Lowell Folklife Project collection
By: collected by the American Folklife Center ; in cooperation with the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities
Contributors: American Folklife Center; Lowell Historic Preservation Commission (U.S.); Lowell National Historical Park (Lowell, Mass.); Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities; Refugee Arts Group; University of Lowell
Published: 1987
Language: eng
Number of pages: 13500
Subjects: Irish Americans; Ethnic neighborhoods; French Americans; Polish Americans; Ethnic arts; Processions; Portuguese Americans; Religious life and customs; Maps; Music; Puerto Ricans; Laotian Americans; Folk music; Refugees; Social life and customs; Greek Americans; Vietnamese Americans; Community life; Cambodian Americans; Folklore; Colombian Americans; Textile industry
Other titles: Lowell folklife project
Description: This year-long study yielded an ethnographic collection consisting of 196 hours of sound recordings covering a wide range of subjects and activities, including oral history interviews, religious services, musical events, parades and religious processions, ethnic festivals, ethnic restaurants, and neighborhood tours. An additional 23 hours of sound recordings of musical events and oral history interviews were copied from originals lent by Lowell residents. Collection materials also include correspondence; field notes; questionnaires; neighborhood maps; reports; publications; administrative files; interview transcripts; black and white photographic prints, contact sheets, and negatives (ca. 10,000 images); and color slides, prints, and negatives (ca. 3,500 images) which document community life in Lowell, Mass.
Notes: Transcripts of interviews were prepared by the University of Lowell, Center for Lowell History, Oral History Collection.

Includes reports prepared by the Refugee Arts Group on the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian communities of Lowell.

Access restrictions apply; some or all content stored offsite. Please contact the Folklife Reading Room before requesting materials:  folklife@loc.gov ; 202-707-5510.

Lowell Folklife Project Collection (AFC 1987/042), Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Duplication of the collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.

The Lowell Folklife Project was conducted in 1987-1988 as a cooperative project of the American Folklife Center and the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission, with support from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, to document contemporary ethnic neighborhoods, occupations, and community life related to the history of industrialization in Lowell, Massachusetts.

In English, French, Greek, Laotian, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Cambodian.

Collection guide available in the Folklife Reading Room and online via the American Folklife Center web pages.