Old Ways in the New World
odd: label: Introduction
content: Old Ways in the New World was launched at the 1973 Festival as a cooperative, comparative presentation prepared and mounted by a joint effort involving the Smithsonian and the Government of Yugoslavia. Musicians, singers and dancers from Serbia and Croatia joined with their cultural descendants in America for a five-day celebration of the bechar tamburashi tradition. A series of concerts comparing American Anglo-Scots-Irish material with the English, Scots and Irish forms was intended as a preview of future Festivals.

Like the other Festival programs, Old Ways was concerned with the presentation of elements of group identity. Here the point of focus was the cultural traditions that newcomers - early and late, forced and willing - brought to the United States and creatively used in maintaining their unique sense of community. These traditions serve to reinforce, reassure and stabilize people struggling to survive in an unaccustomed environment.

As the Smithsonian began planning a multi-month Bicentennial Festival of American Folklife projected for 1976, it established relationships with foreign governments to initiate joint research programs, with U.S. scholars working abroad and visiting specialists coming to the U.S. to map and compare traditions as they exist in the mother country and here. The resources of ethnographic museums, folklore institutes, universities and independent scholars were mobilized to approach this material with fresh perspectives and techniques.

Andrew Oerke was Program Coordinator for the Old Ways in the New World program, with Carla Borden as Field Reseach Coordinator and Martin Koenig and Ethel Raim-Zinser serving as Program Directors for Slavic and Balkan Cultures. Major sponsors for the Old Ways program included the Government of Yugoslavia, the Croatian Fraternal Union, and the Serb National Federation. Subsequent to their participation in the Festival, Yugoslav participants toured to perform in U.S. cities with Serbian and Croation populations; those Touring Performances were coordinated by Mark Mason.
label: Participants
content: Tribute to the Tamburashi

Participants from Yugoslavia

Group from Vršac  -- Group from VršacGroup Coordinator: Desimir Daković-Daca"Žarko Zrenjanin"Ivan DjodjevSredoja GranićSvetislav HerićŽiva JovanovŽarko MišićDoka MitrovVasa RadakŽiva RadakJoca StanisavljevBogoslav Vinchila

Group from Gundinci  -- Group from GundinciGroup Coordinator: Drago KolesarMarica HorvatovićStjepan HorvatovićKata KadićManda KarovidovićPavo KarovidovićLuka KokanovićMato KokanovićManda MataševićFranjo MatasovićMarija MatasovićDurda MatićDuro MatićMarija MatićJosip MihićManda PlasićDurda UžarevićMarija Užarović

Group from Šiškovci  -- Group from ŠiškovciAdam KneževićVinko KneževićAntun ToldiFranjo ToldiMato Toldi

Group from Novi Sad  -- Group from Novi SadGroup Coordinator: Sava VukosavljevTvrdjeva Orchestra featuring Janika Balaz

Participants from America

Balkan Serenaders from Lackawanna, New York  -- Balkan Serenaders from Lackawanna, New YorkCharlie Bukovich, Lackawanna, New YorkNick (Tillie) Klaich, Lackawanna, New YorkVlad Popovich, Lackawanna, New YorkCharlie Smilinich, Lackawanna, New YorkSteve Vranjes, Lackawanna, New York

Balkan Serenaders from Youngstown, Ohio  -- Balkan Serenaders from Youngstown, OhioDave Egercic, Youngstown, OhioMelvyn Evanovich, Youngstown, OhioSteve Markulin, 1910-1988, Youngstown, OhioPaul Milanovich, Youngstown, Ohio

Banat Tamburitzans  -- Banat TamburitzansWalter Bachinich, Elizabeth, New JerseyZdravko Jezdimir, 1896-1979, Elizabeth, New JerseyWalter Yezdimir, 1918-1983, Elizabeth, New JerseyMilutin Yezdimir, Elizabeth, New Jersey

Popovich Brothers  -- Popovich BrothersPete Mistovich, 1914-2001, Chicago, IllinoisAdam Popovich, 1909-2001, Chicago, IllinoisMarko Popovich, 1915-1976, Chicago, IllinoisTed Popovich, 1912-2005, Chicago, Illinois

Sloboda from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania  -- Sloboda from Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaCoordinator: Joe Grčevich

British Isles Music, Song, and Dance Traditions from England, Scotland, Ireland and America

Consultant: Dr. Kenneth S. Goldstein

Workshop leaders: Kay Cothran, Dr. Kenneth S. Goldstein

Ralph Aldous, 1909-1984, fiddler, Adirondacks

Ted Ashlaw, 1905-1987, singer, Adirondacks

Sam Bayard, 1908-1997, fife and whistle player, fiddler, Pennsylvania

The Boys of the Lough  -- The Boys of the LoughAly Bain, 1946-, fiddler, ShetlandCathal McConnell, ballad singer, flute and whistle player, Northern IrelandRobin Morton, ballad singer, concertina and bodhran player, Northern IrelandDave Richardson, 1948-, ballad singer, instrumentalist, England

Sara Cleveland, 1905-1992, ballad singer, story teller, Adirondacks

Kay Cothran, singer, Georgia

Hazel Dickens, 1935-2011, singer, West Virginia

Jimmy Driftwood, 1907-1998, ballad singer, story, teller, Ozarks

Roscoe Holcomb, 1912-1981singer, banjo player, Kentucky

Norman Kennedy, 1934-, ballad singer, story, teller, Aberdeen

Lou Killen, 1934-2013, ballad singer, story, teller and instrumentalist, Northeast England

Margot Mayo, 1910-1974, dance caller, Texas

Owen McBride, 1941-, ballad singer, story, teller, Ireland

Larry Older, 1912-1982, fiddler, ballad singer, story, teller, Adirondacks

Maggi Peirce, singer, story teller, North Ireland

Almeda Riddle, 1898-1986, singer, Ozarks

Jean Ritchie, 1922-2015, ballad singer, story, teller, dulcimer player, Kentucky

Grant Rogers, 1907-1979, fiddler, ballad singer, story, teller, New York

Wilf Wareham, singer, Newfoundland out port

Nimrod Workman, 1895-1994, singer, storyteller, West Virginia

African Traditions

From the Republic of the Gambia:

Al Haji Bai Konte, kora player
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1973 Festival of American Folklife
unitdate: label: Date
content: June 30-July 4, 1973
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1973, Series 3
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials