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American Samoa
The American Folklife Center was created in 1976 by the U.S. Congress through Public Law 94-201 and charged to "preserve and present American folklife." The Center incorporates the Archive
of Folk Culture, which was established at the Library of Congress in 1928, and is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from the United States and around the world.
Collections
Among its diverse collections of traditional American music and folklore,
the American Folklife Center's holdings include wax cylinder recordings
of traditional Samoan music from the Chicago World's Fair in 1893; background
music for the Samoan Battalion Motion Picture Release duplicated from the
US Marine Corps collection in the Library; documentation of Samoan music
and dance in the Fahnestock South Seas Collection; and a recording of a
performance by the Samoan Folk group, Isuela, at the Carter Inaugural concert
in January 1977.
American Samoa participated in the Library's Bicentennial Local legacies
project which includes documentation of local traditions and celebrations
for the American Folklife Center's Archive of Folk Culture.
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