Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1978 Festival of American Folklife
odd: label: Introduction
content: With the 1978 Festival, the Smithsonian began a five-year cycle of variations on the theme of "community," exploring folklore as the artistic expression of community life, and the pleasure and dignity found in that process. When the Smithsonian Folklife Program staff decided to use "community" as the theme of the 1978 presentation, they were not grafting an idea onto the Festival, but featuring an aspect of the Festival that had been present throughout its history. Folklore consists of the traditional ways in which community people work and play together, and their customary forms of entertaining and instructing each other. Community is composed of people meeting regularly who have inherited or developed ways of celebrating their sense of coming together.

"Community" had been involved in the past eleven festivals in many ways. For communities - whether inherited or joined - serve as a vital buffer between individuals and a world of megastates and megacorporations. They are more manageable units in which all can participate - men and women, young and old - and give some living proof of Schumacher's notion that "small is beautiful." Festival organizers sought to reaffirm that humans are important, and that we are, like plants and other animals, dependent upon communities for survival.

As with the preceding year, the 1978 Festival (October 4-9) was held on a site on the National Mall later to be occupied by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, between 14th and 15th Streets and between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive (see site plan). Indoor activities took place in the National Museum of History and Technology, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Renwick Gallery. The San Juan Pueblo programs took place outside of the National Museum of Natural History. As had been the case in 1977, Festival programming in the museums sought to connect objects on exhibit with people who could demonstrate, explain, or comment upon them; programming was again marked by collaboration between Folklife Program staff and museum curators. Festival programs included:

Chesapeake Bay Traditions

Children's Folklife

Coal Miners & Oil Workers

D.C. Folklore

Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations (including presentations on Ellis Island, Dunham School,family folklore, sleeping car porters, and a wheelwright)

Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery (featuring presentations on Mexican masks and on musicalinstruments)

Mexican & Mexican American Traditions

Other Programs (featuring organ-building in the Hall of Musical Instruments and sharecroppers in the Hallof Everyday Life in the American Past)

San Juan Pueblo Culture

The 1978 Program Book provided information on each of the programs, including a schedule and participant lists.

The 1978 Festival was again co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, McDonald's Washington Area Family Restaurants, and the Music Performance Trust Funds. It was organized by the Folklife Program within the Office of American and Folklife Studies.

Folklife Advisory Council

Wilcomb E. Washburn, Chairman, Roger Abrahams, Richard Ahlborn, Richard Dorson, William Fitzhugh, Lloyd Herman, Robert Laughlin, Scott Odell, Bernice Reagon, Ralph Rinzler, E. Richard Sorenson

Folklife Program, Office of American and Folklife Studies

Ralph Rinzler, Director; Jeffrey LaRiche, Program Coordinator; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Ethnomusicologist; Susan Kalcik, Folklorist; Steve Zeitlin, Folklorist; Jack Santino, Folklorist; Frank Proschan and Richard Derbyshire, Archivists

National Park Service

William J. Whelan, Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region
label: Fieldworkers and presenters
content: Héctor Aguíñiga, Holly Baker, Karen Baldwin, Charles Camp, Susan G. Davis, Hazel Dickens, Jason Dotson, Ben Evans, Alicia González, Richard Haefer, Charlotte Heth, Marjorie Hunt, Amy Kotkin, Maria La Vigna, Phyllis May, Pat Mullen, Salvador Ortega, Keith Rollinson, Daniel Sheehy, Nick Spitzer, Peggy Yocom, Jean Alexander, Kate Rinzler, George McDaniels
label: Shared Stewardship of Collections
content: The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
name: label: Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
label: Names
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival
topic: label: Topic
content: Food habits
label: Topic
content: Folk festivals
label: Topic
content: Folk music
label: Topic
content: Folklore
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: World music
label: Topic
content: arts and crafts
label: Topic
content: Hispanonorteamericanos
label: Topic
content: Mexicans
label: Topic
content: Mexicanos
label: Topic
content: Chicanos
label: Topic
content: Mexican Americans
label: Topic
content: Mexican Americans -- Social life and customs
label: Topic
content: Mexican-American Border Region
creator: label: Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1978 Festival of American Folklife
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
bioghist: label: Historical note
content: The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. 

The 1978 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Program of the Office of American and Folklife Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (approximate)
phystech: label: Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
content: The Rinzler Archives is continually engaged in digitization of archival materials to facilitate preservation and ready access by users. However, given the diversity of legacy formats of the originals, some older materials may not be available. Notably, certain older audio recordings cannot be played because of deterioration of the tape stock, and the Archives has no playback equipment for EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) or multi-track audio recordings. Where listening or viewing copies are available, this is generally indicated for each item. Users are encouraged to contact Archives staff to verify that the materials of interest to them are already accessible, or to determine if they can be digitized as needed.
unitdate: label: Date
content: October 4-9, 1978
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1978
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Memorandums
label: Type
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Negatives
label: Type
content: Audiocassettes
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Notes
label: Type
content: Digital images
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Contracts
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Arranged in 10 series.

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: Chesapeake Bay Traditions

Series 3: Children's Folklife

Series 4: Coal Miners & Oil Workers

Series 5: D.C. Folklore

Series 6: Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations

Series 7: Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery

Series 8: Mexican & Mexican American Traditions

Series 9: Other Programs

Series 10: San Juan Pueblo Culture
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Memorandums
label: Genre/Form
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiocassettes
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Digital images
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1978 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
relatedmaterial: label: Forms Part Of
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1978 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
label: Related Archival Materials note
content: Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.