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of columbia
District of Columbia
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
The District of Columbia has a richly diverse community including
immigrant populations from many parts of the world. Because the American
Folklife Center is located in Washington, DC, a number of its collections
document the District's folklife and are readily available to District
residents in the Folklife Reading Room. Lectures and concerts held
at the Library have included presentations by members of Washington's
diverse cultural communities, such as African American hand dancers,
hair braiders, Hungarian dancers, Chinese opera performers, Indonesian
Gamelan performers, Flamenco dancers, and musical performances by African-American,
Andean, Anglo-American, Armenian, Bengali, Carribbean, Cuban, Ghanaian,
Japanese, Puerto Rican, Senegalese, and Vietnamese groups. These presentations
have been documented and added to the Archive. Also among the Archives
recordings are documentation of Washington, DC street songs; church
services, songs, and sermons; songs and a sermon by Flora Molton; and
African-American children's game songs, jump rope rhymes, clapping
songs, and "cheers."
The District of Columbia 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.
Concert Webcast
February 7, 2007: Reverb. African American gospel. [webcast and flyer]
Public Services
District of Columbia residents, along with others in the greater Washington,
D.C., area, are fortunately situated to take advantage of the many
services offered by the American Folklife Center. These include reference
assistance in its Folklife Reading Room, use of its Archive of
Folk Culture,
and the lectures, concerts, conferences, and other public events offered
at the Library of Congress. Area students enrolled in American studies
and other folklore-related programs have easy access to both the collections
of the Folk Archive and the staff of the Center. Most center-sponsored
programs are open to the public.
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