This accession consists of records created and maintained by Howard Bass while producing public programs at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). The majority of the records pertain to the "American Sampler" series of programs which presented traditional music, dance, and storytelling from communities and cultural groups throughout ...

Sam DeVincent loved music and art and began collecting sheet music with lithographs at an early age. Series 16: Country, Western, and Folk Music contains approximately 11,500 pieces of sheet music and other materials documenting the development of and popular attitudes towards country, western, and folk music in the United States. An overview to the entire DeVincent collection is available here: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.

This collection, which dates from 1926-1986, documents the output of Moses Asch through the various record labels he founded and co-founded, and includes some of his personal papers. The Asch collection includes published recordings, master tapes, outtakes, business records, correspondence, photographs, and film.

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.

This accession consists of records documenting films and videos produced by the Office of Education. The most documented film in this accession is "The Art of the Hyo-gushi," a 45 minute film following the restoration of three Japanese paintings by Takahi Sugiura and his assistants, Shigero Mikkachi and Makoto Souta. Other productions document...

Sam DeVincent loved music and art and began collecting sheet music with lithographs at an early age. Series 18, Dance contains approximately 3,330 pieces of sheet music and other materials documenting the development of and popular attitudes towards dance in the United States. An overview to the entire DeVincent collection is available here: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.

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.

Jack Mitchell (1925- 2013) was an acclaimed photographer who began chronicling the work of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1961. Alvin Ailey (1931- 1989), one of the most influential African American choreographers of modern dance, dedicated himself and his dance company to creating ballets that not only accelerated the careers of young African American dancers, but also stole the attention of national and international audiences in displaying the racial perspective of dance in the African American experience. This collection serves as Mitchell's documentation of the dance company's evolution while capturing the true idiosyncrasies and physicality of movement through still images. Through Alvin Ailey and Jack Mitchell's partnership, they were able to collaborate and produce a unique production of art, fusing the meaning and movements of dance and the techniques of photography.

This collection, which dates from circa 1961-2006, contains audiorecordings from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music of the World, as well as related business records. Includes recordings of tradition and sacred music from Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Sudan, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Peru, Afghanistan, Australia, Cambodia, China, Korea, the Solomon Islands, India, Bali, Java, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Thailand, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Syria, and Turkey.

Five boxes containing sixty-four 5 inch and fifteen 7 inch open reel tapes recorded primarily by American herpetologist Charles M. Bogert from 1953-1965. This collection has two parts: the first focusing mainly on traditional music and liturgical music from several regions in Mexico: Oaxaca, Jalisco, Nayarit. Also included is music recorded in the Southwestern United States. The second portion of the collection contains amphibian, bird, and insect calls and choruses, mostly from these same regions in Mexico, the Southwestern, Western, and Southern United States, and Sri Lanka.