Alan Lomax
(Jan. 31, 1915 - July 19, 2002)
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, working with the Library of Congress, the Lomaxes (father John and other members of the family) collected thousands of folksongs and spoken word performances throughout the United States (and particularly in the South) before gramophone, radio and television supplanted the inclinations of ordinary folks to make their own entertainment. With his father, Alan Lomax helped to build the national folk archive at the Library of Congress, where he was assistant in charge. In 1986, he received the National Medal of the Arts from President Reagan.
Date Awarded: April 2000
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