From: Klaus Graf <[log in to unmask]>


I have seen such material in a collection which was presented a few days
ago in EXLIBRIS (and other lists).

Best regards
Dr. Klaus Graf
Project Donaueschingen Digital:
http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~graf/dondig_e.htm
Some pictures from Donaueschingen Digital:
http://www.members.xoom.com/klausgraf


> The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress is proud to
> present its newest online collection: Florida Folklife from the WPA
> Collections.
> 
> Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections is now available online
> through the Library of Congress American Memory Web site at the
> following URL:
> http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/flwpahtml/.
> 
> The online presentation provides access to 376 sound recordings made in
> Florida in 1939-40 under the auspices of several government-funded arts
> projects. Using recording equipment loaned by the Archive of American
> Folk Song (now the American Folklife Center) at the Library of Congress,
> the WPA staff documented folktales, life histories, and sacred and
> secular music of cultures and communities throughout Florida. The
> recordings are augmented by 106 accompanying materials, including
> recording logs, song text transcriptions, correspondence between Florida
> WPA workers and Library of Congress personnel from 1937 to 1942, and an
> essay on Florida folklife by Zora Neale Hurston. The online presentation
> of these rich historic materials is made possible by the generous
> support of The Texaco Foundation.
> 
> WPA staff traveled throughout twelve Florida counties with the Library's
> recording equipment in tow, collecting blues and work songs from
> menhaden fishing boats, railroad gangs, and turpentine camps; and
> children's songs, dance music, and religious music from schools, homes,
> and churches. They often interviewed the performers,
> documenting their lives as well as their folksongs. Links are provided
> from the Florida WPA collection to the American Life Histories:
> Manuscripts from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1940
> collection–already available through the Library of Congress American
> Memory Web site–when a performer’s life has been documented in writing
> as well as on acetate disk.
> 
> Florida writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, an editor for the
> Florida Federal Writers' Project from 1938-39, described pockets of rich
> cultural material in the state in her essay, "Proposed Recording
> Expedition into the Floridas," included with the online presentation.
> Hurston is also showcased as a performer, singing and
> explaining folksongs she learned in Florida and the Bahamas.
> 
> A new essay by Stetson Kennedy, folklore editor for the Florida Writers’
> Project, 1937-42, reflects on the labor and the legacy of the WPA in
> Florida. An extensive bibliography, a list of related Web sites, a map
> of the state, and a guide to the ethnic and language groups of Florida
> add further context to the New Deal era and to Florida culture.
> 
> American Memory is a project of the National Digital Library Program of
> the Library of Congress, which, in collaboration with other
> institutions, is bringing important American historical materials to
> citizens around the world. Through American Memory, some eighty
> collections–including six based on materials created by the
> WPA–of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, motion
> pictures, and text are now available online, free to the public for
> educational purposes. This collection is the tenth collection from the
> American Folklife Center to be added to the American Memory Web site.
> All American Memory collections can be accessed through:
> http://memory.loc.gov.
> 
> Please direct any questions to [log in to unmask]




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