home >> about
the center >> folklife in your state >> michigan
Michigan
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 collections of the American Folklife Center contain rich and varied
materials from Michigan that document the diversity of the state's folk
traditions. Among its unique recordings are cylinders of Ottawa Indian
music and speech; Finnish immigrant songs and folklore; Lithuanian folk
music; interviews with migrant farm workers; lumber camp songs; Detroit
blues music; and Irish musicians on Beaver Island.
- Michigan Material in the Archive
of Folk Culture [full text]
Michigan 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.
Publications
- "Reverend C.L. Franklin: Black American Preacher Poet," Folklife
Annual 1987. [catalog record]
- "Immigrant to Ethnic: Symbols of Identity Among Finnish-Americans" and "Via
Dolorosa" (a life story), Folklife Annual 1986. [catalog record]
Published Recordings
- Songs of the Michigan Lumberjacks, Library of Congress AFS L56. [audiocassette]
|