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Finding Aids to Collections Organized by Topic in the Archive of Folk Culture
IOWA COLLECTIONS
IN THE ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE
Compiled by: Heather L. Eastman Series Editor:
Joseph C. Hickerson
Publication Date: December 1995; Web Revision: December
2005
Series Number:
LCFAFA No. 17
ISSN 0736-4903
For additional information about Archive
of Folk Culture collections, contact the Folklife
Reading Room. To request copies, see our webpages regarding audio
materials and photographic materials.
Please refer to the AFC and/or AFS numbers when requesting information.
All indications of time duration listed in this finding aid are estimates.
AFS 3155-3313: Sidney Robertson Cowell and Charles Seeger
/ Resettlement Administration and the 1937 National Folk Festival
One hundred and fifty-nine 12-inch discs of instrumentals
and songs recorded in Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa,
Minnesota, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin by Sidney Robertson
Cowell, Charles Seeger, Margaret Valiant, and others for the Resettlement
Administration, 1936-37.
AFS 3276-3277: Two discs containing 17 tunes played
on hammered dulcimer by Thomas Mann, recorded in Ortonville, Iowa,
July 1937. (24 minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel 216B).
Seven of the tunes have been published by the Library of Congress
on recording number AFS L9, Play and Dance Songs and Tunes.
Portions of seven of the tunes, plus three repetitions, are also
contained on AFS 3820. (11 minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel
248B)
AFS 6994-7013; 7068-7082; 7738-7753: Marcus Bach and Addison
Alspach Iowa Recordings
Forty-nine 12-inch discs
and 2 16-inch discs of primarily African American, Amish, Associate
Presbyterian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, German, Mennonite, Mormon, Norwegian,
Swedish, Trappist monk, and Welsh religious songs, with interviews.
Recorded at various locations in Iowa by Addison Alspach and Marcus
Bach, March 10, 1943-November 1944. (7 hours and 46 minutes;
tape copy on LWO 4872 reels 439B-440 and LWO 5111 reels 1A; 6-7A;
62B-63)
AFS 12,359-12,361: Robert Beach Fiddle Tunes
Three 7-inch tapes of 87 tunes
played on fiddle by Robert P. Beach, originally of Lenox, Iowa, accompanied
by Iolene Beach, Joseph Winn, and others. Recorded in Springfield,
Virginia, by Joseph C. Hickerson, March 26, 1966. The collection includes
a 3-page list of Mr. Beach's repertoire and a text of "The
Irish Jubilee." (3 hours; LWO 4820)
AFS 12,575-12,596: Harry Oster / Louisiana, Mississippi,
Iowa Recordings Twenty-two 7-inch tapes of dances, festivals,
instrumentals, religious services, songs, and stories recorded in
Iowa, Louisiana, and Mississippi by Harry Oster, March 11, 1957-November
12, 1966. The collection includes 12 pages of lists.
AFS 12,587-12,588: Two tapes containing 7 rhymes, 49
songs, and 2 stories recited and sung by Laura Browne originally
from southern Iowa. Recorded in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 28, 1965.
(1 hour; LWO 5059 reels 13-14)
AFS 12,590-12,591: Two tapes containing German-language
dances, instrumentals, songs, and stories recorded at the Amana
Oktoberfest, Homestead, Iowa, November 12, 1966. (45 minutes;
LWO 5059 reels 16-17)
AFS 12,596: One tape containing 9 tunes played on hammered
dulcimer by Truman Fass, 2 glockenspiel tunes, and an interview.
Recorded in North English, Iowa, June 24, 1966. (30 minutes;
LWO 5059 reel 22)
AFS 15,053-15,074: Peter R. Hoover Collection Twenty-two 10-inch tapes of primarily instrumental
music recorded in Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Virginia, and West Virginia by Peter R. Hoover, 1959-67.
AFS 15,056A-B10, 15-21: One tape containing 48
tunes played on fiddle by Robert P. Beach, originally of Lenox,
Iowa, accompanied by Iolene Beach, Carolyn Hester, Howard Mitchell,
Joseph Winn, and others. Recorded at a square dance in Chevy Chase,
Maryland, and in Springfield, Virginia, May 14, 1960. (1 hour
and 45 minutes; LWO 6880 reel 4)
AFS 16,984-16,994: Chris Delaney / Fiddle Music Eleven 10-inch tapes of primarily tunes
played on fiddle. Recorded in Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and West Virginia by Chris Delaney,
1973.
AFS 16,988A19-22: One tape containing 4 tunes played
on fiddle by Frosty Lamb of Bloomfield, Iowa, recorded in Ludlow,
Missouri, 1973. (9 minutes; LWO 7632 reel 5A)
AFS 17,508-17,509: National Folk Festival, 1954
Two 10-inch tapes of the 20th National
Folk Festival, including dances, instrumentals, and songs from Anglo,
Cuban, German, Hungarian, Jewish, Mexican, Native, and Philippine-American
traditions. Recorded by the Voice of America in St. Louis, Missouri,
April 8, 1954.
AFS 17,508A1-2: One tape containing 2 dances by the Mesquite
Indians from Waterloo, Iowa. (7 minutes; LWO 7411 reel 18A)
AFS 17,508A3: One tape containing a discussion of 3
English dances by students from Central High School, Fort Madison,
Iowa. (2 minutes; LWO 7411 reel 18A)
AFS 17,508B19: One tape containing a square dance by the
Western Dancers from Fort Madison, Iowa. (4 minutes; LWO 7411
reel 18B)
AFS 17,541-17,567: Art Rosenbaum Duplication Project Twenty-seven 10-inch tapes of blues, country,
fiddle, gospel, and other music recorded in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina,
and Scotland primarily by Art Rosenbaum, June 4, 1958-September 19,
1971.
AFS 17,541B1-7, 10-12: One tape containing 10 tunes played
on fiddle by Dwight Lamb of Onawa, Iowa, accompanied on guitar by
Elvin Campbell. Recorded in Iowa City, Iowa, by Art Rosenbaum, 1971.
(29 minutes; LWO 8487 reel 1B)
AFS 17,541B8-9: One tape containing 2 Danish tunes played
on accordion by Dwight Lamb of Onawa, Iowa. Recorded in Iowa City,
Iowa, by Art Rosenbaum, 1971. (3 minutes; LWO 8487 reel 1B)
AFS 17,542: One tape containing 16 tunes, with interview,
played on fiddle by H. E. "Pappy" Wells. Recorded in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, by Art Rosenbaum, September 19, 1971. (1 hour; LWO
8487 reel 2)
AFS 17,543A: One tape containing 14 songs sung by
the Silver Light Gospel Singers from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Recorded
in Iowa City, Iowa, by Art Rosenbaum, May 6, 1971. (1 hour; LWO
8487 reel 3A)
AFS 17,549A: One tape containing 4 fife and drum tunes
with an interview, medicine show singers, steam calliope tunes,
and steam engine sounds. Recorded at the Old Thresher's Reunion,
Mount Pleasant, Iowa, by Art Rosenbaum, 1971. (30 minutes; LWO
8487 reel 9A)
AFS 18,940-18,942: Art Rosenbaum / Fiddle Music from Iowa Three 10-inch tapes of fiddle and string
band music recorded at the Old Settler's fiddle contest at the Old
Thresher's Reunion, and at a blues music workshop. Recorded primarily
in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, by Art Rosenbaum, 1970-72.
AFS 18,940: One tape containing 3 tunes by Bill Hamilton
of Winfield, Iowa; 3 tunes by Joe Johnson of Des Moines, Iowa;
3 tunes by John Kasper of Iowa City, Iowa; 3 fiddle tunes
by Clarence Perdue of Iowa; 3 tunes by Ila Walker of Donnelson,
Iowa; and 14 tunes by various artist from outside of Iowa.
Recorded at the Old Thresher's Reunion, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, September
14, 1971. (1 hour and 30 minutes; LWO 9384 reel 1)
AFS 18,941: One tape containing 11 tunes by various
fiddlers from Iowa and 24 tunes by fiddlers from outside
Iowa. Recorded at the Old Thresher's Reunion, Mount Pleasant, Iowa,
August 5, 1970. (2 hours; LWO 9384 reel 2)
AFS 18,964-18,969: Miriam Maxwell Family Oral History
Six 10-inch tapes from the personal collection
of Miriam Maxwell, compiled during the 1960s, mostly in California.
Includes young people singing and talking about Civil Rights, War
in Vietnam, Peace Corps experience in Ghana, an interview with Prince
Modupa and Maxwell's collection of family folklore and oral history,
especially: reminiscences of domestic service in Edwardian England,
homesteading in British Columbia, living on a farm in Iowa, and a
repertory of sentimental and humorous songs and stories from Iowa
and South Dakota. The collection includes 1/4-inch of notes.
(LWO 9379)
AFS 19,341: Howard W. Marshall / Old-Time Fiddle Recordings One 10-inch tape of fiddle tunes recorded in Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma by Jake Hughes, in or before 1965.
(LWO 12,302)
AFS 19,341A8-10: One tape containing 3 tunes played
on fiddle by Frosty Lamb of Bloomfield, Iowa. (7 minutes)
AFS 19,341A14-17: One tape containing 4 tunes played
on fiddle by Casey Jones of Ottumwa, Iowa. (8 minutes)
AFS 19,341A25-28: One tape containing 4 tunes played
on fiddle by Dwight Lamb of Onawa, Iowa. (5 minutes)
AFS 19,341B1-4: One tape containing 4 tunes played on
fiddle by Kirk Brandenberger of Keokuk, Iowa. (7 minutes)
AFS 19,341B5-9: One tape containing 5 tunes played on
fiddle by Ernest Brandenberger of Keokuk, Iowa. (8 minutes)
AFS 19,961-19,974: Iowa Folk Festival, 1976
Fourteen 10-inch tapes of primarily accordion,
banjo, fiddle, gospel, guitar, and vocal music, as well as interviews
and storytelling. Recorded in various locations in Iowa by Art Rosenbaum,
at and prior to the Iowa Folk Festival, July 3-5, 1976. (28
hours; LWO 15,795 reels 1-14)
AFS 20,508-20,513; 20,520: Truman Michelson Collection of
Fox, Sauk, Kickapoo, Shawnee, Piegan and Cheyenne Indian Music on
Cylinders
Seven 10-inch tapes of linguistic
material and songs of the Fox (Mesquakie) Indians. Originally recorded
on cylinders in Tama, Iowa, by Truman Michelson, July 1912, for the
Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, and transferred
from the National Archives in 1948. (5 hours; LWO 12,980 reels
119-124, 131)
AFS 22,604: John Taylor / Tom Carns Duck Calling Collection One cassette of duck calls and an interview with
Tom Carns. Recorded in Burlington, Iowa, by John Taylor, November
7, 1983. (11 minutes; RYA 2765)
AFS 23,185-23,203: Ernest C. Oberholtzer / Ojibwa Collection
Five 5-inch tapes and 14 7-inch tapes
of Ojibwa legends and songs, with interviews, recorded in
Mine Center, Ontario, and oral history interviews recorded in Davenport,
Iowa, by Ernest C. Oberholtzer, 1948-51.
AFS 23,197-23,201: Five 5-inch tapes containing interviews
about Davenport, Iowa, with Grace and Lily Parkhurst. Recorded in
Davenport, Iowa, April-May 6, 1951. (4 hours and 45 minutes;
RXA 4495-99; tape copy on RWA 8529B-8531A)
AFS 24,091-24,110: KUNI Radio / 1981 Westfair Old-Time Country
Music Contest Collection Twenty 10-inch tapes of primarily banjo,
dobro, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, and vocal music recorded at the
Sixth Annual Westfair Old-Time Country Music Contest and Pioneer Exposition,
Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Philip Nusbaum and others, September 4-6,
1981. Recorded for public radio station KUNI-FM, University
of Northern Iowa. (28 hours; RWB 1751-1770)
AFC 1971/001: Eleanor Jean Bonar Collection of Songs from
Iowa and Kentucky
Four linear inches of manuscripts and typescripts of song texts, with some tunes,
as well as newspaper clippings containing song texts. Collected primarily in
Iowa and Kentucky by Eleanor Jean Bonar. Donated by Bonar, 1971.
AFC 1986/022: Center for Applied Linguistics / American English
Dialect Recordings Collection
Fifty-nine 10-inch tapes of public speeches and other dialect samples
recorded at various locations in North America by various collectors
and compiled by the Center for Applied Linguistics for "A Survey
and Collection of American English Dialect Recordings." The collection
includes 14 linear inches of documentation and transcripts.
AFS 24,331A4: One tape containing speech samples of John
L. Lewis, originally from Iowa, submitted by Maurice Crane of the
Voice Library at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
Recorded in West Virginia at a National Mine Worker's Union address.
(13 minutes; RWB 3880A)
AFC 1993/001: Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America
Project Collection
Twenty-four 5-inch tapes, 60 7-inch tapes,
and 288 cassettes from the Ethnic Heritage and
Language Schools in America Project, a survey of 23 ethnic
schools from 22 ethnic groups. Recorded at various locations
throughout the United States by Elena Bradunas and 23 fieldworkers,
April-July 1982, sponsored by the American Folklife Center. The collection
includes 14 linear feet of slides, photographs, and reports.
Box 5: Five linear inches of manuscripts containing curriculum
materials, final reports, and slide and photo logs from the Czechoslovakian
School fieldwork. Collected by Jana Fast in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
April-July 1982. The Czech School is one of fourteen schools profiled
in the American Folklife Center's book, Ethnic Heritage and Language
Schools in America, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1988, pages 316-36 (LC3802.E74 1987).
Box 6: Five linear inches of manuscripts containing curriculum
materials, enlargements, final reports, news clippings, publications,
and slide and photo logs from the Dutch School fieldwork. Collected
by Phil Webber in Pella, Iowa, April-July 1982.
Bound Thesis Collection
Peterson, Harold Daniel. "A Syllabus of the Ballad Collection
of Edwin Ford Piper." Iowa City: State University of Iowa, 1934.
M. A. thesis in English. 170 pages. An alphabetical listing of broadsides
and song manuscripts included in Piper's private manuscript collection,
primarily from Iowa and Nebraska. Entries include plot summaries.
Microfilm Collections
Bonar, Eleanor Jean. "A Collection of Ballads and Popular Songs,
Iowa and Appalachian." Iowa City: State University of Iowa,
1930. M. A. thesis in English. 224 pages. Contains musical and textual
transcriptions
for 104 songs, 76 of which are from Iowa. (MUSIC
807)
Swan, Clara Le Grande. "A Collection of Ballads and Folk Songs
from Morning Sun, Iowa." Iowa City: State University of Iowa,
1929. M. A. thesis in English. 180 pages. Contains texts of 98
songs with introduction and annotations.
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