1 Updated AFC Armenia Finding Aid Tali Gelenian (summer, 2019) The American Folklife Center boasts an array of materials relating to the life and culture of Armenian-Americans displaced after the diaspora. These materials broadly track the ways in which traditional cultural expressions have been preserved and also evolved since the relocation to the United States. These are rich and varied collections that document the voices and stories to celebrate Armenian cultural heritage. The American Folklife Center Archives has 124 Armenian-related materials in their catalog. [complete record: page 1, page 2] Highlights within these materials include forty-nine audio recordings available for online listening featuring Armenian bands and musicians based in Fresno, California in the late 30s. The recordings are accompanied by photographs of the musicians as well as hand-drawn sketches of their instruments. They are part of the larger Collection, “California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell.” Another robust collection is fieldwork conducted on the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Armenian Elementary School in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fieldworkers JoAnn Bromberg and Vicky Westover documented the ways in which Armenian children being raised in the United States were taught the value of their cultural heritage. It includes a variety of materials including black and white photo enlargements, curriculum materials from the Armenian Relief Society, and audiocassette recordings. This is part of the larger collection, Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project Collection. [catalog record] [finding aid] For additional resources related to Armenia, please visit the African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) within the Library of Congress. The African and Middle Eastern Reading Room houses extensive materials about Armenia. The entirety of their collection comprises materials written exclusively in Armenian. Links to AMED’s resources include: Armenia and Georgia from the Near East Collection "To Know Wisdom and Instruction": The Armenian Literary Tradition at the Library of Congress AFC 1940/001: California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell This collection provides a remarkable survey of living folk musical traditions found in Northern California during the late 1930s and 1940 in a wide variety of musical styles. It includes the folk music of immigrants who arrived in the United States from the turn of the century through the 1920s including the Armenian community in Fresno, California. The following is the complete selection of Armenian materials within this collection, and is comprised of forty-nine audio recordings, twenty-five photographs of the musicians and their instruments as well as twenty- three additional photos and drawings of the instuments. Find the complete collection here A corresponding article, “Armenian American Song” by the Library of Congress about the collection and the musical tradition of Armenians in the United States. Forty-nine audio recordings available for online listening featuring Armenian bands and musicians in 1939. Also included is a commentary by Sidney Robertson Cowell on the Armenian Orchestra. Audio available to download in MP3 or WAV format. • afc1940001_a4244a1 Camel's caravan 2 o Jack Aslanian, vocals and violin; Bedros Haroutunian, qanun; Archie Krotlian, oud; Mesrout Takakjian, clarinet. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Aslanian's Armenian Orchestra performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish dance music on April 23, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (3:07 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4234a1 Kele-kele o Dance song. LC romanized form of title: Kele-kele. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (2:02 minutes) : MP3 & WAV o Audio cuts off at 00:38 seconds • afc1940001_a4234a2 Ham gul ham vart = Both rose (in Armenian) and rose (in Turkish) o Dust jacket notes: Dance song, sung in Armenian dialect with some Turkish words. LC romanized form of title: Ham giwl ham vard. Translation of song title listed on dust jacket as: "Both rose and narcissus." Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (2:24 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4234b1 Yes saren gukiji = As I came from the hill o LC romanized form of title: Yes saren kugayi. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (1:56 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4234b2 Alagaz bartzer sare = Alagaz Mountain o Dust jacket notes: Song of longing for Armenian homeland. Dust jacket notes: This song is not the same as AFS 4236 A1. LC romanized form of title: Alageaz bardzr sar e. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (1:51 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4235a1 Yar ounei = I had a sweetheart o Inscribed on dust jacket by Sidney Robertson Cowell: "A soldier's song. The names of the cities in the song should be Batoum [Batumi, Georgian S.S.R.]. Tifflis [Tbilisi, Georgian S.S.R.], and Erevan [Yerevan, Armenian S.S.R.], instead of New York, Boston, and Fresno. An Armenian soldier comes back from war and found his folks were slain by enemies." LC romanized form of title: Yar unei. Yellow song check-list notes: "Not a dance, he says." Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. 3 o 1 sound file (2:47 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4235a2 Googen ara = I took the earthen jar to the well, a love song o LC romanized form of title: Kuzhn ara. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (1:52 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4235b1 Inchoo Bingol medar = Why did you enter Bingol? o Dust jacket notes: "A dance song." LC romanized form of title: Inchu Bingole mtar. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (1:34 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4235b2 Godou ges goreg = A bird's song o Dust jacket notes: Dance song. LC romanized form of title: Kotu kes korek. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (1:56 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4236a1 Alagaz = Alagaz Mountain o LC romanized form of title: Alageaz. Yellow song check-list notes: "Song begins with hum. It is not the same as 56M B2." Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (3:03 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4236b1 Mogatz Mirza, lament for Mogatz Mirza o LC romanized form of title: Mokats Mirza. Yellow song check-list notes: "Told in the traditional narrative song style, starting high -- dropping pitch and volume at end of line." Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (2:20 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4236b2 De le yaman o A love song. LC romanized form of title: Te-le yaman. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field recordings documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (2:28 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4237a1 Hoy nazanem = Those coy darlings 4 o Also issued on the American Folklife Center's Bi-Centennial recording series "Folk Music in America" on LBC 6: SONGS OF MIGRATION & IMMIGRATION as "Hay nazanem yarer." Inscribed on dust jacket by Sidney Robertson Cowell: "Making fun of Armenian girls in America who turn up their noses at farmers and laborers and want only doctors and lawyers for their husbands." LC romanized form of title: Hoy nazan im. Yellow song check-list notes: Song refers to Armenianized American city names, such as "Bostoni," "Feresno," and New Yorki." Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J. Baboyan performing Armenian and Armeno- Turkish songs on April 16, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. o 1 sound file (1:23 minutes) : MP3 & WAV • afc1940001_a4237a2 Yaylough's = The Kerchief o Dust jacket notes: Dialogue song. LC romanized form of title: Yaylughs. Ruben J. Baboyan, unaccompanied vocals. In Armenian. Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ruben J.