Fishing derby at the Little Falls Canal Celebration, 1999. Photo by Todd Vincent. Part of the documentation found in New York's Local Legacies projects.

New York

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 material that documents the diverse ethnic, religious, and other folk traditions of the Empire State. Among its unique recordings are folklore of the Seneca, Onondaga, and other Iroquois people; maritime music recorded in the 1930s; folk tales of Albany's Dutch community; folksongs of the Adirondack and Catskill regions; Jewish immigrant music; and children's songs and games in Harlem. In 1982, the Center's Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools Project documented Turkish, Caribbean, and Greek schools in New York City.

• New York Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture [full text]

New York 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.

• View New York's Local Legacies projects

Field Research Projects

• 1982 Ethnic Heritage and Language School Project: documented Greek, Caribbean, and Turkish schools in New York City. [catalog record] [finding aid]

Exhibitions

• 1983-84. Traveling exhibit entitled "Generation to Generation: Sharing the Intangible," Linnwood-Oxford Senior Citizens Center, Buffalo; Columbia University, Brookdale Institute on Aging, New York 1984; and Hartwick College, Yager Museum, Oneonta.
• 1994. Traveling exhibit entitled "Old Ties, New Attachments: Italian American Folklife in the West," The Museums at Stony Brook, Stony Brook.

Publications

• "Ataturk School," Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America. [catalog record] [finding aid]
• "Breakdancing: A Reporter's Story," Folklife Annual 1986. [catalog record]
• "Building Community: Buffalo's Polish-American Mural Tradition," Folklife Annual 1990. [catalog record]
• "Community Murals and Religious Paintings Ethnic Images in Buffalo's Polish-American District," Folklife Annual 90. [catalog record]
• "In Memoriam: New York City's Memorial Walls," Folklife Annual 90. [catalog record]
• A Brief List of Material Relating to New York State Folk Music (bibliography from 1975). [full text]
• "Up On the Roof: Pigeon Flyers and City Skies," Folklife Annual 1988-89. [catalog record]

Published Recordings

• Songs from the Iroquois Longhouse, Library of Congress AFS L6. [audiocassette]
• Seneca Songs from the Coldspring Longhouse, Library of Congress AFS L17. [audiocassette]
• American Sea Songs and Shanties, Library of Congress AFS L26/27. [compact disc] [audiocassette]
• Child Ballads Traditional in the United States (I), Library of Congress AFS L57. [audiocassette]