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UtahThe 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. CollectionsThe collections of the American Folklife Center contain rich and varied materials from Utah that document the diversity of the state's folk traditions. Among them are unique recordings of Mormon narratives and folklore; and recordings of Ute Indian songs dating from 1914. The Center has conducted extensive fieldwork in Utah, including the 1983 Grouse Creek Cultural Survey, which documented ranching culture in Northwest Utah, and the Italian- Americans in the West Project, documenting the culture and traditions of the Italian-Americans, which culminated in a traveling exhibition and companion book of essays. The material created during the latter project includes hundreds of hours of interviews, thousands of photographs, and transcriptions, some of which were made in Carbon County. The materials created during both these projects have been incorporated into the collections of the Folklife Center.
Utah 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 and Lecture WebcastsSeptember 14, 2006: "Cowboy Poetry: History, Origins, Influences, Forms." Lecture presented by David Stanley, professor of English at Westminster College. [webcast and event flyer] [catalog record] November 16, 2005: Dineh Tah Navajo Dancers. Dances and songs of the Navajo Nation. [webcast and event flyer] [catalog record] Field SchoolAn ethnographic field school was conducted in Utah Valley, near Provo, in 2004, co-sponsored by the Center and Brigham Young University. The focus was the history and traditions related to orchards in the Utah Valley. For more information read Utah Field School Explores "The Fruits of Their Labors," by David Taylor, in Folklife Center News, Fall 2004 (pg. 13-14) [PDF 1.97MB / 16 pages] [text view], and "Recording Fish Tales: A Field School Participant's Experience," by field school participant Lisa Powell, in Folklife Center News, fall 2005 [PDF 2.73 MB / 16 pages] Field Research Projects
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