CENTERNEWS SUMMER 1998 • VOLUME XX, NUMBER 3

American Folklife Center • The Library of Congress Administrative Office TELEPHONE AND ONLINE Fax: 202707-2076 INFORMATION RESOURCES Reference Service Tel: 202 707-5510 American Folklife Center publica­ ti ons (i ncluding Fo lklife Ce nter Board of Trustees News), a calendar of events, collec­ tion guides, general information, Congressional Appointees and connections to a selection of William L. Kinney Jr. , Chair, other Internet services related to South Caroli na folklife a re ava il able on the James F. Hoy, Vice-chair, Kansa s Internet. Charles E. Trimble, Nebraska The American Folklife Center LC Web is available through Presidential Appointees was crea ted in 1976 by the U.s. Con­ your local World Wide Web service. Joseph D. Duffey, Director of th e gress to "preserve and present The Center's home page can be United States Information Agency American folk life" through pro­ accessed from the library'S main grams of research, documentation, menu. The direct URL for th e Ex Officio Members archival preservation, reference ser­ Center's home page is: http : James H. Billington, Librarian of vice, live performance, exhibition, / /lcweb .loc. gov/ fo lklife/ Congress publication, and training. The Cen­ 1. Michael Heyman, Secretary of ter incorporates the Archive of Folk Folkline, an information ser­ the Smithsonian In stitution Culture, which was established in vice providing timely information William Ivey, Chairman, the Music Division of the Library of on the field of fo lklore and folklife, Nationa l Endowm en t for the Arts Congress in 1928 and is now one of including training and professional William Ferris, Chai rman, Nationa l the largest collections of ethno­ opportunities and news items of na­ Endowment for the Humanities graphic material from the United tional interest, is available through Alan Jabbour, Director, American States and around the world. the above Internet servers. For tele­ Folklife Center phone service, call the Folklife Reading Room: 202 707-5510.

Administration EDITOR'S NOTES Alan Jabbour, Director Doris Craig, Administrative Assistant FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS Interns Acquisitions James Hardin, Editor David A. Ta ylor, Editorial Advisor Joseph c. Hickerson, Head Interns in Washington don't have Processing John Biggs, Library of Congress Graphics Unit, Designer a very savory reputation these Catherine Hiebert Kerst, Archivist days, although intern positions, Nora Yeh, Archivist Folklife Center News publishes ar­ often unpaid, continue to be popu­ Programs lar at many federal agencies. Peter T. Bartis, Folklife Specialist ticles on the programs and activi­ Camila Bryce-Laporte, Program ti es of the American Folklife Cen­ Folklife Center News can't hope to Coordinator ter, as well as other articles on tra­ correct an impression created per­ Mary Hufford, Fo lklife Specia list ditional expressive culture. It is haps by the national media, but David A. Taylor, Fo lklife Specialist available free of charge from the Publications Library of Congress, Am erican continued on page 15 James Hardin, Editor Folklife Center, Washington, D.C. Public Events 20540-4610. Folklife Center News Theadocia Austen, Coordinator does not publish announcements Cover: The Folk Alliance honored the Reference from other institutions or reviews American Folklife Center with a Lifetime Jennifer A. Cutting, Folklife of books from publishers other than Achievement Award at the Alliance's Specialist the Library of Congress. Readers annual conference in Memphis, Tennes­ Judith A. Gray, Folklife Specialist, who would like to comment on see, February 12. Jim Hirsch, executive Coordinator Center activities or newsletter ar­ director of the Old-Time Music School in Stephanie A. Hall, Automation ticles may address their remarks to Chicago and co-chair of the Lifetime Ann Hoog, Fo lklife Specia list the editor. Achievement Award Committee (left), presented the award to Judith McCulloh, chair of the Center's Board of Trustees, and Alan Jabbour, director of the Cen­ ter. Photo by James Hardin 2 Folklife Center News Alllerican Folklife Center Receives Folk Alliance Lifetillle Achievelllent Award

Members of the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center proudly display the Center's Lifetime Achieve­ ment Award at the Folk Alliance conference in Memphis, February 12. From left to right: James Hoy, William Kinney, Judith McCulloh, Juris Ubans, Alan Jabbour, Winston Tabb (Associate Librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress), and Nina Archabal. Photo by James Hardin

The American Folklife Center has fields of folk music and dance. honorees have included Pete received a Lifetime Achievement There are three categories for the Seeger, Alan Lomax, Woody Award from the North American awards, for living performers, de­ Guthrie, Moe Asch, Utah Phillips, Folk Music and Dance Alliance, ceased performers, and for a busi­ and Chris Strachwitz. one of three presented this year in ness or organization that has con­ The North American Folk Music Memphis, Tennessee, at the Folk tributed in non-performing ways, and Dance Alliance exists to foster Alliance's Tenth Anniversary Con­ such as recording, archiving, pro­ and promote traditional, contempo­ ference, February 12-15. The other ducing, or otherwise facilitating rary, and multicultural folk music, two winners were Jean Richie and folk music and dance. dance, and related performing arts Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter. The recipients are chosen each in North American. The Folk Alli­ The Lifetime Achievement year from a list of nominees by a ance seeks to strengthen and ad­ Awards program of the Folk Alli­ panel of electors who have been in vance organizational and individual ance is designed to honor mem­ the field for many years and thus initiatives in folk music and dance bers of the folk community who have the experience and perspec­ through education, networking, ad­ have made lifelong contributions tive to judge the lasting nature of vocacy, and professional and field to sustaining and enriching the the nominees' contributions. Past development. Summer 1998 3 Folksinger Jean Richie also received a Lifetime Achieve­ ment Award from the Folk Alliance. She is shown here with folksinger Tom Paxton (left) and award committee co­ chair Jim Hirsch. (See Lucy Long's article in this issue for comments on Richie's contri­ butions to the dulcimer tradition in Appalachia.) Photo by James Hardin

Prominent folklorist and former head of the Archive of Folk Culture, Alan Lomax (center) was a visitor at the February meeting of the Center's board of trustees, along with his daughter, Anna Lomax Chairetakis (right). The meeting was held in Memphis to coincide with the Folk Alliance annual conference. Photo by James Hardin

Retiring members of the Center's board of trustees (left to right) : Nina Archabal (Minne­ sota), Carolyn Hecker (Maine), Juris Ubans (Maine), and Judith McCulloh (Illinois). Photo by James Hardin

4 Folklife Center News Appalachian Plucked Dulcitner: Field Recordings in the Archive of Folk Culture

By Lucy Long

Since the beginning of the twenti­ eth century, popular images of the dulcimer have tended towards the romantic, associating the instru­ ment with the notion of Appala­ chian residents as "our Elizabe­ than ancestors" and with simplis­ tic conceptions of folk music as a spontaneous, natural outpouring of musical tradition. Repertoires were assumed to be limited to older pieces (balladry, play party songs, and religious hymnody harking back to the British Isles) and playing styles limited to simple melodic lines with drone accompaniments, requiring little technical skill or musical talent. Even the origins of the instrument itself were shrouded in the mists of the past, leaving it open to speculation and mythologizing. Popular magazines and literature portrayed the dulcimer as an an­ cient instrument played by bare­ foot, long-haired maidens who sat in front of their log cabins, dream­ Stanley Hicks, 1980. Photo by Lucy Long ily strumming their hand-hewn instruments while singing medi­ eval English epics. Thus began a lifelong interest ceived a grant from the Parsons My own Appalachian heritage in the dulcimer, one that led me to, Fund for Ethnography in the Li­ made me suspicious of this image. among other places, the Archive of brary of Congress, which I used to My relatives in northwestern Folk Culture at the Library of Con­ cover travel expenses to continue North Carolina did not seem very gress, where I did an internship in my research. The Archive's mate­ Elizabethan to me, and most of 1978. Archive head Joe Hickerson rials have enabled me to speculate them had not seen a dulcimer un­ quickly discovered my interest more knowledgeably about the til I showed them one. My own in­ and has continuously fed my en­ musical development of the dul­ troduction to the instrument was thusiasm and curiosity over the cimer. in high school, in the early 1970s, years. In 1983 I began a finding aid when an older brother bought one on the dulcimer, noting down the he Archive's holdings con­ at a gift shop in a summer resort tuning, playing style, and reper­ tain over forty-one collec­ town. Then, when I heard moun­ toire of each recording in the tions that include dulci­ tain residents play the dulcimer, it Archive; and I have incorporated T mer material. The earliest sounded much more vigorous and this work into numerous papers recordings were made in 1934 at energetic than the few existing and articles, including my doc­ the American Folk Song Festival in commercial recordings. toral dissertation. In 1997 I re­ Ashland, Kentucky. Other record­ Summer 1998 5 fuller picture of the pur­ Variations in shape and construc­ pose of the recordings and tion further suggest "pockets of the relationship between tradition" rather than a homog­ the collectors and their in­ enous, pan-Appalachian regional formants, a perspective dulcimer tradition. that is needed to under­ Toward the end of the 1800s, the stand the selection process settlement school and crafts move­ behind the pieces and ments brought the dulcimer to the playing styles recorded. attention of outsiders, and it be­ These materials, along came emblematic of an imagined with my own fieldwork, and romanticized Appalachian suggest some preliminary culture. This view simultaneously conclusions about the mu­ encouraged mountain residents to sical traditions of the dul­ preserve the dulcimer as it was at cimer. the time and discouraged them Because few historical from developing it further. records of the dulcimer ex­ After the 1940s, the dulcimer ist, the origins of the in­ entered the urban northeast folk strument were open to music revival scene, largely due to speculation until recently, Kentucky-born musician Jean when scholars Ralph Lee Ritchie. Dulcimer making has now Smith and L. Alan Smith become a hobby and cottage in­ reconstructed the history dustry throughout the United by analyzing older dulci­ States, dulcimer clubs abound, and mers. The dulcimer origi­ a quarterly magazine Dulcimer nated in the region that Players News began publication in Edd Presnell making a dulcimer at Craftsman's extends from southwest­ 1975. Although a wide variety of Fair in Ashville, North Carolina. Travel Informa­ ern Pennsylvania to west­ playing techniques and repertoires tion Division, Department of Connservation, Ra­ ern Virginia, sometime in leigh, North Carolina have developed, the dulcimer still the late 1700s or early carries the aura of a simplistic Ap­ 1800s, through the adapta­ palachian folk culture. ings from the 1930s were collected tion of a Germanic folk instru­ The recordings in the Archive by figures significant in the history ment, the Scheitholt, which was challenge the popular stereotype of the discipline of folklore as well reduced in width and depth and of dulcimer music as domestic, as the development of the Archive: placed on a soundbox. The early quiet, female, and tied to older John A. Lomax, Bess Lomax style of playing this new instru­ styles of music. The individual Hawes, Alan Lomax, Herbert ment reflected a blend of British pieces in the Archive's holdings Halpert, Charles Seeger, Sidney instrumental traditions and musi­ suggest that the early repertoires Robertson Cowell, Duncan cal sensibilities, including the use of traditional players were much Emrich, and Frank C. Brown. The of drones and modal melodies. more varied than supposed. There performers on these recordings Easily constructed by hand of are examples of ballads, older include a range of academics (such local materials, the dulcimer hymns, and play party songs be­ as I.G. Greer, Artus Moser, and spread through the southern Ap­ ing accompanied by dulcimer, but Josiah Combs), knowledgeable palachian region by chance en­ these do not make up the largest collectors and revivalist players counters and active peddling of percentage of the repertoire. Dance (such as Anne Grimes and Maurice several makers, particularly J. Ed­ tunes are the most common, and Matteson), and native mountain ward Thomas of Knott County, these recordings reveal that the families (such as the Ritchies from Kentucky, who had connections to dulcimer was frequently played east Kentucky, the Hickses and the Hindman Settlement School with other instruments-banjos, Proffitts from western North Caro­ and made dulcimers between 1871 fiddles, guitars. It was played by lina, and the Meltons from Galax, and 1930, and c.P. Prichard of men as well as women. Recordings Virginia). Huntington, West Virginia, who also include examples of pieces How accurately do these collec­ manufactured what he termed an coming from the popular commer­ tions reflect the development of "American dulcimer" and offered cial repertoires of the day and from the musical traditions of the dul­ strings through mail order. Both African-American spirituals and cimer? Fortunately, the Archive makers used an hourglass form blues. also possesses researchers and three strings, possibly helping fieldnotes from the collecting to make this form the standard. Ow much did collectors trips, as well as miscellaneous influence the content of ephemera (newspaper accounts, he dulcimer, however, was the recordings? Most publicity brochures, lecture notes, not widely known. Fre­ H were seeking older, itineraries, photographs) and cor­ quently, it was associated more traditional forms, and many respondence from collectors and T with a single individual or had time and monetary restrictions individuals interviewed. These family, suggesting that it was part that limited their exposure to the written materials help provide a of an idiosyncratic tradition. cultural contexts in which they 6 Folklife Center News were collecting. An example of a milk jugs or other recycled plastic confirm the conservative, nostal­ collector actively selecting the rep­ objects. There are also accounts, gic holding to the past posited by ertoire to be recorded comes from but no recordings, of early play­ the popular stereotypes, the re­ a 1939 WPA-sponsored project. In ers using bows, a practice possi­ cordings document an innovative, recordings made of the Hicks fam­ bly drawing from northern Euro­ inventive approach to cultural re­ ily of Beech Mountain, North pean folk techniques. sources. Carolina, the collector sounds im­ Some early players also used patient and urges them to start their fingers to strum the strings, Selected Reading singing. The recording makes clear either substituting the thumb for that he is looking for songs that a pick or adapting other instru­ Long, Lucy. "The Negotiation of have historical continuity in the mental playing techniques to the Tradition: Collectors, Community, family. When his informant men­ dulcimer, such as the clawhammer and the Appalachian Dulcimer in tions that she learned the words of style of playing the banjo or Beech Mountain, North Carolina." a ballad from another collector, the fingerpicking techniques of play­ PhD. Diss., University of Pennsyl­ recording machine is abruptly ing guitar. Such adaptations were vania, 1995. turned off. When it is turned back natural, since there were no dulci­ on, she introduces another tune, mer instruction books to establish Smith, L. Allen. A Catalog of Pre­ stating hesitantly that she learned standard techniques and the in­ Revival Appalachian Dulcimers. this piece "from my mother and struments were being dissemi­ Columbia, Missouri: University of my father." nated by peddlers who might not Missouri Press, 1983. Collectors also tended to seek have known how to play them. out those individuals thought to Smith, Ralph Lee. The Story of the represent tradition, and to select The portrait of dulcimer music Dulcimer. Cosby, Tennessee: Cry­ those aspects of an individual's that emerges from the recordings ing Creek Publishers, 1986. repertoire that fit prevailing aca­ in the Archive of Folk Culture is demic expectations. The Hicks of a diverse and eclectic mixture Smith, Ralph Lee. Appalachian family again provides an example. of playing techniques and reper­ Dulcimer Traditions. Lanham, In the 1930s Nathan Hicks was toires, which drew upon southern Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, "discovered" by collectors. Known Appalachian musical traditions as Inc., 1997. within his community as an inno­ well as the popular music of the vator and experimenter, Hicks was United States. There was no single Lucy Long teaches folklore in the De­ upheld by outsiders as an tradition of dulcimer music among partment of Popular Culture at Bowl­ examplar of traditional mountain the mountain people recorded but ing Green State University in Ohio. culture and was used as the au­ rather there were many family­ thoritative source for dulcimer based traditions. And rather than music and older ballads. It is ob­ vious from his correspondence with collectors, however, that Hicks recognized the commerial possibilities of his music. If the Five dulcimers from older stuff was selling, then that the collections of was what he would offer. This at­ George Holbert titude, coupled with a sense of Tucker. Upright on hospitality, led him to put down chair: three-string the guitar, pick up the dulcimer, dulcimer by Edd Presnell of Banner and relearn the songs of the older Elk, North Carolina; people in the community. For out­ against tree: four­ siders with whom he developed string dulcimer by strong friendships, such as Edsel Martin of North folksong collectors Frank and Carolina; flat on chair: Anne Warner, he performed a six-string dulcimer by wider selection from his reper­ Bill Davis of toire. Gatlinburg, Tennes­ The Archive's recordings docu­ see; on stool with ment a wide array of dulcimer feather pick: three­ playing styles and techniques, and string dulcimer by this may reflect collectors' interest Frank N. Proffitt of in capturing such variation. The Vilas, North Carolina; use of feather quills canonized by on stool, front: three­ Jean Ritchie seems to have been a string dulcimer by Arlo local tradition in eastern Ken­ Jeffreys of Roanoke, tucky; players elsewhere preferred Virginia. Photo by S. a thin piece of wood or a stick. H. Ringo, The Virgin­ Many contemporary mountain ian Pilot, Norfolk, players use plastic picks cut from Virginia Summer 1998 7 A Summer at the American Folklife Center: My Experiences as an Intern

Vincenzo Scordo, originally from Calabria, Italy, in the basement of his home in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, with barrels of his homemade wine, August 11, 1997. Photo by Simon Phillips

By Simon Phillips ter of 1996 I first traveled to the towards traditional culture and home of Vincent Scordo, a college how the traditions I observed in The afternoon sun shines down on friend whose family lives in New Jersey could be understood this green piece of land as the old man Cliffside Park, a veritable "Little as examples of folklife. He also takes me on a walking tour of his back­ Italy" of New Jersey. It was there told me about an internship oppor­ yard. I follow him down a path of that I first heard the Calabrian dia­ tunity working with the collec­ wooden planks laid across the moist lects of Italian, tasted home-made tions in the Archive of Folk Cul­ summer earth and find myself deep in wine, and pondered long and ture at the American Folklife Cen­ the garden. Rows of beans stretch sky­ thoughtfully the curious sight of ter in the Library of Congress. In ward along their guideposts as nearby fig trees bowed over and wrapped the spring of 1997, I received a tomato plants collapse under the up in burlap and blankets against grant from UNH, under Professor weight of their fruit. A chicken coos the chill of a frozen winter. Even Feintuch's sponsorship, to conduct softly from a hidden coop as a hunt­ in the depths of January, entering "Archival and Ethnographic Re­ ing dog greets us from his pen across the Scordo's home and neighbor­ search on Italian-American Gar­ the yard. Crossing under the shade of hood gave me the impression of dening and Wine-Making Tradi­ the grape arbor, Guiseppe offers me having traveled a distance of thou­ tions." By June 1997, I was on my some of his early harvest. Excellent! sands of miles culturally, across way to Washington. Inside the home, friends and family the Atlantic and into the rugged have gathered. I will stay with these Mediterranean hill country of ru­ n June 20, I made my new companions well into the night, ral southern Italy. way from a dormitory drinking home-made red wine, listen­ I carried my impressions of a room at Georgetown ing to traditional southern Italian tar­ transplanted Italian culture back O University to the Capitol antella music, and eating home-made to school with me to the Univer­ South Metro stop and then up to sausage and cheese. [Excerpt from sity of New Hampshire. In the fall the Jefferson Building at the Li­ senior thesis, based on field re­ semester of 1996, I took a course brary of Congress. Soon after en­ search, summer 1997] taught by Prof. Burt Feintuch en­ tering the Folklife Reading Room, titled "Folklore and Folklife." I met my new boss, Joe Hickerson, How unexpected are the paths From Professor Feintuch I learned and soon I had my first assign­ of life's journeys. During the win­ the approach that folklorists take ment. Joe asked for my name, 8 Folklife Center News phone numbers, and addresses on new to me, while gaining knowl­ completion of this task. For some­ a three-by-five notecard- type­ edge of various material that one interested in the folklife of written. Having been raised as would prove helpful in my re­ Italian Americans, such as myself, part of the "computer generation," search. it was a fortuitous assignment. preparing this notecard was an in­ But I also had a personal inter­ Once I mastered the art of correctly timidating task. The last time I est in the Library of Congress col­ looping and turning the audio could remember sitting in front of lections. As the grandson of a tape on the recording machine, I a typewriter was 1989, when I was folksinger active in the New York gained access to an incredibly rich fifteen, during a typing class in my City region until quite recently, I source of information on the lives freshman year of high school. was curious to see if any record of and culture of Italian-Americans. Nevertheless, as I fumbled his musical activities could be At the same time, I learned how through several versions written found, either in the Archive or professionals such as Michelle or­ and rewritten on a number of elsewhere in the Library. Once I ganize and label cultural materi­ three-by-fives, the lesson was clear told Joe of my interests, he became als, lessons that would prove im­ and the introduction fitting. Here an active and dedicated partici­ portant later in the summer when at the Archive, things were to be pant in my search. We spent time I needed to record and label the done the right way-even if that each day over the next week scan­ collection of tapes and photo­ meant the old-fashioned way. ning Archive and Library collec­ graphs from my own fieldwork. The stipulations of my univer­ tions. Through this exercise I The life stories and other cul­ sity grant obligated me to spend a learned of the Music Division, tural information contained in the significant portion of my time in found out where records are pro­ tape-recorded interviews were Washington completing research cessed and stored, and how infor­ very useful to my study. After lis­ on my project. As an intern, it was mation on folk music has been re­ tening, I decided to look at the way important that I spend as much corded and indexed, but we failed the folklife of Italian Americans is time as possible on assignments of to find a record album in the col­ an important part of the ties that direct importance to the Folklife lections. Finally, in the Copyright bind families and communities. Center. Arrangements made ahead Office, we came across a copyright While the focus of my project re­ of time with Joe ensured that a bal­ record of an LP album of folk mu­ mained on the wine-making and ance between the two would be sic recorded by my grandfather, gardening traditions of southern possible. As an intern, I would fo ­ Murray Phillips, in cus on three major tasks. First, I the 1950s. Working would work toward the comple­ with Joe, my family tion of an already-begun "finding and I donated a copy aid" of materials in the Archive of of Murry Phillips Folk Culture related to the tradi­ Sings , recorded on tions of Italian Americans. Second, Truetone Records in I would aid Dance Heritage Coa­ the late 1970s, so my lition archivist Michelle Forner in grandfather's music processing materials related to the is now included in Center's Italian-Americans in the the Library's collec­ West Project. With these two jobs tions. as a starting point, I hoped to fur­ My work with ther my research on the topics of Michelle Forner the history and folklife of Italian proved rewarding as Americans, with a particular em­ well. The Center's phasis on migration out of south­ Italian-Americans in ern Italy and the nature and sig­ the West Project, nificance of gardening and wine­ which surveyed the making traditions. Such research folklife of Italian would lay a foundation for a se­ Americans in a five­ nior thesis and prepare me for my state region during a own field research, to be com­ period from 1989 to pleted later during the summer 1992, resulted in a following my internship. considerable number Finding aids function as in­ of interviews re­ dexes to the cultural information corded on reel-to­ that the Folk Archive has accumu­ reel tapes. In order to lated over the years. Working on be more accessible to an IBM word processing system, I researchers and the rewrote drafts of entries that had general public, these been previously prepared, while tapes required copy­ researching files throughout the ing onto cassettes. I Guiseppe DeFranco, originally from Calabria, Italy, Archive in order to write new spent much of my in his backyard gathering nuts from a "Valarn" nut ones. In doing so, I learned how time working for tree, Belleville, New Jersey, August 13, 1997. Ph oto to use a word-processing system Michelle in the by Simon Phillips

Summer 1998 9 Italians in New Jersey, I extended ends, Peter made sure I knew the which they were most comfort­ its scope to include the family and basics of recording equipment op­ able. As a result, each interview other social implications of this erations, such as where the "on" developed in its own way and con­ folklife. Before I could head for the button was located (a surprisingly tributed to different aspects of the field, however, I had much more challenging task for this techni­ project. During that first appoint­ research to do in the Library. cally challenged history major). In ment with the Scordos, I learned At first, navigating the August, I said my final farewells about Mr. Scordo's process for Library's massive resources to Washington and headed north wine-making. I also learned about seemed an overwhelming task. for the Garden State. what kinds of vegetables he grew, During this portion of my re­ where they were from, and how search, I received critical help and n August 11, I set out Mrs. Scordo used them in her guidance from Center folklife spe­ through the notorious cooking. For my second interview cialist David Taylor, who directed New Jersey traffic for my I spoke with all the members of the Italian-Americans in the West O first appointment with Vinny's immediate family, who Project. Through David's help, I my friend Vinny's grandparents, told me about the importance of learned how to use the various da­ Vincenzo and Roseanna Scordo. family to southern Italians and tabases associated with the Prior to my interview, Vinny in­ about the way the traditions they Library's Main Reading Room. formed me that these two natives sustained here in America were Research on these databases led of southern Italy maintained the key to the maintenance of a mean­ me to books and periodical articles largest garden in the family, and ingful family life. on Italian history, Italian immigra­ that most of the Scordo's wine­ My third interview, with the tion to the United States, and making activity occurred in their DeFrancos of Belleville, came wine-making and gardening in backyard "wine cellar." Although about as a result of a contact I had ethnic communities. At David's confident of my preparation, I ap­ made at the Folklife Center with suggestion I visited the Library'S proached this first interview with folklorist Anna Lomax Geography and Map Division, nervousness and trepidation. As I Chairetakis, who has completed where I found a map that included neared Cliffside, I reviewed the extensive research on southern Pelligrina, the small southern ital­ preparations I had made. My list Italian musical traditions in ian village from which my friend's of questions, tape recorder, micro­ America. When I mentioned my parents had migrated many years phone, audio tapes, notebook, project to her, she suggested that I ago. camera, and extra film were all in contact the DeFranco family, who Prior to my departure for New place and I felt ready for field­ are remarkable traditional musi­ Jersey, Center staffer Peter Bartis work. cians. The interview began as an loaned me a tape recorder and Following David Taylor's ad­ exploration of their extensive veg­ microphone through the Center's vice, I first asked my informants etable garden and wine cellar and Equipment Loan Program. As I basic questions that indicated my then evolved into a joyous and struggled through the last few interest in certain subject areas, celebratory evening of live south­ days of my internship, completing and then allowed them to elabo­ ern Italian tarantella music. projects and wrapping up loose rate and follow up on those with Though not directly related to my subject, musical traditions are very important to this family, and I be­ gan to see the interconnectedness of one folklife tradition to another. Returning to school in Septem­ ber, I found that I had amassed an incredible amount of written, tape­ recorded, and photographic mate­ rial for my project. Although sort­ ing through and reviewing the data took no less than a semester, I was well prepared for the task by my experience as an intern. I left Washington with a broadened per­ spective on the subject of folklife and the skills for completing my own fieldwork and writing a se­ nior thesis. Simon Phillips graduated this year from the University of New Hamp­ shire. After spending the summer in Calabria, Italy, he will become a teach­ Simon Phillips (right) with his senior-thesis advisor, Burt Feintuch, at the ing intern at a high school in Con­ University of New Hampshire. Photo by Doug Prince, Instructional Services, necticut. Dimond Library, University of New Hampshire 10 Folklife Center News Interns and Volunteers at the American Folklife Center

By Joseph c. Hickerson lowed to work at the Folk Archive and James B. Hardin as part of that program. In the late sixties, student pro­ The first volunteers at the Archive tests at colleges and universities of Folk Culture, established 1928 resulted in new academic sched­ in the Music Division as the ules, which in turn allowed stu­ Archive of American Folk-Song, dents more freedom to plan for in­ were relatives of the staff: Mrs. ternships away from campus. Robert W. Gordon and Roberta Many came to work in the Archive Gordon, for example, the wife and from Oberlin College, the alma daughter of the first head. In 1938, mater of Folk Archive head Joseph Pete Seeger became the first non­ c. Hickerson. Hickerson began to family member to volunteer, distribute flyers advertising in­ working under the supervision of ternships at folk festivals, profes­ Alan Lomax. sional meetings, and other gath­ In the early sixties, occasional erings of persons interested in volunteers did typing and per­ folklore, folk music, and formed other routine clerical tasks. ethnomusicology, and eventually Marie Walter has helped edit a finding For example, Peter Hooven typed the program was included in pub­ aid, filed correspondence in the Folklife an inventory of reference disc cop­ lished listings. Reading Room, and done transcrip­ Hickerson continued to coordi­ tions of letters from the John A. Lomax ies of Archive recordings, which a collections. succession of folksingsers listened nate the intern and volunteer pro­ to and learned a number of songs gram when the Archive became therefrom in the late 1950s and part of the American Folklife Cen­ At the Center interns work part early 1960s. Ivy League colleges ter in 1978. Legislation for the time or full time throughout the sponsored a "Summer on the Hill" American Folklife Center, the year, with occasional "peaks" of program, designed primarily for Center for the Book, and the Divi­ volunteer activity during the sum­ work at congressional offices, and sion of the Blind and Physically mer months. Volunteers who live in 1963 Naomi Ware from Vassar Handicapped specifically allowed in the Washington area often work College insisted that she be al­ for volunteers. one day a week. Volunteers do typ­ ing and filing, work on bibliogra­ phies, and compile reference and finding aids. Many assist with spe­ cial projects that are underway, such as organizing and labeling material from documentary field collections. Debbie McClatchy, a folksinger with an international reputation, drove to Washington from her home in Pennsylvania once a month for a number of years to volunteer, as a way of paying back the Archive for help it had given her with her researches. Both volunteers and interns say they work here because they love folklife materials and are devoted to the collections in the Archive of Folk Culture. Many interns be­ Carol Moran (left) has compiled finding aids, reshelved books and filed come folklorists, and, because the reference material in the corporate and subjects files in the Reading program has been underway for Room, and filled requests for publications. Rachel Howard (right), now over thirty years, many of those in a temporary employee for the National Digital Library Program, was the professional folklore commu­ an unpaid intern. Like so many other interns at the American Folklife nity today have had a personal ex­ Center, Howard compiled a state finding aid (hers on West Virginia), a perience working at the Library of listing of material available for study in the Archive of Folk Culture. Congress.

Summer 1998 11 Joseph c. Hickerson: A Folk Archivist's Folk Archivist

By James Hardin Phoenecia, New York, where Jose Feliciano. Cooney showed his Hickerson was working that sum­ appreciation by helping to estab­ Joseph c. Hickerson, head of the mer. He noted them down and lish the Friends of the Folk Archive Archive of Folk Culture, head of they were used subsequently in Fund in 1978, and in a note to acquisitions for the American popular recordings by such artists Hickerson more recently, he wrote, Folklife Center, reference librarian as The Kingston Trio; Peter, Paul, "'Tis said that the service we ren­ extraordinaire, folksinger, story­ and Mary; Johnny Rivers, Marlene der others is the rent we pay for teller, and punster, retired on July Dietrich, and Joan Baez. Hickerson our room on earth, and you cer­ 2, after thirty-five years at the Li­ earned a master's degree in folk­ tainly paid yours, Joe. You were brary of Congress. Hickerson lore at Indiana University in 1961, always ready and willing to share chose the date in part because his and stayed on until 1963 to do your vast knowledge, teach a term of service equaled one-half graduate work in folklore and song, or ferret out a whole clutch the life of the Archive, which was ethnomusicology and to direct the of variants for the eager prospec­ established in the Music Division Indiana Folklore Archive. tor. Your interest was OUR inter­ on July I, 1928. Hickerson has been bibliogra­ est." Hickerson came to the Library pher, council member, and secre­ Notable among Hickerson's ac­ of Congress in June 1963 as a ref­ tary of the Society for Ethnomusi­ tivities at the Archive and the Cen­ erence librarian in the Archive of cology, chairman of the archiving ter is his management of an intern Folk Song. He became its eighth committee of the American Folk­ program. For the past thirty years, head in 1974. Several years after lore Society, founder and president he has been encouraging students the Archive became part of the of the Folklore Society of Greater to work with the ethnographic ma­ American Folklife Center (in Washington, member of the advi­ terials here, and as a result many 1978), Hickerson became head of sory boards for Sing Out! and of those in the professional folk­ acquisitions, but he continued to Foxfire, a book review editor, mu­ lore community today (including serve in the capacity of reference sic critic, and lecturer. His partici­ several Library employees) have librarian and chief resource person pation in the folksong revival dur­ been able to develop their archi­ for many researchers from around ing the 1960s alerted many per­ val and library skills, pursue their the country and the world. sons to the resources at the research interests, and make a con­ Folksong scholar Norm Cohen Archive, attracting such visitors as tribution to the national folk writes, "On many occasions I have Judy Collins, Michael Cooney, and archive. telephoned Joe for details about a song that I had only some dim clues about- a few notes here, a phrase there-and have heard him sing to me twenty-eight verses from memory over the telephone before I could even find a pencil and paper." Hickerson was born in High­ land Park, Illinois, in 1935, and spent his early years in New Ha­ ven, Connecticut, where he gradu­ ated from high school in 1953. His interest in folk music began in ear­ nest while he was a student at Oberlin College, where he re­ ceived his B.A. degree in physics in 1957. He met Pete Seeger while at Oberlin, and in 1960 he com­ posed the fourth and fifth verses for a song Seeger had recently re­ corded, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," based on a Rus­ sian folksong text. By chance, Seeger heard the new verses being Joseph C. Hickerson in the Folklife Reading Room playing the guitar that sung at Camp Woodland in Burl Ives donated to the Folk Archive in 1989. Photo by James Hardin 12 Folklife Center News For even longer than he has been helping others do re­ search at the Library, Joe A Resolution of Appreciation Hickerson has been entertain­ ing audiences with his guitar Whereas, Joseph C. Hickerson has indicated his desire to retire from his posi­ and songs, in the Washington, tion as head of the Archive of Folk Culture of the American Folklife Center D.C., area, as well as at folk during July 1998; festivals, coffeehouses, and universities throughout the Whereas, Joe Hickerson will have completed thirty-five years of seNice to the United States. He has re­ Archive of Folk Song and Archive of Folk Culture, this representing one-half of corded three solo albums of the time these Archives have been in existence; folk music for Folk-Legacy Records and may be heard on Whereas, Joe Hickerson has been a constant and continuing influence in at­ a number of others, such as a tracting collections to the Archive and in helping make these collections known 1968 Folkways LP by The and available to the general public; Folksmiths that included the first published recording of Whereas, Joe Hickerson is renowned as a folk musician, both as a vocalist and as a guitarist, and is widely known throughout this nation as a performer who "Kum Ba Yah." Backed by an presents folk music in its original style; intimate knowledge of the great musical heritage in the Whereas, Joe Hickerson has been of great service to the American Folklife Archive's collections, his own Center and to the Board of Trustees since joining the Center staff in 1978; performances have earned him the name "folksinger's Now, Be It Resolved, that the Board ofTrustees of the American Folklife Center folksinger." To that accolade at the Library of Congress in the City of Washington hereby publishes this Reso­ might well be added the epi­ lution of Appreciation and Recognition to Joseph C. Hickerson for his long and thet "folk archivist's folk ar­ distinguished service to the field of folklife in the United States, to the Archive of chivist." Folk Culture, and to the American Folklife Center and its Board of Trustees, and The Board of Trustees of requests that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of this meet­ the American Folklife Center ing of the Board of Trustees at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., on presented Hickerson with the this date of May 22, 1998. following "resolution" at its May Meeting in Washington:

The Archive's Greatest Treasure

By Stephen Wade brary than this former physics position of the schooner. The major from Connecticut. He re­ old fisherman tasted the dirt on Washington -area musician and inde­ minds me of the old New England the lead-his favorite method fatigable Archive researcher Stephen sea captain: of determining its individual­ Wade made the following remarks at ity- and suddenly exclaimed, a workshop entitled "What I Learned The decision as to just where a "Nantucket's sunk, and here we from Joe Hickerson," at the Washing­ schooner shall fish depends a are right over Ma'am Hackett's ton Folk Festival, May 31 , 1998. great deal on the depth of the garden!"l water and the character of the When Joe Hickerson first told bottom. By constant sounding In the same way the captain me of his retirement plans, he de­ with a lead line an expert cap­ pinpointed his position, Joe locates scribed the decision in terms of tain gets to know the realm be­ with accession numbers, shelf lists, numerology. He would retire in neath the waters very thor­ finding aids, and bibliographies. July 1998, after thirty-five years at oughly. The story is told of a With these markers bobbing in a the Library of Congress, which is certain old Nantucket skipper sea of accumulated information, half of the Folk Archive's seventy who could invariably tell just Joe has piloted countless research­ years of life. There is a certain where the vessel was by exam­ ers (including me) down the end­ mathematical wonder in imagin­ ining the soil his lead brought lessly deep, thoroughly irregular ing the sheer size and extent of the up. In order to perplex him his channels of folklore and its study. nation's largest folklore collection crew once put some garden If you ask him a question, particu­ nestled within the marble confines loam from the home island in larly a recondite one, details will of the world's largest library. And the cup of the lead, made a pre­ flood into his mind, and with one no one knows better what lies tense of sounding, and then leap for the card catalog, he will within this one corner of the Li- asked the skipper to name the continued on page 15

Summer 1998 13 In Washington for their spring meeting, members of the Center's board of trustees met for lunch with newly appointed chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities William Ferris, an ex officio member of the board . Left to right: William Kinney, Ferris, Charles Trimble, and James Hoy. Photo by Donna Urschel

Lucy Ann Hurston at the Folklife Center, April 14, to Three generations of Blooms in the Folklife Reading discuss possible events and other products growing Room: Jerome, Jonathan, and Jacob, along with out of the Center's collections concerning her aunt, Jacob's mother, Frances Goldstein. On vacation in Zora Neale Hurston. She is working on a book on the Washington from their home in Boston, the Blooms famous folklorist and novelist, to be published by saw a reference in Fodor's 1998 Pocket Washington, Doubleday. Photo by James Hardin D. C. to a Library of Congress recording of Brer Rab­ bit folktales and stopped by the Folklife Reading Room to listen to Animal Tales Told in the Gullah Dialect, told by Albert H. Stoddard of Savannah , Georgia. Mrs. Bloom said they wanted to spend their time in the nation's capital doing "other than the usual tourist things." Photo by David Taylor

14 Folklife Center News fathom a route that can bring you horne. Joe provides living proof of what the Library of Congress knows to be its greatest asset, those reference librarians Dr. Billington, the Librarian of Con­ gress, calls its "knowledge naviga­ tors." Many also know that Joe's day job of managing this collection has taken place against a lifetime of his own song-making. From one role to another, whether culling refer­ ences from what he sometimes calls "ephemeral publications" or marveling at the ties between sing­ ers and their songs, Joe revels in the data that brings lives together. When Erika Brady, now a profes­ sor of folklore, but once an intern at the Archive, was visiting and in walked Duncan Emrich, its former head in the late nineteen-forties, Joe instantly recognized the pos­ sibilities and said, "Duncan, meet Brady!"2 Called on today to acknowl­ edge what I' ve learned from Joe Hickerson, from this man who is himself a folktale-"Why, that's Joe Hickerson, he knows more songs than anyone else" - I want to mention a project I recently completed. It's an album called A Bluesman Mississippi John Hurt at the Library of Congress recording studio in Treasury of Library of Congress Field March 1964. Behind him are Rae Korson, head of the Archive of Fo lk Song and Recordings. This collection is in­ Joseph C. Hickerson, then the Archive's reference librarian. Library of Congress debted to Joe Hickerson, who in­ photo spired my research at the Library over a period of twenty-three years and provided me with a Notes compendium of information. There can be no question that Joe 1. From Clifton Johnson, New En­ 2. Hickerson's wordplay comes Hickerson, who knows where ev­ gland, A Human Interest Geographi­ from the bad-man ballad called erything is, is the treasurer of the cal Reader (New York: The "Duncan and Brady." Many know national folk archive and its chief Macmillan Company, 1917), pp. its refrain, "He's been on the job treasure. 84-86. too long."

EDITOR'S NOTES from page 2 tional library. Lucy Long, like researchers around the country, many professional folklorists, also and several tributes to his thirty­ the summer issue offers two ar­ profited from the experience of five years of federal service are ticles by former Folklife Center working at the Library of Con­ included in this issue. Incidently, interns whose work with the ma­ gress. Joe has already indicated that he terials in the Archive of Folk Cul­ Both authors credit the assis­ will soon return to the Library as ture has contributed to their aca­ tance, guidance, and inspiration of a volunteer, an appropriate new demic careers and deepened their Joseph c. Hickerson, former head role for one who has so ably di­ understanding of their chosen of the Archive of Folk Culture, rected the volunteer and intern fields of interest. A recent gradu­ head of acquisitions for the Ameri­ program at the Archive and the ate of the University of New can Folklife Center, and reference Center. Hampshire, Simon Phillips is librarian extraordinaire. Joe re­ proud to say he has worked at the tired on July 2, to the consterna­ national folk archive in the na- tion and dismay of many folklife

Summer 1998 15 A gathering of Washington-area folklorists at the swearing-in ceremony for William Ivey, newly ap­ pointed chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, May 28. Left to right: Dan Sheehy, director of Heritage and Preservation, National Endowment for the Arts; Joe Wilson, director, National Coun­ cil for the Traditional Arts; William Ferris, chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities, who administered the oath; William Ivey; and Alan Jabbour, director, American Folklife Center. Photo by David Taylor

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