5 july 1968 & 2nd annual smithsonian folklife festival
#OTD 5 July 1968 The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was on its third day. The 2nd annual festival began on 3 July with a banjo and fiddle concert followed by a public square dance. The festival, sponsored by the Smithsonian's Performing Arts Division, was founded "to help all Americans understand themselves and their origins." The festival lasted for five days. There were hundreds of craftspeople and musicians sharing their skills, talents and passions, and ~500,000 participating in the wide range of offerings.
The musicians included:
Muddy Waters' Blues Band
Georgia Sea Island Singers
The crafts included:
Maryland split-oak baskets
Mississippi Indian cane and coil baskets
Washington State and Alaska Indian baskets
spinning
net-making
wool-processing
doll-making
Your comments are welcome below. Did you, family members and neighbors attend the festival? Were you one of the craftspeople or musicians? Did you work the festival? What was your favorite part? Did you buy a craft that you still have today? Did you also participate in the Poor Peoples Campaign and Resurrection City? You may comment privately here.
Photo source: Courtesy Smithsonian Institution, 1969. Diane Davies, photographer. There were no online photographs of the 1968 festival. This photograph is from the 1969 festival which featured "Black Music Through Languages of the New World." Source does not indicate the names of performers. Do you recognize the performers?
"Tomorrow in Washington," Evening Star 4 July 1969.
"Tomorrow in Washington," Evening Star 3 July 1968.
