[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10321-S10322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER RE-AUTHORIZATION ACT

 Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, as the Chairman of the Joint 
Committee on the Library of Congress, I am introducing legislation 
today to reauthorize the Library's American Folklife Center for fiscal 
years 1996 though 1999. I am pleased to have all the members of the 
Joint Committee on the Library and Senator Reid join me in this effort 
as cosponsors.
  The American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976 established the 
American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress with a mandate to 
``preserve and present American folklife.'' This remarkable institution 
contains the nation's foremost collection of folklife materials, 
including over 1 million manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, 
films, videos, periodicals, and other printed information which 
chronicle the grassroots cultural traditions of the American people. No 
other public or private establishment can compare to the Folklife 
Center's extensive accumulation of American folklife.
  In addition to maintaining a comprehensive record of our Nation's 
diverse culture, the Folklife Center is also an interactive and widely 
used institution. The folklife reading room is the largest reading room 
in the nation with public access to folklife collections and 
publications. During 1994 the folklife reading room assisted nearly 
9,000 researchers. Additionally, the Folklife Center is well known for 
its popular public exhibitions and presentations, such as the summer 
folklife music concert series in front of the Jefferson Building. This 
year the series opened with a performance of cajun zydeco and will 
close with the Argentine tango. The Folklife Center is also well known 
for its programs which have traveled throughout the United States. For 
instance, the Folklife Center's photographic exhibit ``Generation to 
Generation: Sharing the Intangible,'' which depicts grassroots culture 
bridging the differences between older and younger individuals, had a 
brief stay at the Hood River County Historical Museum in Hood River, 
OR.
  Mr. President, the American Folklife Center accomplishes its broad 
mandate with minimal funding and through the efforts of creative 
individuals. The Folklife Center has a staff of only 15 and their 
authorization level has been frozen since 1992. However, in 1994 they 
raised $330,000--3 times the amount raised in 1990--in private funding 
and they have a multi-year plan to increase private funding. 
Consequently, the legislation I am introducing today provides a modest 
increase in their annual authorization from the current level of 
$1,120,000 to $1,187,000 for the next 4 fiscal years.
  The American Folklife Center is an important investment in preserving 
our Nation's cultural background that will serve future generations as 
a historical reference and educational guide. I hope my colleagues will 
continue to support the Folklife Center by approving this 
legislation.
 Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Hatfield 
as an original cosponsor to legislation which will reauthorize the 
American Folklife Center. The Folklife Center provides our country with 
the invaluable service of preserving the diverse cultures which makeup 
American folklife.
  Folklife is defined as the grassroots cultural traditions maintained 
at the community level and expressed through family, ethnic, 
occupational, religious, and regional associations. It includes a wide 
range of creative forms including music, verbal traditions, crafts and 
dance. It is my strong belief that the preservation of America's 
heritage is worth funding.
  The American Folklife Center contains by far the Nation's preeminent 
folklife collection comprising over 1 million items in every medium: 
manuscripts, sound recordings photographs, films, videos, periodicals, 
and other printed materials. No other institution, public or private, 
contains such a vast and comprehensive collection of folklife. Further, 
it is the sole institution in the Federal Government authorized to 
preserve and present American folklife.
  The American Folklife Center's authorization level has been frozen at 
$1,120,000 since 1992. On this budget, the Center has maintained the 
largest reading room in the Nation with public access to folklife 
collections and publications and with formal public reference services, 
assisting nearly 9,000 researchers in 1994. The Center has provided for 
programs, presentations, field research projects, publications and 
exhibitions which strengthen public education about America's heritage 
and benefit hundreds of thousands of Americans annually. I believe it 
is time to increase the Center's funding, therefore, our amendment 
provides for the modest increase in authorization to $1,187,000 a year 
for the next 4 years. This money will allow the Center to continue with 
their important work in preserving America's heritage.
  In 1976, the American Folklife Center was established with bipartisan 
support. However, the Archive of Folk Culture has been a part of the 
Library of Congress since 1928. This long history is evidence of our 
country's commitment to preserving its heritage.
  The Center maintains a unique collection with items from all 50 
States. My State of Nevada has diverse folk traditions which are 
preserved by the Center. Among its unique recordings are Ute, Northern 
Paiute, Wasoe, and other native American music recordings made by Omer 
Stewart in 1938 and Willard Rhodes in 1949. There are cowboy songs and 
stories by ``Powder River'' Jack H. Lee of Virginia City and oral 
histories and stories of traditional life made by Duncan Emerich in 
1942 and 1950.
  Between 1978 and 1982, the Center conducted the Paradise Valley 
Folklife Project to document and analyze the traditional life and work 
of a ranching community in Nevada. The project was developed in 
conjunction with the 

[[Page S 10322]]
Smithsonian Institution and the National Endowment for the Arts. 
Documentary materials from the project include field notes; sound, 
motion picture, and video records; and 30,000 black and white negatives 
and color transparencies. The project also resulted in a book, 
``Buckaroos in Paradise: Cowboy Life in Northern Nevada,'' an exhibit 
of the same name at the Smithsonian Institution, and a videodisc, ``The 
Ninety-Six: A Cattle Ranch in Northern Nevada.''
  In 1989 and 1990, the Center conducted a field research project 
documenting the culture and traditions of Italian-Americans in the 
West, which culminated in a traveling exhibition and companion book of 
essays. The documentary material created during the project includes 
recordings, photographs, architectural drawings, and other documents 
from central Nevada. These are just some examples of the work that the 
Center does in my State of Nevada. However, the Center provides this 
sort of work for each State's unique history.
  The Center is not only a place where history is preserved, it is also 
a viable working institution which provides a wealth of information 
from where American artists can draw upon and use these valuable 
resources. Micky Hart, drummer for the Greatful Dead, has found 
unreleased and forgotten world music in the archives. This past spring 
he released his second CD of such sounds, ``Music of the Gods,'' a 
collection of gamelan music acquired from the Fiji Islanders just 
before World War II.
  The Center is heavily used by artists, historians, and people who 
simply enjoy learning about our country's cultures. It has successfully 
performed its duties on minimal funding over the years, and has made 
great efforts in generating private funds. The Center has demonstrated 
its dedication to the preservation of American folklife and culture, 
and greatly deserves the reauthorization our legislation 
provides.


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