The Middle Atlantic Folklife Association and the New York State Folk Arts Roundtable hosted a conference in Cooperstown, New York entitled "Collections, Collections, Collections" from April 10 - 13, 2008. I participated in the panel, "Hidden Treasures: An Overview of the NY State Folklore and Folklife Collections held by the New York State Historical Association and the New York State Archives." This is my presentation from the panel session.

1. COLLECTIONS
COLLECTIONS
COLLECTIONS
“HIDDEN TREASURES” PANEL:
Overview of NYSHA & NY State Archives’ Folk Collections
Presented by Ryan Anthony Donaldson
of the panel, with Florence Carnahan and Pamela Cooley
Joint Meeting of the Middle Atlantic Folklife Association
and the New York State Folk Arts Roundtable
Cooperstown Graduate Program
Fenimore Museum Auditorium
Cooperstown, NY
11 April 2008
2:30-4:00PM

2. “An Archive From Back to the Future” -
http://www.oneonta.edu/academics/cgp/folklife/folklife_1.html

3. ArchivesWithinArchives
“Collections and Files Maintained by the Archive of New York State Folklife,” Bruce
Buckley Folklife Collection, New York State Archives

4. ANYSF Antecedents::
two key collections
1. H.W. Thompson Folklore Archive-
Core Collection, 1934-1959
Manuscript archive (with illustrations and photographs)
1,688 student reports from New York State College for Teachers
(later SUNY-Albany) & Cornell University

5. ANYSF: Earliest known recording
“Weather Lore” c.1940
(audio clip, digitized from reel-to-reel)

6. ANYSF Antecedents:
two key collections
2. Louis C. Jones Folklore Archive
Summer 1940- Spring 1946
-Manuscript archive (unpublished)
-Followed Thompson’s lead with curriculum-based
local community & family history projects
Also includes:
New York Student Folklore Contest (high school)
-New York State Proverb Project
-Grit Magazine Ghostlore Collection

7. ANYSF Antecedents:
LCJ Folklore Archive
Seven Main Categorization Subjects:
• Child-lore
• Local Legends
• Supernatural and Songs
• Folk Song
• Folksay
(proverbs, remedies, place-names, agricultural and weather lore)
• Folkways and Customs
• Individuals and the Community
• Narrative and Folk History
With many sub-headings
*Index available at the NYSHA Library

8. Archive of New York State Folklife: By The Numbers
1964-1983, core collection
1,200 projects
1,820 total recordings
1,800 reel-to-reel audio recordings-
7”- 72%
ANYSF audio-visual workstation
5”- 24% studio in “Bonnie” trailer, c. 1975,
CGP Slide Collection
3”- 3%
20 video recordings helical scan, beta, vhs

9. Archive of New York State Folklife:
Oversized
Architectural drawings
Gravestone rubbings
Portfolio & poster projects
Material culture/ephemera

10. Archive of New York State Folklife:
Contextual multi-media projects
a/v, surveys, renderings, floor plans, tapes, photographs, barn reports…

11. Traditional Music and Storytelling
Son House
Rare Performances Heard Again
Son House concert, with Creighton Linday and Leslie Riddle,
Cooperstown High School, 1971. Photos by Milo V. Stewart

12. Traditional Music and Storytelling
Jesse Wells
Henry Glassie’s notes from
interview with Jesse Wells.
Digitized from microfilm.
Available from NYSHA
Library.

13. Heritage of Hard Work: HOPS documentation
Jesse Wells discussing hops (1964)

14. Heritage of Hard Work:
The Adirondack Packbasket video
Richard Axt project

15. Fieldwork outside the classroom:
Dorothy “Dew” Shonsey filming squaredancing, Milford, NY, 1976

16. Fieldwork outside the classroom
CGP Folk students documenting a music festival in Ferrum, VA, 1976.
CGP Slide Collection

17. Priority of Preservation
Digital reformatting team:
CGP
SUNY-Oneonta
National Baseball Hall of Fame
NBHoF digital media
workstation, Oct. 2006

18. Preservation

19. (back to the) Future
1. Rights & Access-
New policies & initiatives for folk collections

20. (back to the) Future
“How much data do we lose each day
when someone presses the DELETE key?”
Bruce R. Buckley, 1991
2. Community Cataloging

21. (back to the) Future
3. Collaboration
Group photo from Fife Folk Conference,
1978, Logan, Utah. (Standing left to right)
Hector Lee, distinguished collector of Mormon
folklore who received his doctorate in American
Civilization from the University of New Mexico;
Barre Toelken, director of Utah State
University’s folklore program from 1985-2003;
Jan Harold Brunvand, professor at the University
of Utah from 1966-1996, receiving his Ph.D.
from Indiana University’s folklore program in
1961; Eliot Wigginton, founder of Foxfire
curriculum and publisher of Foxfire magazine;
Austin Fife, French and literature professor at
Utah State University who studied Mormon
folklore; (kneeling left to right) William A.
Wilson, president of the Utah Folklore Society
and editor of Western Folklore journal; Bruce
Buckley; and Wayland Hand, founder and
director of the Comparative Folklore and
Mythology program at UCLA. Photo courtesy of
Utah State University, Special Collection and
Archives. Photo courtesy of Utah State
University, Special Collections and Archives.

22. Contact information & links:
E-mail: ryan.anthony.donaldson@gmail.com
Diane Eller with farmer holding
CGP Archives on flickr: scales, 1969. ANYSF #68-0008,
www.flickr.com/photos/cooperstowngraduateprogram NYSHA Library.
quot;The Archive of New York State Folklife : A Narrative History and Assessmentquot;
National Baseball Hall of Fame-NYSHA Library,
URL: http://pathfinder.nysha.org/search~S2/a?SEARCH=%22Donaldson%2C+ryan%22

23. * Special Thanks *
* Mona Buckley
• Florence and John Carnahan
• Pam Cooley, NYS Archives
* Benjamin Harry, NBHoF
* Anne McFarland, NBHoF
* Stephen Miller, Instructional Services, SUNY-Oneonta
* John Potocnik
* Cathy Raddatz, CGP
* Gretchen Sorin, CGP
* Milo V. Stewart, CGP & NYSHA
* Dan Ward, CGP
* Lori Beth White, CGP
* Randy Williams, Utah State University
* Wayne Wright, NYSHA Library