The collection documents the customs and culture of black gospel song and its performance in 19th- and 20th-century America. Dr. Reagon collected photographs, sheet music, and other primary and secondary sources chronicling the development and legacy of this medium, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, from blues to Gospel to classical to jazz. Among the subjects included in this collection are trailblazers such as Charles Tindley, Thomas A. Dorsey, Rosetta Tharpe, Duke Ellington, and Nathaniel Dett. Noted performers are the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Harmonizing Four, the Hampton University Choir, and the Chick Webb Orchestra.

This accession consists of records documenting traveling exhibitions produced by the Office of Exhibits Central for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Exhibitions documented in this accession include American Voices: Latino Photographers in the United States; An Ocean Apart: Contemporary Vietnamese Art from the Unit...

Original performance and interview audio recordings, audio outtake materials, program masters, and finished program tapes from the Smithsonian Institution/National Public Radio series WADE IN THE WATER. Collection documents the influence of religion on various African American sacred and secular music styles, including gospel, spirituals, classical...

This accession consists of records that document the planning, execution, administration, and promotion of traveling exhibitions. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, press releases, press kits, photographs, slides, transparencies, scripts, itineraries, floor plans, checklists, clippings, budgets, proposals, brochures, notes, and ...

This accession consists of records created and maintained by John Tyler, Audio Production Manager, documenting the planning, development, execution, and distribution of original radio series and programs as well as of recordings of special events and concert series. Radio series include "Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was;" "Folk masters;" ...

This accession consists of records documenting the marketing and publicity of recordings produced by Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings, part of the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The majority of the records were created by Brenda Dunlap, Marketing Director, 1994-2001, and Richard Burgess, Marketing Director, ...

The collection primarily documents the activities of the National Museum of American History's Program in African American Culture (PAAC) dating from 1979 through 2004. The Program in African American Culture (PAAC) created public programs documenting the black experience in the United States, as well as, other countries. Archival materials include photographs, programs, administrative files, magnetic tape, audiocassettes, U-matic and VHS video cassettes.

This accession documents closed, denied, and unfinished exhibitions at the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA). These records contain correspondence, research, notes, checklists, label texts, brochures, floor plans and designs, clippings, loan information, photographs, slides, transparencies, and negatives. Some materials are in electronic ...

This accession consists of files of Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) exhibitions. Varying amounts of material are included, such as itineraries, slides, news clippings, scripts, news releases, shipping documents, correspondence, photographs, lists, brochures, videotapes, audiotapes, etc. Some materials are in electr...

The J. Scott Odell folk music collection (1945-2016, inclusive) contains AV recordings, photographs, correspondence, writings, and other materials relating to Odell's career at the Smithsonian as a musical instrument conservator and researcher of American music traditions. The collection largely consists of materials relating to Odell's research trips (often combined with personal visits) throughout the Eastern United States. Research strengths of the collection include the history of the Appalachian dulcimer and banjo, the Smithsonian Folkways project "Black Banjo Songsters," musician and poet Burt Porter, and the Bread and Puppet Theater.