Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1986 Festival of American Folklife
odd: label: Introduction
content: 1986 saw the 20th annual Festival. Twenty years previously, the Smithsonian's 1967 Festival of American Folklife had announced in a national forum that study and conservation of living traditional cultures were a continuing part of the Federal government's engagement with arts, humanities, and science. Since that time, this idea has resonated outside the Institution in a way that helped to shape a coordinated Federal approach to traditional cultures.

1986 marked as well the 10th anniversary of the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress, on whose board the Secretary of the Smithsonian sits as an ex-officio member. In his remarks for the Festival Program Book, Secretary Robert McC. Adams took note that the Smithsonian had collaborated with the Center on several folklife matters, among them the Federal Cylinder Project, which preserved and was actively making available to Indian communities the earliest sound recordings of American Indian music. He offered his congratulations to the American Folklife Center and also to the Folk Arts Program at the National Endowment for the Arts, in its 14th year in 1986, for their continuing good work.

The 1986 Festival featured four thematic programs and a series of musical performance celebrating the Festival's 20th anniversary. The 1986 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; the Program Book essays provided a larger context for the Festival presentations, without being limited to traditions actually presented at the 1986 Festival.

The 1986 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 25-29 and July 2-6) 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). A visual highlight of the 1986 Festival site was a large flooded rice paddy in the Japan program, where daily rice-transplanting rituals were enacted. The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Office of Folklife Programs.

Office of Folklife Programs

Peter Seitel, Director; Richard Kurin, Deputy Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Alicia María González, Assistant Director for Program Development; Marjorie Hunt, Phyllis M. May, Nicholas R. Spitzer, Folklorists; Richard Derbyshire, Archivist

National Park Service

William Penn Mott, Jr., Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region
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: Folk festivals
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: Food habits
label: Topic
content: World music
label: Topic
content: Folklore
label: Topic
content: arts and crafts
label: Topic
content: Folk music
creator: label: Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1986 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 1986 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs 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 25-July 6, 1986
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1986
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Notes
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Audiocassettes
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Memorandums
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Digital images
label: Type
content: Negatives
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Type
content: Business records
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Arranged in 6 series.

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: 20th Anniversary Music Stage

Series 3: American Trial Lawyers

Series 4: Cultural Conservation: Traditional Crafts in a Post-Industrial Age

Series 5: Japan: Rice in Japanese Folk Culture

Series 6: Tennessee
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiocassettes
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Memorandums
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Digital images
label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Genre/Form
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1986 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: 1986 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.