NY Folklore Society Archives Projects

FOLKLORE IN ARCHIVES: A Guide to Describing Folklore and Folklife Materials by James Corsaro and Karen Taussig-Lux 1998	WORKING WITH FOLK MATERIALS IN NEW YORK STATE: A Manual for Folklorists and Archivists John Suter, editor 1994
For more information about these books and how to order, visit our on-line gallery bookstore.

"The New York Folklore Society’s publications on folklore and archives have been important tools for staff, particularly as increasing precision was required by the creation of bibliographic records for the collection in the University Libraries’ and national online catalogs. These publications have also offered insight into future acquisitions considerations and decisions by the department and evaluation of rights issues."

—from How the Norman Studer Papers Came to the University at Albany by Amy C. Schindler, in the Fall-Winter 2003 VOICES membership magazine.

". . . In this far-reaching project, the New York Folklore Society has created a real BUZZ in the folk arts community about archives— along with the means to take action. They have also created an echoing buzz in the archives community about the value of folk collections, and they have given archivists the knowledge and tools to meet effectively the needs of these unique and valuable collections."

—1999 Award for Outstanding Support of Archives form the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York

New York Folklore Society
P.O. Box 764
Schenectady, NY 12301
518/346-7008
Fax 518/346-6617
nyfs@nyfolklore.org

Archives

Folk Archives Project

Over the past ten years, the New York Folklore Society has taken a leadership role in the area of folklore collections and archives. Folklorists and other cultural specialists and dedicated members of communities and groups have been bringing to light an enormous range of cultural expressions that have been little known outside the communities—sometimes even the families—where they were created. By recording stories and songs, interviewing the bearers of family and community traditions, documenting festivals, family and community rituals, performances, objects of beauty and use and the like on tape or film, and writing about their observations, they have been creating a unique and priceless documentary heritage of people’s living traditions. This documentation can and should become an enduring resource for generations to come.

The New York Folklore Society is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of a 2005/2006 award from the Documentary Heritage Program of the NYS Archives. With this funding, we have expanded our technical assistance to include direct support for folklore collections and archives by “circuit rider” archivists, who consult and assist in processing folklore collections throughout the state. Receiving archival support in this grant year will be the Alan Lomax Archives, Buffalo State College’s Vietnam-era veterans collection, City Lore, Crandall Library Center for Folklife, Long Island Traditions, and the Madison County Historical Society, as well as the folklore collections of the Arts Council for Greater Rochester, the Dutchess County Arts County, and the Tri-County Arts Council. We are working with archivists Pamela Cooley, Nancy Johnson, Albert Fowler, and Heidi Bamford. A one-day Symposium on New Archival and Ethnographic Techniques brought together folklorists and archivists to discuss archival issues relating to folklore collections on Friday, June 9, 2006.

Statewide, approximately 500 cubic feet of records will fall under the purview of this program.

For further information, please feel free to contact Ellen McHale at the New York Folklore Society, (518) 346-7008 or emchale@nyfolklore.org

But the documentary heritage is a delicate and fragile thing, far more so than the traditions it documents. If not properly cared for (preserved and appropriately stored), paper, film, tape, or computer disks can deteriorate and become useless or be destroyed altogether. And if not properly administered (labeled, filed, cataloged, described) precious documents and the information contained in them can be lost for good, because no one knows they exist or where they are.

The overall goals of the Folk Archives Project:

That the leaders and rank-and-file in underdocumented groups and communities of New York State will understand the importance of—and have the skills and resources necessary for—documenting their traditional culture and preserving and making their cultural documentation accessible for future generations;
That the importance of archival treatment of folklore collections will be recognized by both the archives and folklore fields and their sponsoring institutions so that organizational missions and collecting policies can be expanded to embrace folklore archives, and adequate organizational resources can be allocated to them. In other words, people need to understand that folklore documentation is an important part of the historical record and must be preserved and made accessible.

Phase I— Assessment and Planning
Beginning in 1991, with funding from the New York State Documentary Heritage Program, (DHP) the New York Folklore Society began a project to assess the condition and location of archives throughout the state. Many of these collections were in locations or situations that made them inaccessible to researchers and others who might find them important for the work they were pursuing. In Phase I of the project, data were gathered by means of a survey instrument mailed to 1,300 potential collection holders which yielded 90 positive responses; the survey was updated in 1995, resulting in the addition of 37 collections. From this project the New York Folklore Society produced a 54-page report, Folklore Archives and the Documentary Heritage of New York State, that has guided the project in subsequent years; established a database of folk archival collections in the State; and set up the collaborative task force of folklorists and archivists that carried out the next phase.

Phase II— Folklorist-Archivist Dialogue
Phase II, a folklorist-archivist dialogue (1992-1993) concentrated on implementing two of the most fundamental of the recommendations:

that folklorists and archivists begin learning more about each other’s disciplines (theoretical frameworks, methods, concepts, and language), through intensive task force meetings, pilot workshops, and production of a manual; and
that we develop tools (the manual and collecting forms) that would encourage folklorists in the field to document their collections in ways that would be efficient, follow a standard format, and be easily converted by an archivist into MARC-AMC format.

Responding to the needs of the field, the New York Folklore Society has worked closely with archivists to produce manuals outlining the preferred methods of arranging and describing the materials, as well as to match endangered collections with proper repositories. Working with Folk Materials in New York State: A Manual for Folklorists and Archivists, (1994) which is distributed by us and by the Society for American Archivists won the Brenda McCallum Prize from the Archives and Libraries Section of the American Folklore Society in 1995 "for exceptional work dealing with folklife archives or the collection, organization, and management of folklife materials." Over 40 archivists and folklorists attended workshops introducing them to the disciplines of folklores and archives. Many of the folklorists are now routinely using the collecting forms and methods from the manual in their fieldwork.

Phase III— Education and Exploration
In the third phase of the archives project, archivist/folklorist teams surveyed the entire state, region by region, beginning in the Capital District, North Country, and New York City (1994-95), then Central and Western New York (1995-96), and Southeastern New York and Long Island (1996-97). The teams identified collections that are important and were at risk and worked to educate collection holders and potential folklore repositories alike about the importance of the materials and explore with them the various options for improving the care, accessibility, and use of the collections.

In some cases, the teams were able to match collections with potential regional repositories that are interested in initiating or augmenting holdings in folklore and initiate dialogue or negotiations between the parties. In three cases so far, the project resulted in collections being donated to secure repositories: The Rensselaer County Council for the Arts (now known as The Arts Center of the Capital Region) donated its collection of folk arts documentation to the Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS); a small but important multi-county collection was transferred from the Albany-Schenectady League of Arts to RCCA (it will be included in the RCHS collection); and Bruce Buckley’s large collection (1,500-2,000 audio and video tapes; 200,000 slides; 120-125 Hollinger boxes of manuscripts and some ephemera) is being donated to the New York State Library.

Phase IV— Guidelines for Arrangement and Description
Recognizing the particular and challenging problems archivists face when dealing with folklore collections, the NYFS secured funding in 1996 from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to develop and publish Guidelines for the Arrangement and Description of Archival Folklore Materials, a cataloging manual for use in New York and throughout the country. The resulting manual, Folklore in Archives co-authored by Karen Taussig-Lux and James Corsaro, was published in 1998. In 1999, this manual received the Brenda McCallum Prize of the Archives and Libraries Section of the American Folklore Society.

Community Documentation
In nearly every community there are individuals who care passionately about and work hard to collect or safeguard the cultural and historical documentation of their communities and groups. Often such people, known in the contemporary folklore field as "community scholars," are very knowledgeable about local history and culture and intimately connected with their communities, but they are usually untrained in planning and carrying out the systematic collection and stewardship of records. Furthermore, they are unlikely to be attuned to the nature and importance of folklore records—the documentation of their communities’ expressive culture.

With support from the Documentary Heritage Program in 1998, the New York Folklore Society initiated a community documentation project in August of that year, with training and mentoring initiated in the Finnish community first, followed by the Hungarian community in late 1998 and early 1999. Two New York City Projects (the Latino community of East Harlem and the African American community of Brooklyn) were initiated in 1999. Additional support was granted in April, 1999, by the Central New York Library Resources Council for continuation of the Finger Lakes portion of the project to specifically survey institutional records of the Finnish community such as the Finn Hall and Spencer Cooperative, and to produce a guide. More information at this latter project is found at this site: A Survey of Finnish and Hungarian Archival Resources in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

The community scholars of the Urban Think Tank (UTT) began a project in 2001 with the New York Folklore Society to document Hip Hop, identifying collections that were important to the development of the Hip Hop culture. Archivist Nancy Johnson describes this project in her Voices column, Documenting the New: Hip Hop as Archives:

Although Hip Hop continues to be a cultural major influence, its roots are becoming historical. Several decades have now passed since the first independent recordings were made, since people were literally dancing in the streets, since subway cars became the vehicles of art. The earliest Hip Hop artists—graffiti writers, b-boys, MCs and DJs—are themselves getting older, as are their earliest fans. And among them, Urban Think Tank identified eighteen significant collections of documentation in varied formats: commercial and homemade sound recordings in many different media; photographs, some professionally shot, some amateur, documenting people, fashions, breakdancing contests, subway art; sketchbooks; flyers and posters; interviews; even clothing.

The collection summaries that Nancy produced based on UTT interviews with collection holders are available here.

Phase V— Statewide Access
Phase V of the archives project had as its concern the statewide access to folklore archives. Also, as a part of this phase, two archivist/folklorist teams provided expert guidance and facilitation for the development and implementation of plans to make 10 especially significant folklore collections accessible to community and scholarly researchers statewide. In addition, the New York City team sought professional archives to serve as repositories for current and future folklore collections in New York City.

Transfer to the State Library of a substantial collection of tapes and papers (approximately 150 cubic feet) belonging to Vaughn and George Ward began in early 1998. The collections of the Delaware County Historical Association (41 cubic feet) and Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (ca. 25 cubic feet of paper records; 6,000 slides and photographs; 200 audio and video recordings) will have series-level descriptions and finding aids completed by the end of the project. The collections of City Lore (121 cubic feet) and photographer Martha Cooper (10,000 images, 74 cubic feet), two of the largest and most important folklore collections in New York City, are receiving professional archival attention for the first time, including development of collection-level descriptions and written plans. City Lore has applied to DHP to continue the work on both collections under this project.

On October 14, 1997, the Board of Regents and the State Archives and Records Administration presented the New York Folklore Society with the 1997 William Hoyt Advocacy Award "for its exemplary leadership and initiative in raising the consciousness of the folklore and historical records communities to the archival value of folklore materials." The award is named after the late Assemblyman William Hoyt from Buffalo, who was a staunch supporter of archives and the arts in New York.

To date the project has developed an effective model for collaboration between the professional disciplines of folklore and archives; it has raised the overall awareness of and sensitivity to the importance of folklore records and their archival care and management among both professional communities; and it has completed or launched a score of specific projects dealing with particular folklore collections—in some cases, transfer of records is complete; in others transfer of records or the improvement of facililities and skills for managing records in situ is under way.

Preservation and Access to Sound Recordings
This important work continues. In 2000, through a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts/New York Council for the Arts Technology Initiative, the New York Folklore Society explored the situation surrounding the preservation and access to sound recordings in New York State. Our work with archivists and sound recording specialists has led us to develop a proactive role in the preservation of sound recordings and the creation of digital access copies. Following the landmark symposium "Folk Heritage Collections in Crisis" at the American Folklife Center in December, 2000, the New York Folklore Society is vigorously pursuing work in this area.

LINKS
For links to important archival resources in New York State and the nation, including a list of archives in New York that contain folklore collections, visit our Resources section. Read Nancy Johnson’s advice about applying for Documentary Heritage Grants in her Archival Questions column of Voices.

The Folk Archives Project is made possible by grants from the New York State Documentary Heritage Program and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Additional funding has been provided by a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts/New York Council for the Arts Technology Initiative.