American Samoa

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

Among its diverse collections of traditional American music and folklore, the American Folklife Center's holdings include wax cylinder recordings of traditional Samoan music from the Chicago World's Fair in 1893; background music for the Samoan Battalion Motion Picture Release duplicated from the US Marine Corps collection in the Library; documentation of Samoan music and dance in the Fahnestock South Seas Collection; and a recording of a performance by the Samoan Folk group, Isuela, at the Carter Inaugural concert in January 1977.

• Music of the Pacific Islands in the Archive of Folk Song [available upon request]

American Samoa 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 American Samoa's Local Legacies projects.