C.A.R.T.S.

SOUTHEAST

While Curt Blackwell plays fiddle, his wife Irene plays the fiddlesticks in front of their home in Bush, LA.
Photo by Nicholas R. Spitzer

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture [http://www.arts.state.al.us/actc/index-folkarts-actc.html] researches and presents programs on the state's folk culture, including online radio programs on several interesting traditions, articles, and photos. Contact 410 N. Hull St., Montgomery, AL 36104, 334/242-3601, folklife specialist Anne Kimsey. [anne@arts.state.al.us]

Alabama Folklife Program [http://www.arts.state.al.us/folklife/folklife.htm] offers books, recordings, and funding. Contact Alabama Arts Council, 201 Monroe St., Montgomery, AL 36130, 334/242-4076 x225, folklife specialist Joey Brackner. [joey@arts.state.al.us].

The Spirit of Steel at the historic Sloss Furnaces of Birmingham [http://www.arts.state.al.us/actc/spirit_program/introduction.htm] presents audio files from a teacher workshop on using the book and CD on Alabama traditional music in the classroom.

Teaching Tolerance [http://www.tolerance.org/teach] of the Southern Poverty Law Center, home of the Civil Rights Memorial, publishes a magazine and other materials free to schools. Write on school letterhead to 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104, 334/241?0726. Look for small grant information, the Mix It Up at Lunch initiative, online bias test plus articles and lessons on folklore, families, migration, anti-bias education, and more.

Historical Museum of Southern Florida [http://www.historical-museum.org] programs include folklife research. Contact Steve Stuempfle, [history@historical-museum.org] folklife coordinator, 305/375-1492.

Florida Folklife Program [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/folklife/index.html] site includes information on annual programs such as the Folklife Apprenticeship Program, Florida Folk Heritage Awards, Music From the Sunshine State radio series, Folklife Days, folklife in education, and more. To request information, including inservice training or The Florida Music Train educator's guide, recipient of the 2003 American Folklore Society Dorothy Howard Prize ($50 including shipping), contact Tina Bucuvalas, Florida Folklife Program, Bureau of Historic Preservation, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399, 800/847-PAST or 850/245-6425, Tbucuvalas@dos.state.fl.us.

Heritage Alliance, Zora Neale Hurston Institute for Documentary Studies, University of Central Florida supports some education efforts. Contact Natalie Underberg, 12461 Research Pkwy., Suite 500/Room 132, Orlando, FL 32826, 407/ 823?1140, nunderbe@mail.ucf.edu.

Florida Memory Project [http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/memory] provides an online selection of primary records and educational resources for students to study Florida history and folklife and to create their own memory projects.

GA

Foxfire [http://www.foxfire.org] began pioneering oral history and folklife research in K-12 education in 1966 and continues to advocate student-centered, community-based learning through core practices, publications, and teacher training.

South Georgia Folklife Project [http://www.valdosta.edu/music/SGFP] provides community and teacher workshops, exhibits, and a regional writing project. Contact Laurie Sommers, Dr. Laurie Sommers, Continuing Education Building, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA 31698, 229/293-6310, lsommers@valdosta.edu.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken [http://unbrokencircle.org] site of the Southern Regional Council features the award-winning 1997 audio history of the Civil Rights Movement, which focuses on five communities and draws upon oral histories, music, and interviews. Narrated by Vertamae Grosvenor for Public Radio International, CDs or cassettes are available, as is a teacher's guide.

KY

Appalshop [http://www.appalshop.org] is a media and cultural center that has been documenting, exhibiting, and presenting Appalachian culture for over 30 years. Find many resources from theater to recordings, video to live broadcasts. Contact 91 Madison Ave.
Whitesburg, KY 41858, 606/633-0108, info@appalshop.org.

Kentucky Folklife Program [http://history.ky.gov/Programs/Folklife/index.htm] is an interagency program of the Kentucky Historical Society [http://history.ky.gov] and the Kentucky Arts Council that documents and presents Kentucky's cultural resources and offers grants, folklorist residencies in schools, curriculum materials, and an annual statewide festival. Resources include the online Teacher's Guide to Kentucky Folklife, with an introduction to folklore, readings, lesson plans, classroom activities, and a resource guide. Contact Bob Gates at 502/564-1792, bob.gates@mail.state.ky.us. In conjunction with Kentucky Educational Television (KET), the program co-produced several videos for classroom use. Tour of Kentucky Folk Music is a four-part series featuring traditional music from across the state. World of Our Own: Kentucky Folkways, an eight-part series, explores occupational and recreational folklife as well as folk art and customs. A teacher's guide is available for each program. Order from KET Tape Duplication, 600 Cooper Dr., Lexington, KY 40502, 800/945-9167.

Traditions and Treasures: Kentucky Folklife [http://www.garrard.k12.ky.us/traditions/projects/projects.htm] shares elementary and high school students? folklife fieldwork research.

WKU Folk Studies Program [http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Academic/AHSS/MLIS/menu/menu_folk.html] at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green offers courses for undergraduates and an M.A. for those interested in academic or public sector work. Education students may take folklore courses as part of their content requirement.

The Acadians: A Story to Tell [http://www.challenge.state.la.us/k12act/data/acad/acad.html] provides online lessons on the history and culture of Acadians in Southwest Louisiana.

Louisiana Folklife Festival is a statewide celebration in Monroe and an excellent fieldtrip destination each September.

Louisiana Folklife Regional Programs [http://www.louisianafolklife.org] provide education outreach in several parts of the state.

Louisiana Folk Roots [http://www.lafolkroots.org] honors Cajun and Creole heritage through workshops and a week of music and dance camp in state parks each April and November.

Folklife in Louisiana [http://www.crt.state.la.us/folklife] offers comprehensive teacher and student resources, including regional folklorists, teacher workshops and institutes, and a Web-based statewide guide. Contact state folklorist Maida Owens, Box 44247, Baton Rouge, LA 70804, 225/342-8180, [mowens@crt.state.la.us]. The Web site is organized into three parts: (1.) Louisiana Folklife Program [http://www.crt.state.la.us/folklife/main_program_intro.html] within the Division of the Arts offers aids to planning and funding folklife projects and resource lists of books, music, and videos. (2.) Louisiana's Living Traditions [http://www.crt.state.la.us/folklife/creole_index.html] encompasses a virtual exhibit of Louisiana cultural traditions, photos, virtual books, articles, essays, and maps. (3.) Louisiana Voices: An Educator's Guide to Exploring our Communities and Traditions [http://www.louisianavoices.org] is an extensive Web-based guide for educators and students, adaptable for any state or community. Although aimed at 4th-8th grades, applications may be made for any grade level. The guide integrates new education technology efforts and state standards for social studies and language arts.

LouisianaRadio.com [http://www.louisianaradio.com] links to many online traditional music sources and broadcasts "all Louisiana music all the time," so students may compare Louisiana genres with those of their own regions.

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival [http://www.insideneworleans.com/entertainment/nojazzfest] provides a great fieldtrip opportunity each spring.

Swapping Stories [http://www.lpb.org/programs/swappingstories] has video and text excerpts from an overarching collection of storytelling in Louisiana.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette [http://www.ull.edu] offers an MA or PhD in English or French with a concentration in folklore and is home to important scholarship on Acadian culture. Education students may take folklore courses as content requirements.

University of New Orleans [http://www.uno.edu] offers folklore courses through Urban Studies and is home base for folklorist Nick Spitzer's National Public Radio show on the traditional roots of popular music, American Routes [http://amroutes.cc.emory.edu].

WWOZ Radio [http://www.wwoz.org] broadcasts hot Louisiana traditional music online.

The Blue Highway [http://thebluehighway.com] One man's obsession with the blues maintains this extensive Web site. Not all sections are appropriate for younger students, but there's a lot to work with here.

Center for the Study of Southern Culture [http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south] at the University of Mississippi offers a course of studies, events, conferences, and resources.

Crossroads of the Heart [http://www.arts.state.ms.us/crossroads/main.html] provides streaming audio and photos of traditional arts forms, a teacher's guide, and overview of the state's traditional culture.

Discovering Our Delta: A Learning Guide for Community Research [http://www.folklife.si.edu/MississippiDelta/discoveringourdelta.htm] resulted from a Mississippi Delta program at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and provides online student and teacher guides that define folklore terms and provide fieldwork tools such as interview forms. Also available with accompanying video for middle schoolers from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings for $30, 800/410-9815, [http://www.si.edu/folkways]. The guide won the 2002 American Folklore Society Dorothy Howard Prize.

Mississippi Arts Commission [http://www.arts.state.ms.us] has a state folklorist, Larry Morrisey [morrisey@arts.state.ms.us], and an extensive arts in education project that sponsors a week-long Whole School Institute each summer and supports teachers back in the classroom, 239 N. Lamar St., Suite 207, Jackson, MS 39201, 601/359-6030.

Mississippi Cultural Crossroads [http://www.msculturalcrossroads.org] in Port Gibson, a Coming Up Taller recipient, connects young people with community artists and elders through traditional arts, theater, photography, and community documentation.

Mississippi Oral History Project [http://www.usm.edu/msoralhistory] at the University of Southern Mississippi includes a teaching guide, interviews, and other resources.

Nile of the New World [http://www.cr.nps.gov/delta] This National Park Service site features culture, history, geography, and environmental lessons on the Mississippi River.

Sacred Harp Singing [http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/%7Emudws/harp.html] This University of Mississippi site gives an overview of this old shape note tradition and links to singing groups around the country.

Center for Documentary Studies [http://cds.aas.duke.edu] at Duke University offers exhibits, courses, local school projects such as Literacy through Photography, and resources such as a Handbook for Community Documentation. Contact 1317 W. Pettigrew St., Durham, NC 27707, 919/660-3663, docstudies@duke.edu.

John C. Campbell Folk School [http://www.folkschool.org/about.html] provides training for young people as well as educators and weekly concerts and programs throughout the year in Brasstown, 800/365-5724 or 828/837-2775.

Museum of the Cherokee Indian [http://www.cherokeemuseum.org] site allows visitors to hear Cherokee spoken and provides lesson plans and tales.

North Carolina Arts Council Folklife Program [http://www.ncarts.org] provides links and resources for educators. Contact Dept. of Cultural Resources, Raleigh, NC 27699, Beverly Patterson [beverly.patterson@ncmail.net], folklife specialist, 919/733-7897 x27.

North Carolina Folklore Society [http://www.ecu.edu/ncfolk/meeting.htm] encourages the study and preservation of local folklife through its annual meeting, programs, awards, and publications. NCFS also publishes a resource listing and calendar, both in its newsletter and online.

Southern Folklife Collection [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/sfc1/index.html] is a multimedia site with many online music samples, photos, and more from an important archive.

University of North Carolina Curriculum in Folklore [http://www.unc.edu/depts/folklore] offers undergraduate minor or M.A. degree for those interested in academic and public sector work and content courses for education students.

South Carolina Arts Commission [http://www.state.sc.us/arts] Folk and Traditional Arts Program offers funding, training, and resources. Contact Program Director Craig Stinson,1800 Gervais St., Columbia, SC 29201, 803/734-8697, cstinson@arts.state.sc.us.

Center for Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University [http://cass.etsu.edu] is home of the Archives of Appalachia [http://cass.etsu.edu/archives/index.htm]. ETSU's School of Ed offers a Storytelling Program [http://www.etsu.edu/stories] associated with the National Storytelling Association in Jonesborough.

Center for Popular Music [http://popmusic.mtsu.edu] is an extensive archive and research center for the study of American popular music at Middle Tennessee State University offering many online recordings and resources.

The Heritage Education Network [http://www.mtsu.edu/~then] offers lessons on historic farms, family history, cemeteries, artifacts, archaeology, photographs, and traditional architecture.

National Storytelling Festival [http://www.storytellingfestival.net] occurs the first weekend of October annually in Jonesborough, TN, 800/952-8392.

Tennessee Arts Commission [http://www.arts.state.tn.us] Folklife Program has resources for educators, including an online report on the state's Latino Culture. Contact Roby Cogswell, Robert.Cogswell@state.tn.us, 615/532-9795, or Jennifer Core, Jennifer.Core@state.tn.us, 615/532-0169. The Arts in Education Program offers folk arts curriculum and training.