Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
odd: label: Introduction
content: In 2004, the Festival continued its long tradition of presenting the diverse cultural heritage of the people of the United States and the world to large public audiences in an educational, respectful, and profoundly democratic way, with three major programs and the Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert honoring longtime collaborator, Roland Freeman.

In 2004, the Haitian people marked the bicentennial of their independence. In 1804, inspired by American and French ideals, Haitians fought for their own freedom, abolished slavery, and created the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere. Haitians have sought freedom and liberty ever since, and through tough times have relied on their rich culture and seemingly boundless creativity to persevere. The Festival program, in the planning for several years, came at what was obviously an important time for Haitians and Americans - particularly Haitian Americans. It provided an excellent opportunity for Haitians to tell their own stories through their skill and artistry, and for Festival visitors to learn from them.

The inaugural program in a planned multi-year sequence, the Latino music program helped the Smithsonian reach out to a major segment of the American population not only as audience, but also as presenters, performers, and spokespeople for their own cultural expressions. Latino music includes a wide variety of traditions now energizing social and community life in the United States. Some are centuries old and reach back to early indigenous, European, and African roots. Others have come to us more recently, with immigrants from south of our border. Sharing these traditions broadly at the Festival contributed to a valuable and needed cultural dialogue, particularly one involving the growing number of Washingtonians of Latino heritage.

The Mid-Atlantic maritime program allowed the Smithsonian to convene a public discussion of "water ways" spanning six eastern seaboard states. Many people and communities depend upon the ocean, coast, bays, and rivers for their livelihoods - whether through commercial fishing and aquaculture or recreation and tourism. At the time of the Festival, homes, jobs, and ways of life were facing unprecedented economic and ecological challenges. The Festival program brought together scores of workers, professionals, and officials who used, monitored, and regulated these water ways to demonstrate their knowledge and inform visitors about the key issues facing them.

The 2004 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 23-27 and June 30-July 4) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 10th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan). It featured three programs and the Rinzler Concert. 

The 2004 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; keynote essays provided background on the Festival and on each of the programs (with versions in Kreyòl and Spanish of the respective essays).

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Richard Kurin, Director; Richard Kennedy, Deputy Director; Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Diana Parker, Festival Director; Stephen Kidd, Production Manager; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Charlie Weber, Media Specialist; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings: Daniel Sheehy, Director and Curator; Anthony Seeger, Director Emeritus; D.A. Sonneborn, Assistant Director; Ralph Rinzler Archives: Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Stephanie Smith, Assistant Archivist; Save Our Sounds: Frank Proschan, Project Director; Cultural Heritage Policy: James Early, Director; Cultural Research and Education: Olivia Cadaval, Chair; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist Emeritus; Betty J. Belanus, Olivia Cadaval, Nancy Groce, Marjorie Hunt, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Peter Seitel, Cynthia Vidaurri, Nilda Villalta, Curators, Folklorists, Education and Cultural Specialists; Carla Borden, Program/Publications Manager; John W. Franklin, Program Manager; Roland Freeman, Ivan Karp, Corinne Kratz, Worth Long, René López, Kate Rinzler, Sam-Ang Sam, Laura Schneider, Rajeev Sethi, Chucho Valdez, Research Associates

Folklife Advisory Council

Kurt Dewhurst (chair), Judy Mitoma (vice-chair), Michael Doucet, Anthony Gittens, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Debora Kodish, Enrique Lamadrid, Worth Long, J. Scott Raecker, Robert Santelli, Ricardo Trimillos, John Herzog (ex-officio)

Folkways Advisory Council

Michael Asch (chair), Phyllis Barney, Hal Cannon, Don De Vito, Ella Jenkins, Anthony Seeger (ex-officio), Fred Silber

National Park Service

Fran P. Mainella, Director; Donald W. Murphy, Deputy Director; Terry R. Carlstrom, Regional Director, National Capital Region

The Festival was supported by federally appropriated funds; Smithsonian trust funds; contributions from governments, businesses, foundations, and individuals; in-kind assistance; and food, recording, and craft sales. Major funding for this year's programs came from Whole Foods Market and the Music Performance Fund, a Festival sponsor for 34 years. Telecommunications support for the Festival was provided by Motorola, Nextel, Pegasus, and Icom America. Media partners included WAMU 88.5 FM, American University Radio, and WashingtonPost.com, with in-kind support from Signature Systems and Go-Ped.
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
place: label: Place
content: Caribbean Area
label: Place
content: Latin America
label: Place
content: Haiti
label: Place
content: Puerto Rico
label: Place
content: Virgin Islands
topic: label: Topic
content: Food habits
label: Topic
content: World music
label: Topic
content: Folk festivals
label: Topic
content: Folk music
label: Topic
content: Folklore
label: Topic
content: arts and crafts
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: Hispanic Americans -- Music
creator: label: Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
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 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage 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: June 23-July 4, 2004
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2004
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Negatives
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Type
content: Notes
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Memorandums
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Digital images
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Audiocassettes
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Arranged in 5 series.

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: Haiti: Freedom and Creativity from the Mountains to the Sea

Series 3: Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture

Series 4: Special Events

Series 5: Water Ways: Mid-Atlantic Maritime Communities
processinfo: label: Nota del archivista
content: La descripción en español (Series 3: Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture) fue añadida por Armando Suárez en 2024.
label: Processing Information
content: The description in Spanish (Series 3: Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture) was added by Armando Suárez in 2024.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
label: Genre/Form
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Memorandums
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Digital images
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiocassettes
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. 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: 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival 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.