Q: What is the American Folklife Center?
Rankin: The AFC at the Library of Congress has its roots in the 1920s with the Archive of Folksong. In 1976, the American Folklife Center was created by Congress to preserve and present traditional American culture, memory, and creativity. Part of the role of the Board of Trustees is to affirm the importance of documenting and archiving a range of cultural expression and assuring that the resources are in place to do that. My interest is in the Folklife Center being a leader in this work and helping guide the priorities of the Center's work.
Q: Is the collection mostly old-time traditional music and folklore?
Rankin: It is that, but much more as well. The collections of the AFC include everything from some of the earliest recordings of native American music and song to the Woody Guthrie Collection to the field recordings of the legendary folklorist Alan Lomax to the Veterans History Project. The archive is rich in ethnic music and narrative and, most recently, is the repository for the StoryCorps project, which can be heard weekly on NPR. It's a national leader in the collecting, preservation, and archiving of many forms of traditional expression from all kinds of communities and groups.
Q: How does the work of the American Folklife Center overlap with the mission of CDS?
Rankin: The biggest difference between what we do here and what goes on there
is that they are within a library -- the nation's library -- so building archives and making them accessible to the public in a variety of ways is a central focus. At CDS we're much more invested in teaching and producing documentary work. And then disseminating that work through exhibitions, publications, and so on.
But both institutions deal with the question of how are we going to document and hold our intangible cultural history, memory, and creativity? And how might we best share that with a broad public? How do you make documentary work an active force in contemporary life?
Q: Has your work with the board resulted in any collaboration with CDS?
Rankin: The most visible collaboration was our "Days of Infamy" radio program. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, Alan Lomax, then head of the archive, put out a national call for folklorists and others to conduct man-on-the-street interviews which recorded public reaction to the attack. On the day of September 11, 2001, just minutes after the attacks in New York and Washington, the staff at the Folklife Center decided to make a similar call for documentation. John Biewen (who is based at CDS) and Elana Hadler Perl, who at the time was also at CDS, produced an hour-long radio documentary for NPR, "Days of Infamy: December 7 and 9/11." That program was heard throughout the country and compared the two events through the narratives of ordinary Americans.
Q: What do you bring to your work with the FolklifeCenter?
Rankin: I try to bring a perspective informed through the work we do at CDS and push us not only to preserve and disseminate the wonderful collections already there, but also to advocate for work reflective of today. We are working with community groups, for instance, to collect narratives of Katrina survivors, of veterans, of the changing nature of communities. The Folklife Center staff recently documented oral histories of the extended family of Congressman Mel Watt at a massive family reunion in Charlotte. I advocate for additional funding, try to use the credibility of CDS and Duke to push for new initiatives and new resources.
Q: Is it difficult to get support for the AFC?
Rankin: The archive contains materials from nearly every ethnic group, every region, and every cultural tradition. When I first joined the board I made a visit to [then-N.C.] Sen. Jesse Helms office, asking for his support of a budget request. I went in expecting some resistance, thinking I would be seen as just another cultural program. I took with me a recording of an Ola Belle Reed banjo tune. Ola Belle Reed is a North Carolinian and with that little bit of music -- and the spirit it carried -- Helms' aides told me, "This is something the senator will be interested in." And that piece of music won his support. So it just depends on how you go about it.
The collection cuts across class lines, across political lines. It's a very populist mission with a collection that reflects local culture in a profound way. The AFC contains within its collection the heart and mind of America, as well as the cultures that make up this country, so it's a very easy thing to see and get behind. I really feel like I can make a difference on this board and it's a true joy to get things done.