FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS SPRING 2002 • VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 2 American Folklife Center • The Library of Congress BOARD OF TRUSTEES ONLINE INFORMATION RESOURCES Congressional Appointees Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Chair, The American Folklife Center’s Massachusetts Web site provides full texts of Mickey Hart, California many publications, information William L. Kinney Jr., South Carolina about AFC projects, multimedia Judith McCulloh, Illinois presentations of selected collec­ tions, links to Web resources on Presidential Appointees ethnography, and announcements Maureen P. Cragin of upcoming events. The address Assistant Secretary for Public and for the home page is http://www. The American Folklife Center Intergovernmental Affairs loc.gov/folklife/ An index of the was created in 1976 by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs site contents is available at http:// Congress to “preserve and present Fran Mainella www.loc.gov/folklife/afcindex.html American folklife” through pro­ Director, National Park Service The Web site for The Veterans grams of research, documentation, Sonya E. Medina History Project provides an over­ archival preservation, reference ser­ Deputy Director of Projects vice, live performance, exhibition, view of the project, an online “kit” Office of the First Lady for participants recording oral his­ publication, and training. The The White House Center incorporates the Archive of tories of veterans, and a brief pre­ Neal A. McCaleb Folk Culture, which was established sentation of some examples of video- Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Music Division of the Library and audio-recordings of veterans’ of Congress in 1928 and is now one Department of the Interior stories. The address is http://www. of the largest collections of ethno­ Librarian Appointees loc.gov/folklife/vets graphic material from the United Jane Beck, Vice-chair, Vermont The Folkline Information Ser­ States and around the world. Norma Cantú, Texas vice is now a cooperative an­ Tom Rankin, North Carolina nouncement program of the William H. Wiggins Jr., Indiana American Folklore Society and the Ex Officio Members American Folklife Center. It is James H. Billington, Librarian of available only on the American STAFF Congress Folklore Society’s server: www. Lawrence M. Small, Secretary of the afsnet.org. The service provides Smithsonian Institution timely information on the field of Administration Vacant, Chairman, National folklore and folklife, including Peggy A. Bulger, Director training and professional oppor­ Doris Craig, Administrative Assistant Endowment for the Arts Bruce Cole, Chairman, National tunities, and news items of nation­ John Lewis, Assistant to the Director al interest. Acquisitions Endowment for the Humanities David A. Taylor, Acting Coordinator Jack Santino, President, Processing and Cataloging American Folklore Society Catherine Hiebert Kerst, Archivist Ellen Koskoff, President, Judy Ng, Processing Technician Society for Ethnomusicology EDITOR’S NOTES Todd Harvey, Processing Technician Peggy A. Bulger, Director, Marcia Segal, Processing Technician American Folklife Center New Staff Nora Yeh, Archivist Programs Mary Hufford, Folklife Specialist We are happy to report that Michael Taft, Folklife Specialist FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS Rosemary Graham, Todd Har­ David A. Taylor, Folklife Specialist James Hardin, Editor vey, Judy Ng, and Marcia Segal Publications David A. Taylor, Editorial Advisor have accepted full-time posi­ James Hardin, Editor Sheryle Shears, Designer tions as processing technicians Public Events Peggy Pixley, Production at the American Folklife Center. Theadocia Austen, Coordinator Rosemary Graham is complet­ Andrew Wallace, Coordinator Reference ing a master ’s degree in public Folklife Center News publishes ar­ Jennifer A. Cutting, Folklife Specialist history from Colorado State Uni­ ticles on the programs and activ­ Judith A. Gray, Folklife Specialist, versity. Todd Harvey holds a Coordinator ities of the American Folklife Cen­ Ph.D. in musical arts from Ohio Stephanie A. Hall, Automation Specialist ter, as well as other articles on State University, and has been Ann Hoog, Folklife Specialist traditional expressive culture. It is available free of charge from the working at the Center on a tem­ Veterans History Project porary appointment processing Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Director Library of Congress, American Peter T. Bartis, Project Manager Folklife Center, 101 Independence (Continued on page 19) Sarah Rouse, Program Officer Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. Janice Ruth, Program Officer 20540–4610. Folklife Center News does not publish announcements Cover: Chum Chan Chavvy, of the Virginia Sorkin, Program Officer Khmer Traditional Ar ts Ensemble, Timothy Roberts from other institutions or reviews por trays the Golden Deer at the Administrative Officer of books from publishers other Administrative Office than the Library of Congress. 49th National Folk Festival, Lowell, Fax: 202 707–2076 Readers who would like to com­ Massachusetts, July 24–26, 1987. Reference Service ment on Center activities or Photo by Rick Reinhar t, cour tesy of Tel: 202 707–5510 newsletter articles may address the National Council for the Tradi­ E-mail: [email protected] their remarks to the editor. tional Ar ts 2 Folklife Center News NFFA to NCTA: The Organization Broadens Its Mission Los Pleneros de la 21 at the 49th National Folk Festival, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1987. Photo by James Higgins By Andrew Wallace nent home were slim. Program failed to put the organization on director Sarah Gertrude Knott a sound footing, in large part The first part of this article, “The (1895–1984) and the associa- because there was no money to National Folk Festival: The Sarah tion’s board of directors hoped pay for a qualified executive. Gertrude Knott Years,” appeared in to establish Eastern and Western Knott felt that the festival the winter 2002 issue of Folklife sites for the festival, in alternat­ should continue as it always Center News. ing years, but no serious candi­ had, relying on unpaid perform­ dates presented themselves. The ers, and using the revue format By the late 1960s the National organization was in a precarious (a single stage, with a series of Folk Festival Association position financially, and there short acts) that the festival had (NFFA) had reached a cross­ was no consensus between the followed from its earliest years. roads. The National Folk Fes­ board and Knott as to what Others felt that, in order to pre­ tival had been moving to a direction the NFFA should take sent the best traditional artists, new location each year, to Flo­ programmatically. groups and individuals should rence and Covington, Kentucky; Sarah Gertrude Knott’s be paid, and the format include St. Petersburg, Florida; Den­ health was fragile, as she ap­ some of the features that festi­ ver, Colorado; Syracuse, New proached seventy-five, and she vals such as the Newport Folk York; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; was unable to pursue her ideas Festival and the Smithsonian’s and Knoxville, Tennessee; and as energetically as she once had. Festival of American Folklife prospects for finding a perma- Several business managers had had developed. These two Spring 2002 3 events revolutionized folk art arts administrator, although sylvania, had been active in pre­ presentation. Newport, begin­ none of it was in the folk or tra­ senting traditional music ning in 1963, popularized the ditional arts. through the Folklore Society of multistage format, mixed popu­ At the same time, several new Greater Washington, which he lar and highly traditional people became involved in the helped found in 1964. Perdue artists, and relied heavily on NFFA as program advisors, had taken a faculty position at fieldwork and workshop pre­ bringing new ideas and a fresh the University of Virginia, and sentations. Ralph Rinzler perspective to both the festival he was to become president of brought many of these the NFFA during the fol­ concepts with him when lowing critical years of he came to Washington transition. to work on the Smithson- In the spring of 1971, as ian festival, first held in plans were moving for­ 1967. ward for the festival at Wolf Trap, Sarah Ger­ t this critical trude Knott became seri­ moment, three ously ill. She went into Kentuckians, the hospital in Princeton, old friends of Kentucky, and subse­ AKnott, came to the rescue quently resigned as pro­ of the NFFA. John Whis­ gram director on the man, states’ representa­ advice of her doctor. At tive of the newly formed this same time I was Appalachian Regional working at the National Commission, became Park Service program­ chairman of the presi- ming folk and traditional dent’s committee of the music for a project called board. To stabilize the Humanisphere that was organization, Whisman to take place on the restructured the board, National Mall, next to the laid out a business plan, Reflecting Pool, in front and applied for a grant of the Lincoln Memorial. from the new National Less than a month before Endowment for the Arts. it was to open, the Nixon In 1970 T. Sutton Jett, White House abruptly an official with the cancelled the project, and Department of Interior, I was detailed to the engineered a coopera­ National Folk Festival tive agreement with the Association, under the National Park Service, Maybelle Car ter at the 35th National Folk Festival, Wolf cooperative agreement, whereby the NFFA Trap Farm Park, Vienna, Virginia, 1973. The festival to pull the Wolf Trap festi­ would provide advice was the occasion for a reunion of the Car ters and the val together. The program and programming to the Addingtons, the first families of country music. Photo advisors had full-time National Park system in by Julie Snow. Cour tesy of Andrew Wallace jobs, and Bernache had exchange for an annual little or no experience in stipend. As part of that agree­ and the organization. Mike producing live events. That job ment, the 33rd National Folk Seeger was a noted musician fell to me, and for the next five Festival would be held at Wolf and expert on Southern tradi­ years I served as festival direc­ Trap Farm Park, a recently com­ tions.