Artisan Ancestors

In this episode, I talk about the problems facing researchers who do oral histories. In recent weeks attention has focused on Boston College and the UK subpoena of oral history materials. While I don’t speak directly about this court case, I discuss what I think the meaning of the recent court ruling will be for […]

A couple of years ago, Ada Jones, who use to coordinate the Pioneer Village in Nashville, Indiana, told me she had a recording of her mother-in-law singing old songs and she wondered if I was interested in listening to it. “I am always interested in local music traditions!” I replied. She loaned me the recording, […]

An expert in early sound recordings, Patrick Feaster talks about his personal collection of home recordings captured on wax cylinders in this episode.  While many genealogists and local historians may have tracked down photographs of ancestors and others from the late Nineteenth Century, few would imagine that they might  hear the voice of that person. […]

In today’s show, I talk with Chris Fennell about his multi-prong archaeological study in Edgefield, South Carolina. His research combines archaeological discoveries with archival research and scientific analysis. He works with students from the University of Illinois in this field school where they explore both the Remains of a pottery production facility as well as […]

In this episode, I sit down and talk with my friend and fellow folklorist Jason Baird Jackson to discuss the topic of the “Creative Commons.”  Jason’s research touches upon issues of intellectual property and heritage making in native communities in the United States.  He points out that the work of the commons tries to provide […]

In this episode, I talk with Milan Opacich a National Heritage Fellow, tamburitza musician and luthier.  We discuss his life’s work of collecting artifacts, instruments and ephemera related to tamburitza in the United States. Writing for the ethnic magazine, Serb World USA, he has chronicled the history of this often-overlooked genre of music. Opacich received […]

Studying historic needlework offers a perspective into the complex lives of women often not present in the written records of the 18th and 19th centuries. Material culture scholar Susan Schoelwer authored Connecticut Needlework: Women, Art, and Family, 1740–1840, which included pieces from the Connecticut Historical Society’s rich Collection of period needlework. In my conversation with […]

In this episode I talk with Yang Cai about his research work doing 3-D scanning of gravestones and rock art. This new technology allows scholars to reveal information and patters thought lost to the ages by setting a laser line on a stone and measuring the refraction of this line, which allows the researchers to […]

Robert Tarule makes reproductions of 17th Century joined furniture. In his book The Artisan of Ipswich, he crafts a story that centers around a chest made by Thomas Dennis  in the Massachusetts village of Ipswich in the mid 1600s. Robert narrates Dennis’ use of tools, techniques and styles.  In this interview, I talk with Tarule […]

Maureen Taylor, the “Photo Detective” is a genealogist and photo researcher who helps researchers unlock mysteries from the past. From the PBS series Ancestors to the popular magazine Martha Stewart Living, this photo researchers has helped others recognize the importance of family photographs and encouraged them to preserve and annotate their family collections. Maureen is […]

An Emmy Award-winning archival image researcher, Rich Remsberg assists documentary film makers locate the necessary archival footage and still photos that they need to visually tell their stories.  From scouring collection at the National Archive to tracking down rare one of a kind materials held in personal and family collections, he prides himself on uncovering […]

  Folklorist Tim Tangherlini employs a research approach he calls, “computational folkloristics” which uses data-mining to reveal new information, once thought lost to the past. He deploys computers to plot, compare, store and assist in the analysis of data from various archival holdings from around the world. His method places historical individuals in richer cultural, […]

  In this final installment of our series on Catawba Pottery in South Carolina, I talk with Stephen Criswell a folklorist and director of the Native American Studies program at the University of South Carolina at Lancaster. Much of his work focuses on conducting oral history with Catawba potters and tradition bearers who work to […]

Brent Burgin is the archivist and director of the Native American Studies Archives at the University of South Carolina at Lancaster, an institution that holds one of the largest and most impressive collection of Catawba  pottery.  He has worked with scholars such as Thomas Blumer and Stephen Criswell to help preserve and archive important documents […]

In this episode, we start to explore pottery produced by artisans from the Catawba Nation in South Carolina. This is part one of a three part series on this age old art.  In part one of our exploration of this earthenware tradition.  I talk with Bill Harris, a Catawba potter who learned to make this […]