The Ackland Art Museum
In
1978 the Program began a long and fruitful collaboration with the
Ackland, the University art museum. That year two graduate students
researched, organized, and wrote the catalogue for an exhibition of
"North Carolina Country Quilts." The success of this exhibition led to
the formation of a collection of North Carolina folk art—pottery,
decoys, carvings, paintings. Two more ambitious undertakings soon
followed: "The Traditional Pottery of North Carolina" (1981) and "Five
North Carolina Folk Artists" (1986). Both included extensive
catalogues, and the former attracted a record number of visitors. The
Ackland also hosts traveling exhibits (such as "Who’d A Thought It,"
featuring African American quilts from the Oakland area), and
folklorists assist in programming in the form of workshops, lectures,
and performances.
The Center for the Study of
the American South
Founded
in 1992, the CSAS continues the University’s long tradition of
leadership in the study of Southern history, literature, and culture.
Through a variety of programs and publications, the CSAS sponsors a
broad dialogue on challenges to life in the South. Recent conferences
include "Heritage Tourism for North Carolina and the South: Community
Preservation, Promotion, and Progress" and the North Carolina Literary
Festival. The Center publishes a journal entitled Southern Cultures
and a research series entitled the Southern
Research Report.
The American Religious Tunebook
Collection
At
the core are the Annabel Morris Buchanan Collection and the Don Yoder
Collection, two major collections of Southern, German-American, and
other American songbooks. The Library has continued to make additional
purchases of books and microfilms to enlarge this important resource
for American religious folk music. Located in the Rare Book Collection,
Wilson Library.
The Southern
Historical Collection
With
more than sixteen million manuscripts and photographs, the SHC contains
numerous materials of folkloric interest: the papers of Annabel Morris
Buchanan, John C. and Olive Dame Campbell, Paul Green, Richard Jente,
Howard Odum, the Penn School, the Southern Oral History Program, and
others.
The Southern
Folklife Collection
Built
around the John Edwards Memorial Collection, the SFC contains over
60,000 sound recordings (78s, 45s, LPs, cassettes, CDs, and field
recordings) as well as photographs, song folios, periodicals, and
discographical materials. Many prominent scholars have enlarged the
holdings, among them Roger Abrahams, Guy and Candie Carawan, Tom
Carter, Tom Davenport, Alice Gerrard, Archie Green, D.K. Wilgus,
Eleanor Long-Wilgus, Peter Lowry, Ben Gray Lumpkin, Bascom Lamar
Lunsford, Judith McCulloh, Alton Morris, Artus Moser, Philip Nussbaum,
Blanton Owen, Theodore Rosengarten, Mike Seeger, Jeff Titon, and many
faculty and students at the University. The SFC also contains the John
M. Rivers, Jr. Preservation Studio and the Ben Jones Studio used for
recording and dubbing. It is one of the finest collections of
traditional music in the U.S., and its holdings are regularly used by
musicians, scholars, journalists, historians, radio and television
producers, and many others.

Center for Documentary Studies at Duke
University
The
Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University teaches, engages in,
and presents documentary work grounded in collaborative partnerships
and extended fieldwork that uses photography, film/video, audio, and
narrative writing to capture and convey contemporary memory, life, and
culture. CDS values documentary work that balances community goals with
individual artistic expression. CDS promotes documentary work that
cultivates progressive change by amplifying voices, advancing human
dignity, engendering respect among individuals, breaking down barriers
to understanding, and illuminating social injustices. CDS conducts its
work for local, regional, national, and international audiences.
Folklife Section, North Carolina Arts
Council, Raleigh
Since
its inception in 1977, the Folklife Section has worked closely with
faculty and students in the Program to research, preserve, and promote
the folklife of the state. The Folklife Section provides grants for
folklife documentation and projects; offers internships for graduate
students; sponsors the North Carolina Folk Heritage Awards; and
undertakes a variety of special projects across the state. Recent
activities include the North Carolina Coastal Folklife Survey and the
Blue Ridge Music Trail, both of which were carried out by graduate
students in the Program.
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts,
Winston-Salem
Located
on the southern edge of Old Salem, MESDA is the only museum dedicated
to exhibiting and researching the regional decorative arts of the early
South. With more than twenty period rooms, six galleries, splendid
research facilities, internships, a variety of publications, and a
Summer Institute for graduate students, MESDA offers numerous
opportunities for students of material culture.
North Carolina Folklore Society
Through
its annual meeting, programs, awards, and publications, the North
Carolina Folklore Society encourages the study and preservation of
local folklife and provides a state folklife information center and
resources center. The Society also publishes a resource listing and
calendar, both in its newsletter and as part of this website.
Membership is open to the public.
The North Carolina Museum of
History, Raleigh
With
its move into expanded quarters in 1994, the Museum added a Folklife
Gallery and appointed its first Folklife Curator, Dr. Sally Peterson.
Today Sally shares this position with Program graduate Lisa Yarger. The
Museum offers a variety of folklife programs and concerts, and most
recently opened a major exhibition on "Health and Healing in North
Carolina." Numerous graduate students have assisted in research and
programming at the Museum.
The North Carolina
Pottery Center, Seagrove
The
first state pottery center in the nation, the Center opened on November
7, 1998 in the village of Seagrove, home to 90 family-run pottery
shops. Its mission is to promote awareness of pottery making in North
Carolina through exhibitions and educational programs, collection and
preservation, research and documentation, and other public services.
This institution will offer many opportunities for public folklore
programming and heritage tourism over the coming years.
Davenport Films, Delaplane, VA
For
over a quarter of a century, the Program has maintained an informal
relationship with filmmaker Tom Davenport. Under the leadership of Tom
and Dan Patterson, faculty and students have contributed to a series of
award-winning documentary films, including "The Shakers" (1972), "Born
for Hard Luck" (1976), "Being a Joines: A Life in the Brushy Mountains"
(1980), "A Singing Stream: A Black Family Chronicle" (1986), and most
recently, "The Ballad of Frankie Silver." These and many other
classic documentary films on folklife are available to be streamed live
at Folkstreams.