The earliest recorded tracks in the Rinzler Archives are Salish songs from British Columbia (labeled "before 1900"), two Siamese orchestra pieces from 1900, and a Japanese shamisen (lute) from 1901.
The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington, D.C., is home to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections.
The Rinzler Archives is composed of two major collections. The first is the Moses and Frances Asch collection, which consists of the original recordings, business records, correspondence, and photographic material that came to the Smithsonian with the purchase of Folkways Records in 1987. In addition, it contains recordings on the Collector, Paredon, Cook, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk, and Monitor labels that have been acquired by the Center subsequently.
The Rinzler Archives also houses an extensive collection of recordings documenting ethnic music traditions from around the world, early American country music and bluegrass, blues, and examples of Folk Revival performances on other labels. Listening copies of most of the Folkways catalog are kept in the Archives, and are available to researchers.
The other major archival collection in the Rinzler Archives consists of the written, audio, and visual records of projects and exhibits sponsored by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage: most notably, more than three decades of recordings documeting fieldwork, research and performances related to the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival (formerly known as the Festival of American Folklife), which takes place each summer on the National Mall of the United States in Washington, D.C.
The Archives' holdings are global in perspective, and include such topics as world ethnic performance traditions, historical and spoken word recordings, sounds of science and nature, occupational folklore, and family folklore. The collections are also strong in American, and more specifically Euro-American, African-American, Caribbean, and Native American music and performance traditions. These are living archives, from which recordings and videotapes are regularly issued or reissued for enjoyment and scholarly research.
Highlights of Rinzler Archive Holdings:
more than 17,300 commercial discs
4000 acetate discs
approximately 45,000 audiotapes (reel, cassette, DAT)
more than 2000 CDs
over 1,000,000 still images
2500 videotapes
more than 500,000 feet of motion picture film
drawings and posters
files of correspondence and business records for Folkways and other labels held by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Woody Guthrie lyrics, correspondence, and drawings (part of Folkways Collection)
Specific Collections:
Moses and Frances Asch
Collector Records
Cook Records
Diana Davies Photograph Collection
Dyer-Bennet Records
Fast Folk Magazine Recordings
Smithsonian Folklife Festival documentation
Lee Hays Papers
Robert C. Malone Photograph Collection
Monitor Records
Paredon Records
Frederic Ramsey Jr. Tape Collection
Ralph Rinzler Collection
Contact the Rinzler Archive
The archives are open to visitors and researchers by appointment. To contact the archives or schedule an appointment, please call 202-633-7322 or 202-633-7019 or email rinzlerarchives@si.edu.