| a_s1576_t86-248 | WPA field recordings in Key West and Jacksonville (January 1940 recording expedition) | Sound | Fieldwork
New Deal, 1933-1939
Interviews
Public service employment
Folklorists
Public welfare
United States. Work Projects Administration
Bahamian American
Sea songs
Bands (Music)
Performing arts
Horn music
Music performance
Singing
African Americans
Accordion music
Elderly, the
Tales
Narratives
Supernatural legends
Personal experience narratives
Musicians
Storytellers
Singers | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
WPA field recordings in Key West and Jacksonville (January 1940 recording expedition)
- Date
- 1940-01
- Description
- One reel to reel. These recordings were created by Florida folklorist Kennedy and photographer Cook in January 1940. They created a total of eighteen 12-inch acetate records that month. On this recording Rolle plays with his band on several Bahamian folk songs in Key West; White telling stories and songs; and the 85 year old Barnwell, who grew up on a plantation in Nassau County. She tells stories of her 'mammies,' and sings songs from her childhood. For more detailed information on the recordings, see S 1579, box 3, for copies of the original LOC indexes. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) - after 1939, the Works Projects Administration - was a work-relief program created in 1935 by the Roosevelt Administration that employed over 8.5 million people between 1935 and 1943. One of its programs was the Federal Writers Project (FWP), which included the Folklore Section. This section conducted fieldwork, recording songs, traditions, and stories across the nation. Originally created to gather material for the American Guide Series, but later emphasis was placed upon fieldwork for preservation of folk traditions for future use. In Florida, the FWP was based out of Jacksonville, and directed by historian Carita Doggett Corse. Folklorist Stetson Kennedy directed the Florida Folklife section. Seven recording expeditions were conducted in Florida. Two were conducted between 1935 and 1937, before the creation of the Florida Folklore Section: one by Alan Lomax and Zora Neale Hurston, and the other by John and Ruby Lomax. After 1939, five more were conducted by Florida's FWP staff: Kennedy, Hurston, Robert Cook, Alton Morris, Corse, Robert Cornwell, John Filareton, and Herbert Halpert (of the Joint Committee on Folk Art's Southern Recording Expedition.) Recording equipment was loaned to Florida's WPA program by the Library of Congress' Archive of the American Folk Song (later the American Folk Center). The field recordings were made on acetate disks, usually recorded at 78 rpm (although occasionally at 33 rpm). Because these disks were shipped from Washington DC to Florida, then to the recording site, and then back to Washington, these disks often were not of the highest sonic quality. Several had surface scratches and many had various recording speeds. In 1986, the FFP staff made copies of many of these recordings onto reel to reels for inclusion to the Florida Folklife Archive. The originals are still housed with the Library of Congress.
- Collection
| a_s1576_t86-247 | WPA field recordings in Key West (January 1940 recording expedition) | Sound | Fieldwork
New Deal, 1933-1939
Interviews
Public service employment
Folklorists
Public welfare
United States. Work Projects Administration
Bahamian American
Sea songs
Bands (Music)
Performing arts
Horn music
Music performance
Singing
African Americans
Accordion music
Musicians
Singers | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
WPA field recordings in Key West (January 1940 recording expedition)
- Date
- 1940-01-23
- Description
- One reel to reel. These recordings were created by Florida folklorist Kennedy and photographer Cook in January 1940. They created a total of eighteen 12-inch acetate records that month. On this recording Rolle plays with his band on several Bahamian folk songs. For more detailed information on the recordings, see S 1579, box 3, for copies of the original LOC indexes. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) — after 1939, the Works Projects Administration — was a work-relief program created in 1935 by the Roosevelt Administration that employed over 8.5 million people between 1935 and 1943. One of its programs was the Federal Writers Project (FWP), which included the Folklore Section. This section conducted fieldwork, recording songs, traditions, and stories across the nation. Originally created to gather material for the American Guide Series, but later emphasis was placed upon fieldwork for preservation of folk traditions for future use. In Florida, the FWP was based out of Jacksonville, and directed by historian Carita Doggett Corse. Folklorist Stetson Kennedy directed the Florida Folklife section. Seven recording expeditions were conducted in Florida. Two were conducted between 1935 and 1937, before the creation of the Florida Folklore Section: one by Alan Lomax and Zora Neale Hurston, and the other by John and Ruby Lomax. After 1939, five more were conducted by Florida's FWP staff: Kennedy, Hurston, Robert Cook, Alton Morris, Corse, Robert Cornwell, John Filareton, and Herbert Halpert (of the Joint Committee on Folk Art's Southern Recording Expedition.) Recording equipment was loaned to Florida's WPA program by the Library of Congress' Archive of the American Folk Song (later the American Folk Center). The field recordings were made on acetate disks, usually recorded at 78 rpm (although occasionally at 33 rpm). Because these disks were shipped from Washington DC to Florida, then to the recording site, and then back to Washington, these disks often were not of the highest sonic quality. Several had surface scratches and many had various recording speeds. In 1986, the FFP staff made copies of many of these recordings onto reel to reels for inclusion to the Florida Folklife Archive. The originals are still housed with the Library of Congress.
- Collection
| The Wolf: Schooner in Key West | The Wolf: Schooner in Key West | Still Image | Fieldwork
Sails
Boats and boating
Docks
Material culture
Transportation
Waterways
Art
Schooners | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
| The Perez family in Key West | The Perez family in Key West | Still Image | Fieldwork
Latinos
Photography
Architecture
Porches
Family history
Material culture
Houses | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
The Perez family in Key West
- Date
- 1986-11
- Description
- Eleven color slides. Perez family on a porch in Key West; plus images of a few old family photographs. Between 1986 and 1987, a partnership between the Florida Folklife Program and the American Folk Center created the Maritime Heritage Survey Project. Focusing on the Gulf and Atlantic fishing cultures, and utilizing photographs, slides, oral histories, and on-site interviews, the survey climaxed with a demonstration area at the 1987 Florida Folk Festival. The three main researchers were Nancy Nusz, Merri Belland, and project director David Taylor. Additional information on the project can be found in Taylor's project files in S 1716.
- Collection
| The Junkanoos performing at the 1984 Florida Folk Festival | The Junkanoos performing at the 1984 Florida Folk Festival | Still Image | Folk festivals
Folklore revival festivals
African Americans
Musical groups
Music performance
Calypso music
Limbo
Performing arts
Musicians
Dancers | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
| The Junkanoos performing at the 1984 Florida Folk Festival | The Junkanoos performing at the 1984 Florida Folk Festival | Still Image | Folk festivals
Folklore revival festivals
Dance
Limbo
Calypso music
Music performance
Musical groups
Musicians
Dancers | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
| The Junkanoos performing at the 1978 Florida Folk Festival | The Junkanoos performing at the 1978 Florida Folk Festival | Still Image | Performers
African Americans
Musical ensembles
Dance
Folk dance
Performing arts
Body movement
Festivals
Folk festivals
Folklore revival festivals
Dancers | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
| The Junkanoos perform at the 1977 Florida Folk Festival | The Junkanoos perform at the 1977 Florida Folk Festival | Still Image | Dancers
Folk dance | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
| The Cayo Hueso Comparsas Dancers | The Cayo Hueso Comparsas Dancers | Still Image | Fieldwork
Children
Teaching of folklore
Body movement
Clothing and dress
Arts, Cuban
Cuban Americans
Comparsa tradition
Dance
Dancers | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
The Cayo Hueso Comparsas Dancers
- Date
- 1990
- Description
- Four color prints. The dance troupe (comparsas) was founded by Emelia Fernandez in Key West. Danny Acosta led the band that accompanied the dances. The Cuban dance has African roots, and is usually performed in long conga lines. Dancers dress in elaborate, ruffled outfits. The tradition began in Key West in 1938. Emelia herself arrived in Florida in 1959. She and her daughter revived the dance tradition in the early 1990s. The Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program began in 1983 with a NEA grant of $22,000. The program provided an opportunity for master folk artists to share technical skills and cultural knowledge with apprentices in order to keep the tradition alive. Apprentices must have had some experience in the tradition and agreed to train for at least six months. The first project director was Blanton Owen, later replaced by folklorist Peter Roller. The program was continued each year through 2003.
- Collection
| The Cayo Hueso Comparsa Dancers and Band at the 1991 Florida Folk Festival | The Cayo Hueso Comparsa Dancers and Band at the 1991 Florida Folk Festival | Still Image | Cuban Americans
Dancers
Comparsa tradition
Musical groups
Folk dance
Dance music
Costumes
Performers
Performing arts
Body movement | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
The Cayo Hueso Comparsa Dancers and Band at the 1991 Florida Folk Festival
- Date
- 1991-05
- Description
- Thirty-six color slides. May 1991. Images of the Cayo Hueso Comparas Dancers and Band at the 1991 Florida Folk Fetsival. The dance troupe (comparsas) was founded by Emelia Fernandez in Key West. Danny Acosta led the band that accompanied the dances. The Cuban dance has African roots, and is usually performed in long conga lines. Dancers dress in elaborate, ruffled outfits. The tradition began in Key West in 1938. Emelia arrived in Florida in 1959.
- Collection
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