rare performances - story telling - hard work - acknowledgements
field research outside the classroom
Fully equipped and aided by the revolution in recording technology, the ANYSF captures 20th century cultural life in upstate New York with remarkable detail. Cooperstown’s Otsego County emerges as one of the most well documented counties nationally. Some projects closely examined a rural activity, such as blacksmithing, beekeeping, domesticating animals, and hops production. In other cases students traveled to urban centers in Utica or New York City.
Some students ventured further from Cooperstown to create nationally significant recordings throughout the East Coast, Midwest, and even the rural South. Distinguished visitors to Cooperstown, such as Stith Thompson, renowned folklore professor and longtime Dean of Indiana University’s Graduate School, to globally recognized blues musician Eddie James "Son" House, were also documented.
