Folklore in Your Community
odd: label: Introduction
content: The Folklore in Your Community featured several presentations based in communities of the Washington, D.C. area.

Vietnamese Americans For refugees, community is an immediate concern. Vietnamese were the newest wave of refugees to American shores, plucked from their families and communities very suddenly with the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Cultural change in Vietnamese American communities was rapid; in some families the grandparents spoke little English in 1979 and the grandchildren spoke little Vietnamese. Nonetheless, the traditional pattern persisted of three generations of an extended family living and working together. In Vietnamese terms, a family consists of passing on responsibility and gratitude from generation to generation. Arriving with fragments of their families and communities, the Vietnamese in Washington, D.C., had by 1979 vigorously woven a network of community activities through neighborhood grocery stores, restaurants, Buddhist temples, Catholic organizations, a bistro, Vietnamese language schools, senior citizens' groups, and newspapers.

D.C. Fire Fighters Since the first horse-drawn fire engines clanged down a city street, fire fighting has been an urban service occupation that continued to generate a feeling of romance and respect. Yet beyond the excitement and pride felt by those who advance the hose lines, make the rescues or throw the ladders, there are a variety of techniques, customs, gestures, and stories that form the work culture passed from one generation of fire fighters to the next. Fire fighting is dangerous and filled with sharp contrasts. Danger must be anticipated; life or death situations require all the knowledge and skill an individual can muster. A fire fighter prepares for this every day through training, experience, and the collective knowledge of past generations of fire fighters communicated through occupational folklore, represented at the Festival by workshops demonstrating the skills and lore of District of Columbia fire fighters.

CB Community Viewed broadly, the CB community included anyone who had and used a CB (Citizen's Band) radio. But for many CBers in the D. C. area, two way radio was more than an occasional convenience to help drivers. It formed the basis of an ongoing and richly-interactive community. CB people met and socialized over the radio and at CB events; they created informal networks and organized special clubs, such as the Legal CB Operators of America who helped prepare this year's CB presentation for the Folklife Festival. CB aficionados invited Festival visitors to learn their special jargon and to eavesdrop on the life of their community.

Street Criers and Corner Stores The places where cultures meet to do business with one another produce some of our most vital folk expressions. At markets where Italians sell to Jews, where blacks sell to Chinese; in streets where itinerant peddlers make their neighborhood stops, vendors combine talent, tradition, and business sense to sell their goods. Two programs focused on this domain: one looked at neighborhood and corner stores and the role they played for their proprietors, neighbors, and customers, and the other looked at the verbal arts of vendors and sellers - the cries and pitches of fish vendors, fruit peddlers, and others who used their skills to attract customers and to close a deal.
label: Participants
content: Baseball Players Washington Senators

Jim Hannan, 1940-, Annandale, Virginia

Charles Hinton, 1934-, Washington, D.C.

Jackie Jenson, 1927-1982, Scottsville, Virginia

Jim Lemon, 1928-2006, Hyattsville, Maryland

Walter Masterson, 1920-2008, Woodville, Virginia

Mickey Vernon, 1918-2008, Wallingford, Pennsylvania

Citizen Band Radio Operators

Ryan J. Arata (Maine Yankee), 1930-, Annandale, Virginia

Teri Barron (Wacky Witch), 1945-, Arlington, Virginia

Nicholas H. Bocher (Two Plus), 1941-, Annandale, Virginia

Chick Heerlein (Chick-Mar), 1914-2002, Annandale, Virginia

Ralph D. Kuser (Red Pony), 1943-, Arlington, Virginia

Jessie E. Spells (Delta Man), 1928-, Arlington, Virginia

Fire Fighters

District of Columbia Fire Fighters' Association, Local 36, D.C. Fire Department

Gospel Singers

D.C. Blind Gospel Singers, Washington, D.C.

Independent Church of God Choir, Washington, D.C.

Rose Bud Singers, Washington, D.C.

Sincere Gospel Aires, Washington, D.C.

Wilson Harmonizers, Washington, D.C.

Market Vendors

Chris Calomiris, Silver Spring, Maryland

Merhle E. Dutrow, Damascus, Maryland

Ella Lovett, 1930-2003, Washington, D.C.

Lincoln Rorie, Oxon Hill, Maryland

Gregg Taylor, Washington, D.C.

John W. Thomas, 1916-1987, Temple Hills, Maryland

Neighborhood Store Owners

Bianca and Valerio Calcagno, Va-Ce Italian Delicatessen, Washington, D.C.

Edward F. Dillon, Washington, D.C.

Mollie and Joseph Muchnick (1953-), Silver Spring, Maryland

Andrew Wallace, Washington, D.C.

Sarah Weisfeld (1910-2001), Alfred Weisfeld (1904-1998) and Marshall Weisfeld (1945-), Washington, D.C.

Stone Carvers

Carlo Donofrio, stone cutter, Clinton, Maryland

Roger Morigi, 1907-1995, Hyattsville, Maryland

Vincenzo Palumbo, 1936-2000, Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Constantine Seferlis, 1928-2005, Garrett Park, Maryland

Frank Zic, 1909-1995, Holliswood, New York

Street Hawkers

Paul Diggs, Baltimore, Maryland

Walter Kelly, Baltimore, Maryland

Lincoln Rorie, Oxon Hill, Maryland

Jerry Williams, 1954-, Onancock, Virginia

Taxi Cab Drivers

Nick Aravanis, Washington, D.C.

Ruby Burnside, 1914-2000, Washington, D.C.

Bob Chapman, Washington, D.C.

Arthur Elms, 1928-1994, dispatcher, Washington, D.C.

Moe Gershenson, 1905-1984, Mt. Rainier, Maryland

Vietnamese Community

Le Thi Bai, narrator, costume, Washington, D.C.

Nguyen Ngoc Bich, 1937-, games leader, festival organizer, Springfield, Virginia

Huynh Kim Chi, musician, Middlesex, New Jersey

Tranh Dinh De, Maryland, narrator, acupuncture, Falls Church, Virginia

Reverend Thach Giac Due, narrator, Buddhism, Washington, D.C.

Vu Thi Dung, games leader, Arlington, Virginia

Hien Nguyen Gia, musician, Washington, D.C.

Hang Phan Hoang, cook, Bowie, Maryland

Dao Thi Hoi, cook, Springfield, Virginia

Truong Cam Khai, 1906-, calligrapher, painter, Arlington, Virginia

Nguyen Van Minh, lacquerware maker, Springfield, Virginia

Le Thanh Nghiem, narrator, costume, Washington, D.C.

Phan Bach Ngoc, silk flower maker, Falls Church, Virginia

Than Nguyen, narrator, immigrant experience, Springfield, Virginia

Nguyen Kim Oanh, musician, Alexandria, Virginia

Ho Thien Tam, musician, Falls Church, Virginia

Tam Vi Thuy, musician, Fairfax, Virginia

Ai Thi Tong, narrator, foodways, Washington, D.C.

Minh Nguyet Vu, narrator, immigrant experience, Arlington, Virginia

Ngo Vuong Zoai, musician, Alexandria, Virginia
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1979 Festival of American Folklife
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1979, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials