UMaine announces Library of Congress partnership
A new collaboration between the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center and the University of Maine will preserve a unique archival collection that documents the history and traditions of Maine, other New England states and Canada’s Maritime Provinces. That collection, the entire holdings of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and History, is part of UMaine’s Folklife Center.
UMaine President Paul Ferguson announced details at the university’s Buchanan Alumni House this morning.
The library will acquire the entire collection, preserve it at its state-of-the art facilities and serve it to researchers. Digital copies will remain accessible at UMaine’s Maine Folklife Center.
The Maine Folklife Center will contract with outside specialists for audio and video file digitization while scanning manuscripts and photos on site in Orono. The original items, along with copies of the digital files, will move to the Library of Congress for further processing and storage while a copy will remain available in Orono.
Founded in 1958 by the late Edward D. “Sandy” Ives (1925-2009), an eminent folklorist, oral historian and UMaine professor for more than 40 years, the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History contains unrivaled documentation of community life, traditions and iconic occupations of the region, including commercial fishing and logging. Materials in the archives include over 3,000 one-of-a-kind audio recordings of interviews with ordinary people about their lives, along with 325,000 pages of interview transcripts and other manuscripts, 10,000 documentary photographs, and other materials.
“The collection of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History is one of the largest and most comprehensive regional folklore collections in the country,” says Dr. Peggy Bulger, Director of the American Folklife Center. “Its holdings are of great value to scholars and the general public. They capture historic recordings of people describing own lives in Northeast America, including work techniques and occupational lore, traditional songs and stories, foodways and “Downeast” recipes, weather prediction and many other aspects of folklore and culture. Taken altogether, the documentary materials in this collection capture the distinctive texture of life in the Northeast. There is no better index of what makes past and present life in Maine, and the states and provinces that border it, unique than the contents of the Northeast Archives.”
This agreement benefits the Maine Folklife Center in several ways, including enhancement of its ability to concentrate on newer digital technology as it continues its teaching, research and community outreach mission.
And the agreement is beneficial to the Library of Congress because this acquisition brings a collection of international importance to the nation’s premier archive of American traditional culture. The collection will complement and enhance the American Folklife Center’s existing collections related to Maine, New England, and eastern Canada, as well as its extensive documentation of occupational culture and traditional music.
“Thanks to the vision and foresight of the Library of Congress staff, working with UMaine personnel who appreciate the immense value of this collection, these works will be preserved according to the highest possible archival standards,” says UMaine President Paul Ferguson. “Moreover, access will be enhanced and assured in both Maine and Washington for generations to come, to the benefit of students, scholars and those who care deeply about the rich traditions that have shaped our regional culture.”
“There are many valuable collections of traditional material from specific states and regions archived at the American Folklife Center, but none rivals the Maine Folklife Collection for its international, cross-border scope, its 50-year examination of traditions such as occupational song, and the daily life of loggers and fishers,” says Dr. Michael Taft, head of the American Folklife Center’s Archive. “Of special importance is that the collection is largely the work of Sandy Ives, his colleagues and students, whose expert skills at documentation add considerable value to the collected materials.”
“This agreement provides the Maine Folklife Center with a unique and wonderful opportunity: first, by preserving the collection in its traditional formats at the Library of Congress, assuring permanent care, and second, by providing resources that help us move forward using newer technology as we continue to train students in oral history fieldwork and archival processing methods; conduct community-based projects such as our recent work with paper mill and sardine cannery workers, provide resources to teachers and the public through such venues as our National Endowment for the Arts sponsored Maine Song and Story Sampler on the Web, and our programming at the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront,” says Pauleena MacDougall, Maine Folklife Center director.
The American Folklife Center was created in 1976 by the U.S. Congress to “preserve and present” American folklife through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference service, live performance, exhibition, publication and training. The Center incorporates an archive, which was established in the Music Division of the Library of Congress in 1928 and is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic materials from the United States and around the world.
The mission of the Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine is to enhance public understanding of the Folklife, folklore and history of Maine and Atlantic Canada, to encourage appreciation of the diverse cultures and heritage of the region, and thereby to strengthen and enrich our communities.
Contact: Joe Carr