Board of Trustees

American Folklife Center Board of Trustees meeting, Library of Congress, February 26, 2009. Pictured (left to right): Tom Rankin, Daniel Botkin, General Donald Scott, Richard Kennedy, Charles Seemann, Judith McCulloh, Dennis Holub, AFC Director Peggy Bulger, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Jane Beck, Barry Bergey, William L. Kinney, Jr., and Timothy Lloyd. Photo by Megan Halsband.

The American Folklife Center was created by the U.S. Congress in 1976 through Public Law 94-201, the "American Folklife Preservation Act." According to the law, the Center receives policy direction from a Board of Trustees that is made up of representatives from departments and agencies of the federal government concerned with some aspect of American folklife traditions and the arts; the heads of four of the major federal institutions concerned with culture and the arts (see below); persons from private life who are able to provide regional balance; and the director of the Center. Included in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1999, are provisions for the board to be expanded to include four new members appointed by the Librarian of Congress, and, ex officio, the president of the American Folklore Society and the president of the Society for Ethnomusicology. The board meets several times a year, in Washington, D.C., or in other locations around the country, to review the operations of the Center, engage in long-range planning and policy formulation, and share information on matters of cultural programming.

Included below are links to web sites of board members or their organizations. These pages are provided by organizations other than the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of external sites.

Congressional Appointees

Dr. Daniel Botkin, New York
President, Center for the Study of the Environment, New York, New York

Dr. C. Kurt Dewhurst, Chair, Michigan
Director of Arts and Cultural Initiatives, Michigan State University

Mickey Hart, California
360 Degrees Productions, Sebastopol, California
http://www.mickeyhart.net/

Dennis Holub, South Dakota

William L. Kinney Jr., South Carolina
Publisher, Marlboro Herald-Advocate

Charles Seemann, Nevada
Executive Director, Western Folklife Center

Dr. Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Massachusetts
Department of Music, Harvard University

Presidential Appointees

Positions currently vacant

Librarian Appointees

Dr. Maribel Alverez, Arizona
Department of English, University of Arizona

Dr. Jane Beck, Vice-Chair, Vermont
Founder, Vermont Folklife Center (Ret.)

Dr. Tom Rankin, North Carolina
Director, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

Brigadier General Donald L. Scott (Ret.), Nevada

Ex Officio Members

Dr. James H. Billington
Librarian of Congress

Alternate for Dr. Billington: Dr. Deanna B. Marcum
Associate Librarian for Library Services, Library of Congress

Dr. Peggy A. Bulger
Director, American Folklife Center

Dr. G. Wayne Clough
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

Dr. Elaine Lawless
President, American Folklore Society

Jim A. Leach
Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities

Rocco Landesman
Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

Dr. Judith McCulloh, (Emerita), Illinois

Dr. Deborah Wong
President, Society for Ethnomusicology