Selected Archival Collections and Online Presentations on Laborlore from the American Folklife Center
Local barber Louis McDowell gives neighborhood girl a haircut in Paterson, N.J., in 1994, part of the AFC Working in Paterson Collection.
- Martha Cooper
George Korson Collections of Miner’s Lore. Korson extensively documented Pennsylvania and West Virginia mining traditions in the 1940s and 1950s, especially music and song.
Wayland Hand Collection of Miner’s Lore. This folklife collection documents the silver miners of Butte, Mont., in the late 1940s.
Working in Paterson Collection. This large collection from the mid-1990s documents the industrial and business traditions of Paterson, N.J., including the textile industry, machine shops and the food industry, and is especially strong in its survey of the ethnic groups in Paterson’s workplaces. An online presentation of the collection titled “Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting” is accessible online.
Lowell Folklife Project Collection. This collection documents the industrial and ethnic traditions of Lowell, Mass., from the late 1980s. For more information, see the finding aid online.
Men’s Lives Collection. This collection documents the commercial fishing culture of surfmen and baymen on the East End of Long Island, N.Y., in the 1980s. The fieldwork was sponsored by Adelaide de Menil and The Rock Foundation.
Paradise Valley Folklife Project Collection. This collection includes documentation of a Nevada cattle-ranching community, with a focus on the family-run Ninety-Six Ranch. The documentation was largely the work of the Paradise Valley Folklife Project (1978–1982). An online presentation from the collection titled “Buckaroos in Paradise: Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945–1982” is accessible online.
George Carey Collection of Interviews and Narratives from Maryland and Virginia. In the late 1960s, George Carey conducted more than 200 interviews with residents of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and coastal Virginia, concentrating on occupational traditions.
James A. Strates Carnival Collection. This collection, recorded in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1941, includes recordings of carnival pitchmen at work and interviews with carnival workers.
Florida Maritime Heritage Project. In the late 1980s, the AFC documented the maritime occupations of the north Florida coast. David Taylor, a member of the American Folklife Center staff, was the lead investigator for this project.
Alabama State Council on the Arts Collection on Gandy Dancers. This collection features late 1980s documentation of African-American railroad section gang workers.
Maine Acadian Cultural Survey. This 1991 collection documents the forestry and sawmill work of the Maine-New Brunswick Acadian culture. The finding aid is accessible at www.loc.gov/folklife/guides/map.html.
