 Coolidge Auditorium opened with a which they were created. A version of dramatic flourish as Bill Dower, a her remarks appears in this issue of retired Marine Corp chief drill instruc­ Folklife Center News, "­ Federal Cylinder Project tor, called to attention six marines who American Songs." Cecil Currey, Judith A . Gray trooped from the back of the audi­ professor of military history at the Ethnomusicologist torium to the stage singing the University of South Florida, gave an cadences Uodies) that are customarily informal account of Edward Lansdale, Tel: 202 707-1740 associated with military life and par­ evoking the spirit of the man with ticularly with marching. The con­ an impromptu performance on one trolled, uniformed presentation of Lansdale's own harmonicas, an BOARD OF TRUSTEES provided an ironic frame for the instrument the general found both Barre Toelken, Chairman, Utah irreverent, informal, personal songs personally entertaining and useful in Bruce Jackson, Vice Chairman, that followed, and emphasized by con­ making new friends. Part of Lans­ Johnnetta Cole, Georgia trast one purpose of the concert and dale's success, both as a military intel­ William L. Kinney, Jr., South Carolina Judith McCulloh, Illinois of General Lansdale's original inten­ ligence officer and as a collector of Marta Weigle, New Mexico tion: to portray the deepest feelings songs, can be ascribed to the simple about the American Vietnam experi­ fact that he liked other people and was ence as they are reflected and revealed a good listener. He collected songs Ex Officio Members in songs composed by the men and from the Vietnamese as well as from women who were part of it. Americans as a way of getting to know James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress Librarian of Congress James Bil­ them and established a household in Robert McCormick Adams, lington welcomed the audience to the Saigon where you could always' 'find Secretary rif the Smithsonian Institution concert, commenting that you never out what was happening. " Those who John Frohnmayer, Chairman-designate, know what collection will gain impor­ would like to read more about the National Endowment for the Arts Lynne V. Cheney, Chairman, tance and value for future generations, remarkable general may consult Dr. National Endowment for the Humanities and thanked Mrs. Pat Lansdale, in the Currey's book, Edward Lansdale: The Alan Jabbour, Director, audience, for her late husband's work Unquiet American (Houghton Mifflin, American Folklife Center and foresight. Congressman Lane 1989). Evans of Illinois, chairman of the Called an intuitive folklorist by

2 FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS Lydia Fish for his perceptions and his collecting instincts, Lansdale had a FOLKLINE FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS broad view of military intelligence and understood that the war under way James Hardin, Editor For timely information on the David A. Taylor, Editorial Advisor was one that battled for the hearts and field offolklore and folklife, includ­ Donald Shomette, Design Consultant minds of the Vietnamese people. He ing training and professional oppor­ put together a collection that enlarges tunities and news items of national Folklife Center News is a quarterly report our view of Vietnam, its people, and on the programs and activities of the interest, a taped announcement is American Folklife Center, available free our experience there. It was clear by available around the clock, except of charge from the Library of Congress, the end of the "In Country" program during the hours of 9 A.M. until American Folklife Center, Washington, how important the Lansdale Collec­ noon (eastern time) each Monday, D.C. 20540. Folklife Center News does not tion has already become to those asso­ when it is updated. Folkline is a publish announcements from other insti­ tutions or reviews of books from pub­ ciated with it. joint project of the American Folk­ lishers other than the Library of o life Center and the American Folk­ Congress. Readers who would like to lore Society. Dial: comment on Center activities or news­ letter articles may address their remarks 202 707-2000 to the editor.

Performers at the Folklife Center's "In Country" concert sing together at the end of the show. From left to right, Bull Durham, Dolf Droge, Chuck Rosenberg, Bill Ellis, and Bill Dower. Photo by Reid Baker

SUMMER 1989 3 VIETNAM WAR-AMERICAN SONGS: THE GENERAL EDWARD G. LANSDALE COLLECTION

Bill Ellis, infantryman, First Cavalry, U.S. Army, performing at a forward firebase in Vietnam, about 1968. Ellis was one of five performers at the Center's" In Country" concert. See page 3. Photo by Thomas Tynes, courte~ ofBill Ellis

By Lydia Fish own concerns, like "Leaving on a strongly influenced by the folksong Jet Plane" and "Run Through the revival of the late fifties and early The following article is adaptedfrom apaper Jungle. " sixties. presented at the Folklije Center's "In Coun­ But there were other songs "in Many soldiers were already experi­ try» symposium, July 13. country" in Vietnam. Some of these enced country, rock, or folk musicians were part of the traditional occupa­ when they arrived in Vietnam, and Most of the songs of the American tional folklore of the military. The some formed Kingston-Trio-style trios sixties were part of life in the combat pilots who flew off the carriers and out and quartets like the Merrymen, the zone during the Vietnam War, from of Thailand sang songs that were Blue Stars, the Intruders, and the hard rock to folk . Sony radios, Akai known by the men who flew in the two Four Blades. The groups performed stereos, and Teak tape decks were world wars and in the Korean War; informally in barracks and mess halls easily available, American music was and "grunts" learned songs their or in military clubs, and a few per­ performed live by the ubiquitous grandfathers had sung in the trenches formers, like Bill Ellis, toured the out­ Filipino rock bands, and AFVN Radio in France. There were also the songs lying fire bases as part of their official and G I -operated"underground" sta­ that soldiers and civilians, men and duties, traveling where the usa per­ tions broadcast round the clock. The women, made for their own entertain­ formers could not go. A few amateur troops had their own "Top Forty," ment. These grew directly out of the composers wrote both words and mostly of songs that expressed their Vietnam experience, and many were music, but most wrote new lyrics for

4 FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS well-known folk, country, or popular ical satirical songs about the political rades continued to send him record­ tunes. Barry Sadler's " of the situation in Vietnam ("I Feel Like A ings from Vietnam and Thailand, and Green Berets," for example, spawned Coup Is Coming On"). to drop by his house in Virginia to sing dozens of parodies. In 1967 Lansdale put together a col­ new songs they had written or col­ Like all folklore, these songs served lection of fifty-one of these songs, "In lected. Thus he was able to put as entertainment, as a means of unit the Midst of War, " with a narration together a second collection of 160 definition and bonding, and as a strat­ explaining the circumstances of their songs entitled "Songs by Americans egy for survival. They also provided composition and performance. He in the Vietnam War." Lansdale a means for the expression of protest, sent copies of the tapes to Lyndon edited both these collections and fear, and fruStration, of grief and of Johnson, members of his cabinet, and provided them with excellent notes. longing for home. All the traditional several officials in Saigon, including Copies of the two collections were themes of military folksong can be Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge and donated to the Library's Archive of found in them; praise of the great Gen. William Westmoreland. Since Folk Culture in 1975 and 1977, leader, celebration of heroic deeds, his intention was, as he wrote, "to respectively, where they are identified laments for the dead comrades, dis­ catch some of the emotions of the Viet­ by catalog nos. AFS 17,483; 18 ,882; paragement of other units, and com­ nam War in these folk songs and, with and 18,977-18,982. They provide rich plaints about incompetent officers and them, try to impart a greater under­ material for those folklorists, his­ vainglorious rear-echelon troops. And standing of the political and psycho­ torians, and other scholars who are like all soldiers in all wars, the troops logical nature of the struggle to those interested in the culture of American in Vietnam sang too of epic drinking making decisions," he was in effect soldiers in Vietnam. 0 bouts and encounters with exotic using folklore as a form of military young women. intelligence. He was worried that deci­ Lydia Fish is a projessor ojjolklore at Buj­ sions were being made outside the jalo State College and director oj the Viet­ The same technology that made it context of the needs and feelings of nam Veterans Oral History and Folklore possible for the troops to listen to com­ either the Vietnamese people or the Project. The project is engaged in an ongoing mercial rock music-"from the Delta American troops. And he was con­ effort to collect, preserve, and make more to the DMZ"-provided ideal condi­ vinced that the government's best widely known the jolksongs oj the Vietnam tions for the transmission of this newly weapon against Communist insur­ War. Alryone who wishes to contribute created folklore. The widespread avail­ gency was the genuine support and manuscripts, books, records, or tapes to the ability of inexpensive portable tape trust of the people, a belief that ran project, or to jind out more about it, should recorders meant that concerts, music counter to the conventional American contact Dr. Fish at the Department oj nights in the mess, or informal bar military wisdom, which was to rely on Anthropology, Buffalo State College, 1300 performances could be recorded, force. Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York copied, and passed along to friends. Lansdale returned to the United 14222. Telephone (716) 878-6110 That technology was used by one of States in 1968, but friends and com­ the most remarkable personalities to emerge from the Vietnam War, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Edward Lans­ dale (1908-1987), and the result is a collection of songs many folklorists would be proud of. The collection is in two parts, the first made while Lansdale was serving as head of the Senior Liaison Office of U.S. Mission in Saigon. The songs were recorded at Lansdale's house in Saigon by singer, composer, and musician friends, both American and Vietnamese: Saigon government officials, soldiers serving as advisors to the Vietnamese army, and civilians employed by AID, the Foreign Service, USIS, CORDS, and the CIA. The songs range from the patriotic ("I'm Proud To Be an American") to the cynical ("We Have Pacified This Land One Hundred Times"), from classic soldier songs about heroic deeds ("Battle for the Ia General Lansdale's house in Saigon, about 1966, a gathering place for soldiers Drang Valley' ') and epic drinking and civilians, Americans and Vietnamese, where many songs were recorded. bouts ("Ba Muoi Ba") to highly top- Photo courtesy of Cecil Currey

SUMMER 1989 5 THE MOCK WEDDING: FOLK DRAMA IN SASKATCHEWAN AND THE PLAIN STATES

A mock wedding couple before the minister, whose script is hidden within a large book. Carmichael, Saskatchewan. Photo Courtesy Marj Ann Metz

By Michael Taft and stage a marriage ceremony. sary performance, I will describe that Players have specific roles and there particular context. The following article is based on an illus­ is a script in which several of the Saskatchewan is made up of small, trated lecture entitled "Mock Your Neigh­ players have speaking parts. This form agricultural communities, many with bor: Bawdy Masquerades on the Great offolk drama is characterized by cross­ populations of less than one hundred Canadian Prairie, 'J presented at the Library dressing, bawdy behavior, ad-libbing, families. Despite the small size of their of Congress on May 10. and general carousing. The mock communities (or perhaps because of wedding is a ritual within a ritual, for it), these rural people busy themselves Among the lesser-studied forms of it most often occurs as part of the with an array oflocal functions-from North American folklore is folk larger community celebration ofa cou­ wild fowl suppers and rodeos to daily drama. While traditions such as the ple's marriage or their wedding anni­ get-togethers at the local cafe or pub. Newfoundland mumming sword­ versary. In Nebraska, the drama The wedding anniversary is one such play-moribund for a generation or seems to occur more often at wedding occasion for the community to gather. more-have received considerable receptions,l while in Saskatchewan For a couple's twenty-fifth anniver­ attention, present-day folk drama tra­ and North Dakota milestone anniver­ sary, the community will hold a cele­ ditions remain to be explored. One saries-most notably the twenty­ bration in their honor, usually in the such dramatic form, for example, fifth-are the more common context. local hall or church basement. The found in the Plains States and Cana­ This drama, however, might also be honored couple, surrounded by dian Prairie Provinces, is the mock part of wedding and baby showers, friends, neighbors, and relatives, is wedding. birthdays, community benefit con­ regaled with speeches (sometimes of The mock wedding is a dramatic certs, or adult Halloween house­ the "roast" variety), gifts, poems parody in which members of a com­ visiting. As I am most familiar with composed in their honor by the local munity dress as a wedding entourage the Saskatchewan wedding anniver­ poet, and favorite songs sung by mem-

6 FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS bers of the community. Food and other gag ring). The minister (the only woodcarver, cake decorator, or other drink are essential elements of this role that can be played by either a man person with an acknowledged talent, celebration, and usually there is danc­ or a woman) wears a funny cloak and the producer-director of mock wed­ ing, either to the music of a local band hat, carries the aforementioned litur­ dings serves the community when the or to prerecorded music. gical "text," and often has a jug of need arises. In almost all cases, the Unannounced and supposedly hooch hanging from his/her sash. producer-director is a woman, and she unexpected, a mock wedding proces­ The bride and groom, however, are is in charge of all aspects of the event, sion enters the hall and takes over not so much stereotypes as caricatures writing the script (she is often the local "center stage." Amidst laughter, of the honored couple. In their dress, poet as well and the script is sometimes jeers, and expressions of dismay, the mannerisms, and stage actions, they written in verse), gathering props and procession arranges itself in a tableau: parody known characteristics. At costumes, and selecting members of a minister standing before a bride and the same time, the minister reveals the cast. groom, surrounded by bridesmaids, further characteristic and humorous or Some weeks before the couple's parents of the mock couple, a best man embarrassing events in the lives of the anniversary, friends or relatives of the or ring-bearer, sometimes a flower anniversary couple through a series of couple will contact the producer­ girl, sometimes a musician, sometimes vows. For example, in one drama the director and ask her to prepare a mock other dramatis personae. The most groom was asked if he promised to buy wedding. Because she must either striking feature of the entourage is that his chickens from the market rather write or, in most cases, refashion her all female parts are played by men and than steal them from the Hutterites, existing script to fit the couple to be all male parts are played by women. while in another drama the bride was honored, she will ask for interesting or The minister begins with a "dearly asked if she promised to shoot the deer funny stories about the couple, or beloved" speech, a parody of the when she was the only one with specific quirks or traits of character actual wedding liturgy. Holding a tele­ a loaded gun. Both vows related to that make them distinctive within the phone book, old catalog, or perhaps funny stories known within the com­ community; in many cases, of course, a Playboy magazine, the minister reads munity about the people being she will already have the information, the vows to the couple before pro­ honored. since she is the couple's neighbor and nouncing them" man and wife." The most likely their friend. It is difficult finale usually involves a post-nuptial The mock wedding would not be pos­ to keep secrets in such small commu­ kiss (sometimes devolving into a sible without a producer-director. Like nities, and "open secrets" are grist for wrestling match) and the presentation the local poet, musician, raconteur, the producer-director's mill. of a bridal bouquet composed oflocal, noxious weeds to the honored couple. The drama is usually limited to this parody of a wedding, but it can also include further scenes. For example, one performance included a comic elopement scene because the honored couple had eloped. While such a parody relates to an actual event in the lives of the honored couple, at least one stock scene is also part of this folk dramatic tradition: at the point when the minister asks if anyone can show why the couple should not be wed, a character playing a girl friend-either pregnant or carrying a baby-will rush forward, causing a scene within the scene. Like the girl friend, most ofthe roles in the drama are stereotypes of typi­ cal members of a wedding: the weep­ ing mother (sometimes carrying a roll of toilet paper to wipe her eyes); a father of the bride (usually carrying a shotgun with which to prod the groom); a ring-bearer (who may wear a suit covered with jar-sealer rings or respond to the minister's call for the ring by ringing a bell or producing a The honored couple, surrounded by friends and neighbors. Lintlaw, Saskatch­ teething ring, cigar band, washer, or ewan, 1980s. Photo courtesy of Alvena and Bill Oryszczyn

SUMMER 1989 7 There is little difficulty in getting assert the masculinity beneath their styles), their costumes are not so far men to play the parts of women. While costumes through making their mus­ from their everyday dress, and they Saskatchewan society is typical of cles bulge and strutting and swagger­ feel no need to reassure either them­ mainstream North American culture ing in a supposedly manly fashion. selves or their audience about their in its machismo ethic, there is a kind They often exhibit bawdy behavior by real-life status. But the women face of reverse-machismo at work during lifting their skirts, scratching them­ other risks. Because the mock wedding the mock wedding. Only a "real selves, or revealing and "redistribut­ is a woman's production, the women man" can give up his dignity with ing" their movable breasts; and their are responsible for how the drama is good humor; only a man entirely in costumes often exaggerate the female received by the community. Because control of himself and entirely confi­ anatomy, with padding used to create so much of the script is derived from dent in his manliness would agree to grossly oversized breasts and back­ local gossip, the women producer­ dress in women's clothes. There are, sides. directors must know what they can in fact , some men who insist on being Through this exaggerated and and cannot include; they must know part of the production and who take bawdy behavior, the men show that how far they can go in revealing the pride in their roles. they are ultimately in control. The honored couple to their community. Any sense of lost manly dignity is men are not so much playing a role as They walk the fine line between good counterbalanced by the men's behav­ playing with a role; and if a man were clean fun and malicious gossip. ior during the performance: much perceived to be taking his role seri­ Standards of propriety vary from more than the women-dressed-as­ ously, his manliness might well be community to community, from cou­ men, the female impersonators engage called into question. ple to couple. In one drama, a vow in considerable mugging and clown­ The women act in a much more that the bride would scratch her hus­ ing. They parody feminine stereotypes straightforward style. Being used to band's psoriasis was considered within through mincing, blushing, and wearing men's clothes on the farm (or the bounds of good taste; in another, speaking in falsetto voices; or, they wearing clothes fashioned after men's however, the father's shotgun was dis­ pensed with because it was known that the woman being honored was preg­ nant at the time of her marriage. The localization and tailoring of mock wedding scripts seems to be a phenomenon of the northern Plains and Prairie Provinces. While the roots of the mock wedding go back to nineteenth-century Tom Thumb and womenless weddings in eastern North America,2 they owe little now to that tradition. By comparison, the lesser, more conservative mock wedding tra­ dition of southern Ontario relies much more on a standard, non-localized script. 3 While further research might reveal a more complex pattern of in flu­ ence and dissemination of the greater North American wedding parody tra­ dition, there seems to be a regional dimension to the mock wedding forms found in the Plains and Prairies.

The distinctiveness of the Saskatch­ ewan mock wedding, at any rate, lies in what it says about the role of women on large, modern, family-run farms. Among the most common topics of conversation among Saskatchewan farm wives is the conflict they feel between the traditional feminine roles they are expected to fulfill and the actual roles of farm workers they must fulfill: on a family-run farm, the Mock wedding producer-director Alvena Oryszczyn with bridal veil. Lintlaw, women must perform many tasks ordi­ Saskatchewan, 1986. Photo courtesy of Michael Taft narily regarded as men's work. From

8 FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS driving grain trucks and combines, 5. The only scholarly discussion of maintaining outbuildings, and slaugh­ Notes adult Saskatchewan Halloween mask­ tering animals, to keeping the ing and house-visiting is Darryl Hun­ accounts, women are engaged in work 1. Personal communication from ter, "No 'Malice in Wonderland': outside the traditional female roles. Roger Welsch, May 5 and 6, 1989. Conservation and Change in the Women's concern over this neces­ 2. See Susan Stewart, On Longing: Three Hallowe'ens of Ann Mesko," sary performance of a double role Narratives oj the Miniature, the Gigantic, Culture & Tradition 7 (1983) , 36-53. reveals itself both in conversation and the Souvenir, the Collection (Baltimore: in other forms of expression. 4 Perhaps Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1984), because prairie people seem especially pp. 117-25 . Michael Taft is afreelance folklorist who prone to use costumes as a form of 3. See Pauline Greenhill, "Mock lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His books expression- parades, benefit concerts, Weddings in Ontario: Traditional and include Discovering Saskatchewan sporting events, and especially Hal­ Non-Traditional Secular Ritual," Folklore (NeWest Press, 1983). Dr. Taft loween (which is an important com­ paper read at the annual meeting of will continue his investigation of the mock munity holiday in the province) all the Folklore Studies Association of wedding over the next several years. He involve costumes or masks 5- it is not Canada, Winnipeg, 1986. would welcome comments on this article, so surprising that this topic should be 4. For a discussion of this topic leads jor jurther research, and comparative at the center of many mock wedding revealed in narratives, see Michael material jrom other researchers. He may be scripts. In fact, the mock wedding as Taft, Discovering Saskatchewan Folklore: contacted at 803 6th Avenue, North, Saska­ a whole might be seen as a commen­ Three Case Studies (Edmonton: NeWest toon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7K 2Tl. tary on the role of women in Saskatch­ Press, 1983), pp. 73-78. Telephone (306) 242-1423 ewan society. The very fact that women are dressed as men in the mock wedding sends the message, " as farm wives, we are both women and men at the same time." The mock wedding vows also address this topic; while some vows concern gossip , others concern the expectations of the farm wife . The minister asks the bride, " Do you promise to clean the slaughterhouse mess and not love and honor your hus­ band any less? " and asks the groom, "Do you promise to keep her dressed in the finest of jeans, even if they are beyond your means?" And again, he asks the bride, "Wilt thou promise to tend the chickens, milk the cows, and churn the butter?" "Wilt thou promise to paint the granaries?" The mock bride's vows, however, also include all the domestic duties and traditional role expectations: "Do you promise from harvest to harvest to serve him with coffee and cake? " "Will you take him to the health spa for sexual rejuvenation?" "Will you promise to produce four children? " "Wilt thou promise to change the diapers?" The mock wedding thus allows the women to turn the tables on the men- making them feel the ambiva­ lence of having to live two roles. Through the drama, through putting on women's clothes, the men experi­ ence what the women experience every day of their lives. The ~anly bride. Brainard, Nebraska, 1959. Photo courtesy ofEdith Stuchlik o Mornssey

SUMMER 1989 9

r ITALIAN REGIONALISM AND PAN-ITALIAN TRADITIONS

By John Alexander Williams and communications networks , has and other "northern" classifications. Italian cultural unity been achieved. Apparently the distinction was drawn This is the second in a series ojarticles writ­ And yet, it is also worth noting that on racist lines between lighter- and ten initially to provide fieldworkers with regionalism in has not spawned darker-skinned immigrants, and the historical background and theoretical con­ separatism, as it has in Britain, Ligurians-doubtless as a result of the siderations as they embark on the Center's FraI1ce, and especially Spain. Apart seafaring traditions that took them to "Italian-Americans in the West" Colum­ from small linguistic enclaves along all corners of the Mediterranean­ bian Quincentenary field project. See Folk­ the French and Austrian borders, Italy apparently looked swarthier than the life Center News, volume XI, number 2, presents a complex picture of ethnic Anglo-American notion of what a spring 1989. unity amid regional diversity. northern Italian should look like The transformation of Italian­ allowed. In assessing the balance of cultural Americans from immigrants to ethnics Regional organizations, mostly continuity and change among Italian­ parallels-in time and to some extent mutual benefit insurance organiza­ Americans, due regard should be paid in character-the transformation of tions or devotional societies organized to regional and even local variations Italy from a geographical expression within larger Catholic parishes, were in the Italian backgrounds of their to a modern state. Only a relatively the first building blocks of Italian­ immigrant ancestors . From late small number of experts and political American ethnic identity in U.S. com­ Roman times until the last third of the refugees among the immigrants munities. But by the 1890s, there were nineteenth century, Italy remained a brought with them a significant sense Italian-American leaders who could no territory of city-states and small of Italian nationalism. The cam­ longer .find in regional mobilization duchies and kingdoms. In Metter­ panilismo (suspicion of anyone born sufficient scope for their ambitions. nich's contemptuous phrase, Italy was outside the village) that affected the Businessmen and politicians had the merely "a geographic expression," outlooks of Italian villages was most to gain from mobilizing a sense and Italian national unity was elusive, reproduced to some extent in the of pan-Italian ethnicity. Dino Cinel even after political unity was achieved village-based clusters found in big has described the formation of inter­ under the Piedmontese royal house of American cities, notably in the form regional business institutions in San Savoy and reinforced by the twenty­ ofJeste in honor of the patron saint of Francisco such as the Colombo Mar­ year fascist dictatorship of Benito an ancestral village. But, except in ket and the (later Bank Mussolini. New York City, immigrants from a of America), as well as the advantages While standard Italian based on the particular village were not numerous that manufacturing and agribusiness Tuscan dialect emerged as a written enough for campanilismo to serve as a leaders such as Marco Fontana (Del language at the time of Dante, it was principle of social organization, and so Monte) and Pietro Rossi (Italian Swiss not a widely spoken language until the earliest forms of community orga­ Colony) gained by promoting pan­ after World War II; even educated nization followed regional lines. Italian ethnic solidarity among Italian people preferred to converse in their Emigration from to and Italian-American wage workers regional dialects. Regional differences France, North Africa, and South (From Italy to , 1982). He were reinforced by the mountainous America preceded mass migration to also describes the early political terrain of the peninsula and its adja­ the United States, and northern mobilization of Italian-American cent islands and by the lack of a emigration generally preceded emigra­ voters in the city and the galvanizing dominant metropolis such as London tion from (where in turn effect produced by the political debate or Paris. Rome, , Naples, a generation of internal migration generated among San Francisco Turin, Venice, Florence, , and preceded emigration abroad). Most by the rise of fascism in Italy. Palermo have each played important Anglo-Americans were aware of the The press was yet roles in the formation of modern Italy, distinction between northern and another secular promoter of ethnic and even today the country's urban southern Italians, and this distinction identity as it evolved during the late network more closely resembles the gained force from the official classifi­ nineteenth and early twentieth cen­ decentralized network of the United cation of immigrants into one group turies from compilations of reports of States than the centralized cultural or the other upon entry to the United regional matters to a focus on pan­ regimes of other West European States. However, immigration officials Italian issues and organizations. states. usually lumped Liguria with and Meanwhile, fraternal organizations, Only since World War II, with the other southern regions, despite the fact such as mutual benefit societies, orga­ growth of popular democratic institu­ that the Ligurian capital, Genoa, lies nized originally along regional lines, tions and of national transportation considerably to the north of evolved into federated membership

10 FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS organizations, such as the Italian The adoption of Columbus as an For much of the nineteenth century, Catholic Federation or the Order of American national hero was an inven­ the celebration of Columbus in litera­ the Sons of Italy in America, whose tion of American nationalists during ture, the arts, and ritual remained in local lodges developed around the the decades following the American Yankee hands. But while the nuclei of the original regional clubs. Revolution. For patriots of the early "Italianization" of Columbus began Judged by the success of Italian­ republic, Columbus symbolized the in eastern cities such as New York and founded corporations and claim they staked on the entire North Philadelphia, Italian-Americans in the San Francisco area politicians, the American continent, while later West made significant contributions to efforts to promote pan-Italian senti­ writers and artists turned Columbus this process. Columbus Day parades ment among later immigrants and into a symbol of romantic individ­ began in San Francisco in 1869, but their children were successful, but ualism, a hero whose personal attrib­ it was only after 1885 that an elaborate after World War II both the corpora­ utes overshadowed the social and Columbus Day pageant and parade tions and Italian-American wage­ political context of his achievements emerged as an important occasion for earners and voters merged into the (such as his Italian birth or Spanish proclaiming pan-Italian identity. This regional mainstream. By the 1980s, a sponsorship). became an annual institution in San well-delineated system of ethnic Francisco after World War I and came brokerage had evolved in the Bay to include a variety of rituals: a mock Area, but only a relatively small num­ landing of Columbus staged from fish­ ber of people actually made their liv­ ing boats in the harbor, the selection ing as brokers. Chiefly the leadership of a pageant queen ("Queen Isa­ of pan-Italian organizations fell in the bella"), and the impersonation of postwar era to men, such as the Columbus by a succession of men who owners of food-related businesses or each in their turn acquired legendary independent professionals, who could reputations among California Italian­ increase their customers and clients Americans for the talent and enthu­ through the continued promotion of siasm they invested in this role. Italian-American ethnicity. One of the interesting questions about the Columbus Day complex is the extent to which it combined Italian Three notable aspects of expressive and Anglo-American elements. The culture derive from the organized pro­ landing pageant and the costuming of motion of pan-Italian ethnicity during Columbus impersonators, for exam­ the first half of this century. One was ple, may owe much to the John Van­ the reinvention of Christopher Colum­ derlyn painting, The Landing of bus as an ethnic hero and of Colum­ Columbus, commissioned for the U.S. bus Day as an amalgam of a Capitol rotunda in 1839 and repro­ traditional Italian saint's day festival duced widely on U.S. postage stamps and an Anglo-American patriotic in 1869 and 1892. The Columbus Day ceremony. The second was the devel­ parades (generally not a feature of the opment of a repertoire of popular Anglo-American Columbus Day music drawn both from before 1892) may owe much to Italian music and from Neapolitan vaudeville religious processions, especially if we as well as from . The third consider the importance of Columbus was the development of the pasta-and­ statues in the Columbus Day complex. pizza restaurant cuisine known to (and The Italian-American community of adopted by) Anglo-Americans as Walla Walla, Washington, erected its "Italian food." Today these inter­ Columbus statue in 1910 and, accord­ related pan-Italian festival, music, and ing to local historians, the annual food complexes are significant compo­ Columbus Day festival dates from that nents ofItalian-American ethnic iden­ year. Meanwhile, in 1907 Colorado tity, both within and outside of the became the first state to make Colum­ ethnic community. Further research in bus Day a legal holiday, thanks to a each of these areas may illuminate the drive led by local prominenti aided by processes of cultural construction, the Italian consul in Denver. The holi­ both as they involve negotiation Frankie Briguglio of San Pedro, day and its associated practices and between the Italian-American minor­ California, proudly displays the first artifacts remain an important cultural ity and the host culture and the fusion pizza baked in his family's new landmark for Italians. For example, of folk cultural elements with elements forno, a traditional outdoor oven. when during the recent restoration of drawn from the popular and elite seg­ (IA W-DT-B008-27) Photo 1989 by California's Gold Rush era capitol in ments of organized cultural life . David A. Taylor Sacramento architects proposed elimi­

SUMMER 1989 11 nating an anachronistic Columbus statue that had been installed in the capitol rotunda under Anglo­ American auspices in 1882, Italian­ American politicians and organiza­ tions raised a storm of protest, forcing the reinstallation of the statue.

The emergence ofa pan-Italian musi­ cal repertoire is more difficult to trace, but the historical record provides tantalizing clues to a process of bor­ rowing from folk, art, military, and popular music sources. Walt Whit­ man's "Italian Music in Dakota," referring to strains of Verdi played by a military band the poet heard at a fort on the Missouri River in the 1880s, derives from an era when most of the bandmasters and many of the musi­ cians posted at forts throughout the western states were drawn from the ranks ofItalian experts. Carla Bianco noted in The Two Rosetos (1974) that many of the Italian-American males in Roseto, Pennsylvania, belonged to that town's brass band, which enter­ John Vanderlyn, The Landing of Columbus) 1847. U.S. Capitol Collection tained at community functions and competed on a regional basis in con­ tests with other bands from similar famous Italian operatic performers a derivative of the flat bread and con ­ communities. Local histories contain such as Enrico Caruso, Adelina Patti, panatico that has existed in some form photographs of brass bands in Italian­ and Luisa Tetrazini. Yet Louis Mar­ or another in Italy since Roman American coal mining communities in tini refers in his oral history to a times-derives from a dish specially Utah and Washington State, and they "secondary opera" in San Francisco produced in 1890 incorporating the were probably widespread in other where poor Italian-Americans who colors of the Italian national flag (red western states. Sidney Robertson could not afford to attend Caruso per­ sauce, white mozzarella cheese, and Cowell recorded mandolinists and formances went to hear the music they green garnishes) to celebrate the other performers in loved. Cinel notes that vaudeville per­ annual residence of the Piedmontese fishing communities on San Francisco formers flowed from Naples to San royal house in Naples as required by Bay during the 1930s, while commer­ Francisco along the same route that the kingdom's constitution. As for cial recordings were made of individ­ linked San Francisco immigrant banks pasta, the few folklorists who have ual mandolinists and of Italian string to the Bank of Naples and food investigated its Italian-American food­ orchestras. Mandolin bands appar­ importers and travel agents to their ways disagree as to the reasons for its ently remain a popular form ofItalian­ Italian trading partners. While folk Americanization. Bianco found that American music making in the Bay music and operatic traditions con­ the use of pasta in Pennsylvania dif­ Area and probably elsewhere in the tributed to the pan-Italian repertoire, fered from Italian precedents only in West. Russ Colombo, the Italian­ probably the Neapolitan music hall of the more frequent use of richer sauces American singer who perfected the the early twentieth century was the and the adaptation of forms, such as "crooning" popular music style later greatest single source ofthe music that lasagna, which had not been part of made famous by Bing Crosby, Frank Italian-Americans-and Anglo-Amer­ her informants' Apulian regional Sinatra, Vic Damone, and Tony Ben­ icans- today think of as uniquely repertoire. But Toni Frati, another nett, was from Washington State (as Italian. Pennsylvania researcher, found that was Crosby, the only non-Italian on her informants used pasta more fre­ the list). Neapolitan commerce probably also quently and more as a staple in Ameri­ Bianco found the belief widespread had a formative influence on what ca than had been the case in the among Italian-Americans that Italians (until recently, at least) most Ameri­ southern Italian regions from which had actually "invented" music, while cans think of today as "Italian they or their immigrant parents had the typical prominenti accounts of food" - pizza, pasta, red sauces, and come. Frati attributes this to the more Italian-American community history cheap red wine. According to one limited availability in America of the often emphasize associations with source, American pizza-generically vegetable staples that peasants had

12 FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS grown in Italy, an explanation which may hold true for Philadelphia and other urban or industrial communities PANEL SELECTS OUTSTANDING FOLK RECORDINGS but probably would not hold true for California and other western locations where Italian-American private and commercial gardening was estab­ lished. Food researchers in Utah found By Jennifer Cutting year's selection panel included Doro­ that some more exotic food choices thy Sara Lee, from the Archives of persisted among Italian-Americans as Educational organizations and mem­ Traditional Music, Indiana Univer­ a kind of" ethnic performance," espe­ bers of the public often have difficulty sity; Richard March, from the Wis­ cially in the use of organ meats and locating good recordings of American consin Arts Board; Jay Orr, from the other animal parts that Anglo­ traditional music because most of Foundation; Barry Americans found distasteful. Region­ these recordings are produced by Lee Pearson of the University of al specialties, such as the Ligurian small, independent producers who do Maryland; and Neil Rosenberg of pesto sauce and the Sicilian use of not have access to mainstream distri­ Memorial University of New­ anchovies, may also have served as bution networks. At the same time, foundland. badges of regional identity within these producers have difficulty pene­ This year, as in the past, the release Italian-American communities and trating educational and library mar­ dates of recordings caused eligibility households. kets. With the goal of helping both difficulties, and the panel recom­ But household foodways do not tell groups, the American Folklife Center mended revising next year's first us as much about the creation of pan­ has been compiling lists of folk music criterion to read "must have been Italian restaurant cuisines. The evo­ and folklore recordings for the past six released in calendar year 1989 or lution of "Italian" restaurants beyond years. For the purposes of librarians calendar year 1988 if not previously the boarding house and neighborhood and teachers, these brief, annotated submitted. " Several criterion­ clienteles paralleled the creation of lists should be more useful than com­ challenging but promising submissions other pan-Italian institutions and cul­ prehensive discographies. tempted panelists to explore the tural expressions. This evolution took Thirty-six sound recordings have nuances of the second requirement, the form of a simplification of food been selected for inclusion this year, which has excluded recordings because types (such as the elimination of organ and the list appears at the end of this the artists neither lived nor recorded meats from menus and the more article. and Folklore in the United States. For example, central importance of pasta and Recordings 1988: A Selected List, a free Barry Lee Pearson argued that one tomato sauces) and the expansion of pamphlet published by the Folklife recording excluded this year repre­ menus from a regional to a pan-Italian Center that includes annotations for sented a genre that was important to repertoire. Another marker was the each of the recordings, will appear at the origin ofa U .S. tradition. Richard adoption of a red-white-and-green pre­ the end of the year. March defended the criterion as a sentation aesthetic comparable to the The Selected List is limited to about pragmatic measure that helps limit the one embodied in the Neapolitan pizza. thirty titles, and represents a process list to a reasonable number. He rea­ Finall y, both commercial and house­ of critical appraisal. To qualify for soned that the list would end up hold Italian-American tastes became consideration, a recording must: encompassing if it were "Americanized" through the use of to take all such influences into more meat, less garlic and other (1) have been released in the previ­ account. spices, and lighter oils. And like ous calendar year; Unfortunately, lack of jacket or Columbus Day and "Italian" music, (2) feature cultural traditions found liner notes disqualified many good pan-Italian restaurant cuisine became within the United States; recordings. There was concern espe­ both an internally proclaimed badge (3) emphasize "root traditions" cially about making the public aware of ethnic identity and one recognized over popular adaptations of traditional of recordings from underrepresented and widely admired by non-Italians as materials; categories like tamburitza, , and well. 0 (4) be conveniently available to pur­ Native American music. Within such chasers in the United States; categories, there are excellent record­ John Alexander Williams is director of the (5) include liner notes or accom­ ings, but because they are produced Center for Appalachian Studies at Appa­ panying booklets relating the record­ by artists for their own communities lachian State University. From 1986 until ings to the performers, their producers provide little in the way of 1988 he was director ofthe presidential com­ communities, genres, styles, or other explanatory notes. mission on the Columbus Quincentenary, pertinent information. and in 1989 he was a consultant to the In a few cases, the panel considered American Folklije Center, engaged to A panel of five specialists met at the recordings that featured "roots" research, plan, and organize the Center's Library of Congress on March 29 and musicians performing with students or ((Italian-Americans in the West)) project. 30 to select the best recordings from friends from other cultural back­ over 150 that were submitted. This grounds. Thus it was important to

SPRING 1989 13 determine who had control of the Gospel: The Sacred Black Quartet Tra­Early Classic String Bands - Volume recording's production, and to try to dition (Global Village GVM206) 2 (Old Homestead OHCS-192) distinguish between innovations Various artists: Bless My Bones: Mem­Various artists: Ragged But Right: Great within the tradition and influences that phis Gospel Radio - The Fifties Country String Bands oj the 1930s had not been absorbed into the tradi­ (Rounder 2063) (RCA/BMG Music 8416-2-R) tion. Equally perplexing was the The Golden Eagles: Lightning and Various artists: Are You jrom Dixie? assessment of submissions from Thunder (Rounder 2073) Great Country Brother Teams of the collector-performers. The panel Various artists: Gospel Warriors (Spirit 1930s (RCA/BMG Music agreed that while some were excellent Feel SFI003) 8417-2-R) educational products and important Various artists: Chicago Gospel Pioneers Mac Wiseman: Early Dot Recordings­ catalysts, priority should be given to (Spirit Feel SF1004) Volume Two (Rebel Records of more traditional performers within the Reverend Claude Jeter: Yesterday and Canada CCS109) particular categories. To.day (Spirit Feel SF1005) : Library oj Congress The 1988 list reflects the industry­ Marion Williams: Born to Sing the Recordings (Rounder 1041/2/3) wide growth of cassette and compact Gospel (Spirit Feel SF1007) disc formats. In a significant increase over past years, thirty of the thirty-six OTHER ETHNIC recordings selected are available on ANGLO-AMERICAN cassette, and nine on compact disc. Most recordings are available in at Chuck Guillory & The Rhythm Boys: least two formats, with only three The Stanleys: Stanley Series- Volume 3, Grand Texas (Arhoolie 5039) recordings available exclusively on Number 1 (Copper Creek CCSS­ The Hackberry Ramblers: Early long-playing records. V3N1) Recordings 1935-1948: Louisiana The 1988 Selected List will be avail­ Buck Owens & The Buckaroos: Live Cajun Music, Volume 8(Arhoolie/Old able free of charge from the American at Carnegie Hall (Country Music Timey 127) Folklife Center by the end of the year. Foundation Records CMF-012-L) White Eagle Singers: Intertribal Pow­ Copies of the 1985, 1986, and 1987 Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and the Wow Songs (Canyon Records lists are still available while supplies Foggy Mountain Quartet: You Can CR-'6197) last. Feel It In Your Soul (County Records Gu-Achi Fiddlers: Old Time O'odham CCS111) Recordings selected for the 1988 list Fiddle Music (Canyon Records are the following: Melvin Whipple: Echoes oj the Past: CR-8082) Cowboy Poetry oj Melvin Whipple Various artists: A Colorado Dutch Hop (Institute of Texan Cultures at San Sampler (Music Association of Swal­ REGIONAL Antonio, no catalog number) low Hill, no catalog number) Lee Sexton: Whoa Mule Gune Appal Various artists: Raices Musicales: Music Recordings JAOOS1) oj Mexico and the Hispanic Southwest Various artists: Possum Up a Gum Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers: (National Council for the Tradi­ Stump (Alabama Traditions 103) tional Arts, no catalog number) Various artists: Virginia Traditions: Sol Hoopii: Master of the Hawaiian Gui­ Southwest Virginia (Blue Ridge tar - Volume 2 (Rounder 1025) Institute BRI 008) D.L. Menard: No Matter Where You At, Various artists: Virginia Traditions: There You Are (Rounder 6021) Early Roanoke Country Radio (Blue Various artists: iConjunto! Texas­ Ridge Institute BRI 010) Mexican Border Music, Volumes 1 and Various artists: Traditional Music from 2 (Rounder 6023/6024) the Cumberland Plateau, Volumes 1 and Various artists: Swissconsin: My 2 (County Records C0786/0787) Homeland (Wisconsin Folklife Joe Pancerzewski: Brand New Old Time Center Ethnic Music Series, no Fiddle Tunes (Voyager VRCS 335) catalog number)

AFRICAN -AMERICAN ANTHOLOGY

James P. Johnson: Carolina Shout Various artists: The Library of Congress (Biograph BCD 105 DDD) Banjo Collection (Rounder Records Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, and 0237) Bukka White: Three Shades of Blues Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie: Folk­ (Biograph BCD 107 ADD) ways: The Original Vision (Smith­ Various artists: New York Grassroots sonian Folkways SF 40001)

14 FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS CULTURAL CONSERVATION: RECONFIGURING THE CULTURAL MISSION

The American Folklife Center is seeking presentations for the first KIAWAH national conference on cultural conser­ vation, to be held at the Library of ISLAND Congress, May 16-19, 1990. The con­ 1{I.,\LESl\ll Sr\U . ~

f ,

SUMMER 1989 15 The "In Country" concert, held in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium on July 13, was opened by Bill Dower, who led six marines in the "singing" of cadences called "jodies." Dower is a former chief drill instructor for the Marine Corps, the first black to hold the post. Story on page 1. Photo by Reid Baker

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