Catalog Record:
The following terms have been used describe this collection in the Library's online catalog. For dance related manuscript materials see Appendix A. For locations see Appendix B. For performers see Appendix C. For photographs see Appendix D. For subjects depicted in photographs see Appendix E.
James Madison Carpenter (1888-1984) was born in Booneville, Mississippi. He received both a bachelor of arts degree (1913) and a master of arts degree (1914) from the University of Mississippi. He continued his graduate training at Harvard University, where he came under the tutelage of Professor George Lyman Kittredge, a ballad scholar. At Harvard, Carpenter became interested in British and American folk songs; his dissertation,
From 1929 to 1935 Carpenter traveled throughout England and Scotland primarily as a Harvard Fellow, collecting folk songs, folk plays, and other folklore materials. Upon his return to the United States, Carpenter taught himself to notate the tunes he had recorded, and proceeded to transcribe approximately 1000 tunes over the next few years. At the same time Carpenter became a college lecturer, giving presentations based on his research at institutions such as Harvard, Wellesley, Vassar, Smith, Radcliffe, Amherst, and the University of Vermont. In 1938 he taught English at Duke University, and continued his collecting of folk songs and children’s games, often as part of his curriculum. After five years at Duke, Carpenter taught for one year at the College of William and Mary and then became chairman of the English Department at Greensboro College. His tenure at Greensboro lasted ten years; he formally retired from the department in 1954. Carpenter returned to his hometown of Booneville in 1964, where he lived until his death on July 4, 1984.
Series I of the collection was purchased from Carpenter by the Library of Congress in 1972. An oral history interview with the collector in 1972 and subsequent public programs based on the materials complement the collection.
After the collection arrived at the Library in 1972, the manuscript materials were microfilmed in the order in which they were arranged at the time: by “box,” “packet,” and “mailsack” number (Folders 13-184). This arrangement has been maintained, since the microfilm has been widely distributed and references and guides use this arrangement. Because the materials in general are not organized systematically by subject type, related notes, correspondence, iterations of indexes, and drafts of lectures or publications are sometimes filed separately.
In 1996, when the collection was processed, the numbering system used for the photographic items led to uncertainty about how many images – excluding duplicates – are in the collection. The justification for this numbering system can be found in the two earlier versions of the concordance, in Box 1. The American Folklife Center’s numbering system for archival materials was updated subsequent to the processing work done in 1996, and has been imposed on the documentation for the photographic materials. The original numbering system appears on the housing for the materials, as it was deemed too arduous a task to renumber all the various envelopes, sleeves, etc. The new numbering system is used for digitized materials. The concordance (available in the Folklife reading room) reflects both the old and new numbering systems, and should be used as a guide to locate the physical materials.
The photographic materials were not indexed or inventoried by Carpenter, and no apparent order to the materials existed when the collection was acquired. Consequently, they have been arranged, by subject, into the following general categories: performance and ritual, people, structures (both ancient and contemporary), ancient artifacts, town and street scenes, landscapes and maritime scenes, and miscellaneous.
Carpenter, as well as other individuals, provided the information found in the “Description” column of the original concordance for the photographic materials. The descriptions have been revised or corrected as needed, in order to describe more accurately what each image depicts. Staff at The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments (RCAHM, with offices in Scotland, England, and Wales) provided much of the information incorporated into new descriptions of buildings such as castles, and other man-made formations, such as standing stones. Further information was provided by Elaine Bradtke of the Early English Folk Dance Society.
The collection was processed in 1996 by Michelle Forner, with the assistance of interns working for the National Digital Library Program and for the American Folklife Center. In 2002, Julia C. Bishop, Michael Taft, and Jennifer A. Cutting hand-numbered the manuscript pages to be digitized. Marcia K. Segal directed the digitization process and acted as a liaison with contractors. Jennifer A. Cutting worked as the liaison between Dr. Bishop’s team (the members worked both in the U.K. and the U.S.) and the American Folklife Center.
On July 7, 2000, the program Save America’s Treasures jointly awarded the American Folklife Center (Library of Congress) and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (Smithsonian Institution) a $750,000 grant to save sound recordings and related materials in other formats that are in danger of being lost through physical deterioration.
The American Folklife Center subsequently selected several of its own collections for inclusion in the Save Our Sounds Project, of which the Carpenter Collection was one. While selective digitization was necessary (in part due to the quantity of materials in the collection), much of the collection has been digitized, including over 13,600 manuscript pages, 563 photographic items, and over 380 audio recordings. Excluded were the student papers, representing over 7000 manuscript pages, as they were not considered primary materials, and some cylinders, which were too damaged to digitally transfer.
Listening and viewing access to the collection is unrestricted. Duplication of the recorded materials may be governed by copyright. Restrictions may apply concerning the use, duplication, or publication of these and other items in this collection.
While the American Folklife Center is the custodial division of this collection, the original sound recordings are stored in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress. Reference copies of sound recordings, photographs, and selected manuscript materials are available in digitized form. Consult a reference librarian in the Folklife Reading Room for specific information.
Restrictions may apply concerning the use, duplication, or
publication of items in this collection. Consult a reference librarian in the
Folklife Reading Room for specific information. See
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: James Madison Carpenter Collection (AFC 1972/001), Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Carpenter wrote the introduction to
In 2006, Marjorie Waters (Carpenter’s niece) donated further manuscript materials stored at her home. The Marjorie Waters Collection of James Madison Carpenter Manuscripts (AFC 2006/047) includes music and text transcriptions, notes, texts of lectures, and other documentation that reflects Carpenter’s work as a scholar and teacher of English and American folk music and traditions.
The American Folklife Center also has a copy of
The James Madison Carpenter Collection Online Catalogue, developed
by a research team led by Julia C. Bishop, from the University of Sheffield,
England and the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, is available at
The James Madison Carpenter Collection spans the years 1928-1987, with the largest portion dated 1928-1935. It is arranged into two groups or series. Series I, the bulk of the collection, consists of the materials purchased from Carpenter by the American Folklife Center, including manuscripts, sound recordings, and graphic materials. The entire collection represents the results of Carpenter's fieldwork, his subsequent work on the collection, and the documentation of other professional activities. Series II consists of material about the collection, primarily generated by the American Folklife Center. It includes manuscript material, sound recordings, and graphic materials.
Carpenter spent most of his life as a university lecturer. However, he began his collecting activities while conducting research on sea chanteys in the northern United States (1927-1928) and in England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland (1928) for his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University. This year of fieldwork extended into six more as Carpenter traveled throughout Britain as a Harvard Fellow, covering (by his estimate) 40,000 miles and recording the texts and tunes of thousands of ballads and folksongs as well as hundreds of folk plays. During his time abroad, Carpenter focused, successively, on collecting chanteys (particularly in eastern coast ports of northern England and Scotland, 1929-1930), ballads, and songs (chiefly in Scotland and the English counties of Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and Yorkshire, 1929-1933), and folk plays (in England and Scotland, 1934-1935). After his return to the United States, Carpenter continued collecting activities while a professor of English at Duke University, concentrating on children's songs and singing games (1938-1941).
Carpenter collected approximately 1,000 ballad texts and 850 tunes of the Francis James Child canon; 500 sea songs and chanteys; 1,000 other ballads and songs, including bothy ballads (a “bothy” is a lean-to in the horse's stable where farm hands slept) and dreg songs (a “dreg” refers to the men in small rowboats who would pull a dredge to harvest oysters), from Britain and America; 200 children's singing games, riddles, and nursery rhymes; 300 British folk plays; miscellaneous folktales, African American spirituals, Cornish carols, etc.; and 500 related photographic images and 40 drawings). Although Carpenter used his collections as the subject of numerous lectures in colleges and universities, he never was successful at publishing his extensive collection.
The collection represents not only the results of Carpenter's fieldwork, but also documents his fieldwork process. Traveling throughout Britain in a small roadster (an Austin Seven), he searched for singers and dancers. While Carpenter found many of his best informants through chance and circumstance, he purposely tracked down some of the singers and performers documented by Francis James Child, Gavin Greig, and Cecil Sharp. One of his most prolific informants, Scottish singer Bell Duncan, gave him 300 songs and ballads, of which 62 ballads were previously collected by Child. Using a dictaphone powered by a six-volt battery, Carpenter recorded his informants on wax cylinders. He also typed the song texts with a manual typewriter while the singer dictated. Later, he transferred many of the recordings to 12-inch acetate discs, and also taught himself music notation to transcribe approximately 1,000 of the recorded tunes. To record the folk plays, Carpenter usually enlisted several informants to recite the entire ritual drama, thus obtaining multiple versions of each play.
While Carpenter's focus was on the spoken and sung word, his collection includes some documentation of dance and related dance activities (see Appendix A). Many of the mumming play texts, particularly the sword dance plays, include references to and some description of dance. The sound recordings include fiddle tunes used in morris dance. In addition, photographs depict morris dance (with broom dancing), sword dance, the Helston Furry dance, and dancing at May Day and English Folk Dance Society festivals.
Series I: Original Collection Materials
Series I contains Carpenter's principal fieldwork documentation as well as associated notes, drafts, and miscellanea. The fieldwork materials are interrelated; however, these relationships are not always readily apparent. Many of the ballads and songs are documented by written texts, recorded tunes, and transcribed tunes (often with texts). The photos often depict the subjects of the ballads and songs (castles, rivers), the informants (mummers, wassailers, fishwives), and their environment (cottages, ports, villages). Many ballads and folk plays are represented by several versions recorded by different informants. In addition, Carpenter's documentation of the informant, place, and date of recording is not consistent or complete.
The manuscript material in Series I consists of approximately 13,500 typed and handwritten pages, some bound and some unbound. These pages document Carpenter's fieldwork, subsequent work on the materials, and Carpenter's other professional activities.
The materials fall into several categories, each of which may have several iterations: texts of ballads, songs, and plays; transcriptions of tunes; lists and indexes; correspondence; lecture notes and drafts; plans and drafts of publications; curriculum and administrative material from Duke University; newspaper clippings; and miscellaneous notes. The music texts and transcriptions include sea songs and chanteys, Child ballads, bothy ballads, dreg songs, children's songs and games, and carols. The ritual drama texts include mumming plays, Christmas plays, sword dance plays, guyzards, pace-eggers, plough boys, and riding the stang.
The manuscript materials represent several stages of work, from rough field notes and transcriptions to more complete, alphabetically arranged versions of these writings. Some of the manuscripts, particularly the correspondence, notes, and lecture/publication drafts, shed light on the relationship of the photographs to the rest of the materials, Carpenter's fieldwork experiences, and his scholarly analysis of the collection. They also inform the reader about Carpenter's concerns and work after his years as a collector.
The collection also includes papers that represent the work of Carpenter’s students at Duke University. Some of the papers are complete; others have had pages removed (presumably by Carpenter) and interfiled with other manuscript materials in the collection. Student papers usually have a surname in the upper right corner of each page, so they are easy to distinguish from Carpenter’s own documents and handwriting. These papers include research on folk songs and tales, and often include original art for the cover pages.
The sound recordings in Series I include wax cylinders and 12-inch acetate discs used by Carpenter to record in England, Scotland, and the United States, 1928-1941. Carpenter copied many of the cylinders onto the discs; he also used the discs to make new recordings. According to Carpenter, he recorded approximately 3,000 tunes (many are repeated by the same or different singers), and was the first to make sound recordings of some of these ballads. The types of material recorded include ballads, lyric songs, sea chanteys, fiddle tunes, folk tales, folk plays, children's songs, and African American songs and tales. A content list of the sound recordings, prepared by Carpenter, can be found in Folders 9-10.
The graphic materials in this series include film negatives, photographic prints, glass negatives, glass positives (lantern slides), and drawings. For the most part, the photographic materials are not dated, but seem to span the years 1928-1935; they depict subjects from England, Scotland, and Wales. Carpenter or other annotators sometimes noted cryptic descriptions on the backs of photographs, on the front of the lantern slides, or on accompanying paper or enclosures (see Folders 185-89, “Notes Relating to Photographs”). While Carpenter was the primary photographer, he also obtained many photographs from commercial photographers and other sources. At some point Carpenter made glass negatives of the photographic prints, and then glass positives. Therefore, identical images often appear in different formats.
Although his use of the photographs and their relationship to the other materials is not explicitly stated, Carpenter probably used the lantern slides to illustrate lectures, and planned to use the photographs to accompany publications about the materials. The images cover a range of people, places, and activities, from Carpenter himself, to Christmas wassailers, dancing children, Scottish castles, Roman baths, market squares, mumming plays, May Day celebrations, and the English Folk Dance Society (EDFS) festivals. They represent the content of the ballads and songs, the informants themselves, and subjects whose relationship to the collection is not yet known. Of particular note is the documentation of castles in Scotland and England that creates a visual record of these structures before their decline or in some cases renovation.
The 40 ink-and-pencil drawings are the work of George Baker, a British dry mason and the son of a mummer. Undated, the drawings depict characters and scenes from mumming and Christmas plays. Often a caption identifies the characters, and multiple drawings of the same ones (“the doctor,” “belsebub”) exist. Carpenter planned to use these drawings as illustrations for publications on the folk plays.
Series II: Oral History, Programs, and Products
Series II consists of materials generated by the Library of Congress concerning the collection. It contains manuscript material, sound recordings, and photographs documenting a 1972 interview with Carpenter as well as a 1987 lecture that drew on collection materials.
Series I: Original Collection Materials
*Note: While the photographic images are numbered 1-564, there is no extant image for ph104. For the black-and-white negatives: 6 are oversized.
Series II: Oral History, Programs, and Products
The "MS" number is the designation for the grouping of materials in their digitized form.
45 pages.
40 pages.
The 1996 collection guide and the item-level inventory and concordance of photographic materials (all now superseded by revised documentation). 54 pages.
Correspondence between the Library of Congress and James Madison Carpenter, Kenneth S. Goldstein, and others concerning the acquisition of the collection and related matters. 26 pages
See description for Folder 2. 21 pages
Handwritten and typed notes by James Madison Carpenter and Alan Jabbour concerning the contents of the collection (undated). 6 pages.
Early box/contents lists. Handwritten and typed lists by Alan Jabbour and other Library employees outlining the contents of the collection, primarily the manuscript materials and the microfilm (undated). 43 pages.
Typewritten list of names of people from whom Carpenter collected in northeast Scotland, circa 1930. Compiled by E.B. Lyle, 1975, from the headings of texts. 4 pages.
A copy of the work compiled by E.C. Cawte, 1980. A typewritten inventory of tunes, songs, and folk drama texts based on the microfilm of the manuscripts. In reel order, it lists informant (singer, fiddler, etc.) and title. It also includes date and place when listed in the original, as well as brief descriptions of other material, such as correspondence and notes. 115 pages.
A copy of the work compiled by E.C. Cawte, 1980. 58-page, typewritten inventory of ritual drama and other folk customs based on the microfilm of the manuscripts. In reel order, each entry specifies place, source, Carpenter's folio number, type of custom, summary of materials, and comments. The guide also contains an analysis of the places and numbers of texts collected, a list of customs mentioned by Carpenter, an alphabetical index, and references. 58 pages.
Original. Typewritten list (with annotations) prepared by Carpenter of the contents of the sound recordings. In disc-side order, it lists the title of the tune and the name or description of the singer/informant. It includes ballads, fiddle tunes, recitations of mumming plays, chanteys, forebitters, dreg songs, bothy songs, nursery songs, and spirituals. 68 pages.
Copy. Typewritten list (with annotations) prepared by Carpenter of the contents of the sound recordings. In disc-side order, it lists the title of the tune and the name or description of the singer/informant. It includes ballads, fiddle tunes, recitations of mumming plays, chanteys, forebitters, dreg songs, bothy songs, nursery songs, and spirituals. 82 pages.
Photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles by Carpenter (1931, 1938) and about Carpenter and the collection (1985, 1989, 1990). 30 pages.
Corrections, made by Bryce, to previously identified (or unidentified) photographs in the collection. Folder includes some correspondence relating to these corrections. 18 pages.
Additions and corrections to known photo identifications, made by Lesley Ferguson (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland), Medwyn Parry (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales), and others at these institutions. 6 pages.
SIG (Systems Integration Group, Inc.) digitized the manuscript materials. Staff working in NDL (The National Digital Library Program) were responsible for running the file check, which confirmed whether or not the vendor created digitized images according to Library of Congress specifications. 71 pages.
See description for Folder 11d. 64 pages.
See description for Folder 11d. 58 pages.
JJT Inc. digitized the photographic images. 89 pages.
VidiPax was the company responsible for digitizing the audio recordings. A technical report by Adrian Cosentini (audio engineer, VidiPax), describes the condition and problems encountered during the digitization of the collection’s wax cylinders. 178 pages.
The “box” and “packet” numbers correspond to those referred to in the microfilm. It is not known if this is the original order of the materials or the arrangement imposed by the Library of Congress for microfilming.
Correspondence between Carpenter, Harvard University and John A. Lomax (Library of Congress) concerning his fellowships, collecting experiences, and possible lecture opportunities. Includes original fellowship certificates. 7 pages.
Typewritten and annotated texts of songs from Scotland and England, on separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch sheets. Most sheets include name of tune, singer (informant), and date and place of recording. Sheets are numbered, but are not arranged in numerical order. Numbers may refer to various indexes. 86 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 103 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 82 pages.
description summary for Folder 13. 68 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 99 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 136 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 117 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 118 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 108 pages.
See description summary for Folder 13. 116 pages.
Typewritten and annotated texts of ballads from Scotland, on separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch sheets. Most sheets include name of tune, singer (informant), and date and place of recording. Sheets are numbered, but are not arranged in numerical order. Numbers may refer to various indexes. 145 pages.
See description summary for Folder 23. 178 pages.
See description summary for Folder 23. 130 pages.
See description summary for Folder 23. 120 pages.
See description summary for Folder 23. 125 pages.
See description summary for Folder 23. 54 pages.
Typewritten and annotated texts of mumming plays, including Riding The Stang, Christmas plays, sword dance plays, pace egger plays, and others. Originally bound, these are now separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2 inch sheets. Includes name of play/group, location, informant, and text of play, as well as some description of movement/action, costuming, and circumstances of performance. Some plays copied from cited published sources. Often there are several versions of the same play from different informants, as well as information about the way the informant learned the play. Pages are numbered, but not necessarily arranged in numerical order. 161 pages.
See description summary for Folder 29. 162 pages.
See description summary for Folder 29. 86 pages.
See description summary for Folder 29. 161 pages.
See description summary for Folder 29. 158 pages.
See description summary for Folder 29. 275 pages.
See description summary for Folder 29. 255 pages.
Typewrittten and hand-annnotated song texts, on separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2 inch sheets.. Includes title of song and often name of informant, date, and location. Pages are numbered but not necessarily arranged in numerical order. Begins with six-page typewritten and annotated “Index to Songs and Chanties” that lists titles of songs and their page number(s), in numerical order. 165 pages.
See description summary for Folder 36. 166 pages.
See description summary for Folder 36. 131 pages.
See description summary for Folder 36. 203 pages.
Miscellaneous handwritten notes and song titles, mostly on 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch sheets; “Sharp's English Folk Song From Southern Appalaciana;” partial index of song titles and singers; partial sound recordings contents list, #73-126 (see Folder 9); and partial lists of informants, song genres, and titles. 117 pages.
See description summary for Folder 40. 103 pages.
See description summary for Folder 40. 70 pages.
See description summary for Folder 40. 51 pages.
Typed and handwritten (annotated) notes and texts similar in format to those in Folders 13-39; “Index to English and Scottish Traditional Ballads” arranged alphabetically by song title. 90 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 198 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 139 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 225 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 141 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 175 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 92 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 119 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 116 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 147 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 119 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 83 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 152 pages.
See description summary for Folder 44. 138 pages.
Typed and handwritten notes on 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch sheets. Covers topics such as music, emotions, animal sounds, culture, race, civilization, cultural relativity, faith, students, present trends, and the study of folklore. 89 pages.
Typewritten and annotated notes, on 8 1⁄2 x 11-inch sheets, mostly dated 1954-1955. Includes lecture notes on topics such as education, civilization, and emotions, as well as script ideas. 55 pages.
Handwritten lyrics and accompanying tune transcriptions of several songs. Includes photocopies of original materials rehoused in Folder 191. 9 pages.
Handwritten lyrics and accompanying tune transcriptions of songs. 41 pages.
See description summary for Folder 61. 25 pages.
Typed and handwritten notes, including a description of the Shop Acts and a list of songs. 10 pages.
Typed and handwritten notes and a “Plan For Work” concerning his collection. 12 pages.
Mostly handwritten notes of various sizes. Includes some correspondence, play texts, and newspaper clippings. Includes photocopies of original materials rehoused in Folder 191. 64 pages.
See description summary for Folder 65. 87 pages.
Typewritten 8 1⁄2 x 11-inch sheets of ballad texts with title, singer/informant, and location. Arranged alphabetically by song title. Begins with annotated drafts of indexes: “Index to Ballads,” “Index to American Ballads,” “Child Ballad Texts,” and “British and American Popular Ballads.” 55 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 53 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 52 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 52 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 50 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 55 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 52 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 46 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 46 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 49 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 41 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 34 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 32 pages.
See description summary for Folder 67. 36 pages.
Continuation of the above texts (volume 1 of “Ballads - Index and Texts”) in alphabetical order by song title. 40 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 49 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 32 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 37 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 43 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 39 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 34 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 48 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 44 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 44 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 27 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 44 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 38 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 35 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 56 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 49 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 49 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 56 pages.
See description summary for Folder 81. 42 pages.
Handwritten transcriptions of tunes on 8 1⁄2 x 11-inch music sheets, arranged alphabetically by song title. Each tune lists the metronome setting, name of singer/musician/informant and lyrics. Includes some correspondence and notes. 33 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 57 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 44 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 51 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 38 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 38 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 41 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 46 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 54 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 43 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 49 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 41 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 35 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 51 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 48 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 39 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 37 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 41 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 41 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 36 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 39 pages.
See description summary for Folder 100. 31 pages.
Miscellaneous correspondence and a bound 1939 “Day Book” with notes listing song titles. 9 pages.
See description summary for Folder 122. 99 pages.
“Lefax” music staff notebook, 6 3/4 x 4 inches, containing handwritten music transcription and notes. 130 pages.
Bound music notebook, 6 1⁄2 x 5 inches. Contains transcriptions of titled tunes collected in 1928. 60 pages.
Bound music notebook, 6 1⁄2 x 5 inches. Contains transcriptions of titled tunes collected in 1927-28. 55 pages.
Typewritten copy of
“Southern Maid” composition book, 6 3/4 x 8 1⁄2 inches. Contains several pages of handwritten notes. 11 pages.
Typed and handwritten notes, correspondence drafts, newspaper clippings, and curriculum materials on paper of various sizes. Topics covered include “Music and Cosmic Orientation”; “British Folksong and British Peasants”; segregating methods; Hitler; different types of songs; education; intelligence; folk literature; and expressions of moods, screams, and emotions. 69 pages.
Photocopies of original (oversized) materials, in Folder 192, Subfolder A. See description summary for Folder 129. 57 pages.
See description summary for Folder 129. 46 pages
Typed and handwritten song lyrics (particularly children's songs) and descriptions of square dances and accompanying tunes. Includes informants' names (possibly Carpenter's students). 30 pages.
See description summary for Folder 132. 41 pages.
Bound “Exercise Book,” 6 1⁄2 x 8 inches. Contains handwritten song texts. Lower third of front cover torn off and absent. 30 pages.
4 x 6-inch note cards containing handwritten texts to children's games and songs. 39 pages.
Bound music book, 7 1⁄2 x 9 1⁄2 inches. Handwritten title on cover: “The Census of American Ballads--Louise Pound Ballad.” Handwritten music transcriptions with lyrics and metronome settings. 52 pages
Typed and handwritten sheets of various sizes. Includes manuscript and lecture drafts, notes, lists and indexes, song texts, glossary (may include Scottish or Gaelic), English class administrative notes, and tune transcriptions. 47 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 92 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 86 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 78 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 56 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 66 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 76 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 87 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 51 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 28 pages.
See description summary for Folder 137. 32 pages.
Photocopies of original (oversized) materials are in Folder 192, Subfolder B. See description summary for Folder 137. 18 pages.
Mostly 8 1⁄2 x 11-inch sheets, typed and handwritten. Begins with a list, “Summer School Students,” and continues with texts of songs. Each text identified with a student's name. Includes some accompanying music transcription. 52 pages.
See description summary for Folder 149. 60 pages.
See description summary for Folder 149. 54 pages.
See description summary for Folder 149. 52 pages.
Typed and handwritten sheets of various sizes. Includes notes, song texts, lists of songs (chanteys, Child ballads), and drafts of lectures and/or articles. Bound, 6 1/4 x 8-inch “Exercise Book” with handwritten mumming-play text. 37 pages.
See description summary for Folder 153. 30 pages.
See description summary for Folder 153. 91 pages.
See description summary for Folder 153. 143 pages.
Typed and handwritten sheets of various sizes. Includes lecture drafts describing mumming plays, folk carols, ballads, chanteys, and Carpenter's collecting experiences; texts of plays; and tune transcriptions. Photocopies of original (oversized) materials located in Folder 193, Subfolder A. 62 pages.
See description summary for Folder 157. 55 pages.
See description summary for Folder 157. 62 pages.
Photocopies of original (oversized) materials are located in Folder 193, Subfolder B. See description summary for Folder 157. 71 pages.
See description summary for Folder 157. 95 pages.
Typed and handwritten sheets, mostly 8 1⁄2 x 11 inch. Texts of songs with name of informant (possibly a student). 63 pages.
See description summary for Folder 162. 111 pages.
See description summary for Folder 162. 88 pages.
Folders 165-177 contain twelve music notebooks (one per folder), 7 1/4 x 5 1⁄2 inches, 8 1/4 x 7 inches, and 9 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 inches. Contain handwritten transcriptions of tunes with lyrics, as well as notes. 21 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 38 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 79 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 77 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 81 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 7 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 75 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 83 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 53 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 11 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 52 pages.
See description summary for Folder 165. 52 pages.
Mostly 8 1⁄2 x 11-inch sheets, typed and handwritten. Includes article (lecture?) drafts such as “Living Ballads From Britain's Long Dead Past,” “Burns' Folksong Muse,” “Scotland's Folk Singers,” “Collecting Folklore in Britain,” and “Folksongs of British Peasants,” as well as correspondence drafts, such as query letters concerning lecture and publishing opportunities. 59 pages.
See description summary for Folder 177. 41 pages.
See description summary for Folder 177. 37 pages.
Photocopies of original (oversized) materials located in Folder 193, Subfolder C. See description summary for Folder 177. 53 pages.
Original (oversized) materials are in Folder 194, Subfolders B and C. See description summary for Folder 177. 46 pages.
See description summary for Folder 177. 37 pages.
See description summary for Folder 177. 35 pages.
See description summary for Folder 177. 59 pages.
See description summary for Folder 177. 17 pages.
See description summary for Folder 177. 53 pages.
Correspondence and other notes (on paper, envelopes, original photo print enclosures) by Carpenter and others describing the contents of photographs and other miscellaneous information. 14 pages.
See description summary for Folder 185. 15 pages.
See description summary for Folder 185. 18 pages.
See description summary for Folder 185. 10 pages.
See description summary for Folder 185. 9 pages.
Miscellaneous historic postcards, drawings, and printed verses. 41 pages.
Original cylinder slips that accompanied wax-cylinder sound recordings made by Carpenter. 18 pages.
See description summary for Folder 190b. 20 pages.
See description summary for Folder 190b. 20 pages.
See description summary for Folder 190b. 20 pages.
See description summary for Folder 190b. 20 pages.
See description summary for Folder 190b. 19 pages.
Includes documentation and interpretation of folk music, songs, and other folk- related genres. In general, they are organized by class or semester. 600 pages (approx.).
See description summary for Box 12c. 600 pages (approx.)
See description summary for Box 12c. 600 pages (approx.)
See description summary for Box 12c. 600 pages (approx.)
See description summary for Box 12c. 600 pages (approx.)
See description summary for Box 12c. 600 pages (approx.)
See description summary for Box 12c. 600 pages (approx.)
See description summary for Box 12c. 600 pages (approx.)
Original manuscript material larger than 8 1⁄2 x 11 inches. Photocopies, filed in the original locations for these oversized documents, serve as place markers, within Folders 12-184. Includes original materials from Folders 60 and 65. 25 pages.
See description summary for Folder 191. Subfolder A includes original materials from Folder 130. Subfolder B includes original materials from folder 148. 20 pages.
Photocopies of original (oversized) materials are in Folders 157, 160, and 180. See description summary for Folder 191. 8 pages.
Photocopies of original materials are in Folder 181. See description summary for Folder 191. 26 pages.
Headings include titles and genres, with the name(s) of people from whom Carpenter collected these songs or examples. Index cards are housed in one archival box. 749 cards.
Original field recordings by Carpenter made in England and Scotland, circa 1929 to 1935. Numbered 1 through 179, with cylinders 3, 24, 59, 60, 94, 108A, and 157A missing. Nine more cylinders were discovered in 2004, bringing the total extant cylinders to 175. Due to damage (e.g., broken cylinders), mold, or poor recording quality (e.g., shallow grooves), not all cylinders could be transferred as digital files. See AFS 14,830-15,052. 175 cylinders.
Copies made by Carpenter of the wax cylinders, as well as other disc recordings made in North Carolina and Mississippi, circa 1929 to early 1940s. Includes ballads, dance tunes, lyric songs, sea songs, fiddle tunes, dreg songs, bothy songs, wassailing songs, children’s songs, carols, mumming plays, and spirituals. Extant discs were numbered SR001 through SR220, representing disc sides 1-440 (the one missing disc represents Sides 125/126). See Folder 9 for a content list of the recordings, prepared by Carpenter. 220 discs.
Preservation copies of AFS 14830-15050. 22 reels.
Preservation copies of Cylinders 1-50 (SR223-270), created by John Howell in 2003. 19 reels.
Individual paper-covered cardboard containers for cylinders. In some cases there are cylinder housings and no extant cylinder. Each cylinder housing (both the container and its lid, if present) are numbered to match the AFC number of the cylinder.
See description for the contents of Box 35.
See description for the contents of Box 35.
See description for the contents of Box 35.
See description for the contents of Box 35.
See description for the contents of Box 35.
See description for the contents of Box 35.
See Appendix D for content details for the photographic materials.
40 ink and pencil drawings on loose sheets of various sizes (undated), 10 of which are in color. Made by George Baker, a British dry mason whose father was a mummer. Drawings depict characters and scenes from mummer and Christmas plays. Some drawings include a descriptive caption, such as “Sweet Moll” or “Little Dick Nip.” 40 pages.
Black-and-white film negatives, mostly 4 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches. Arranged numerically by subject category. Unless documented otherwise, the negatives are assumed to have been photographed by Carpenter. Oversized negatives are in Box 16, Envelope 1. For item-level description, see Folder 1c for the latest version of the concordance to photographic images. 40 items.
See description for Box 15a. 162 items.
Black-and-white photographic prints and six film negatives of various sizes. Arranged numerically by subject category. Unless otherwise indicated, photographic prints corresponding to film negatives are assumed to have been taken by Carpenter. Includes many photographic prints by other photographers who are often identified in captions on the photo print or in other documentation. Multiple copies of the same image exist. For item-level description, see Folder 1c for the latest version of the concordance to photographic images.592 items.
Black-and-white glass plate negatives, 4 x 3 1/4 inches. Hand-tinted with pink substance, to enhance tone contrast as a positive image. Arranged numerically by subject category. Only two do not correspond to photographic prints or film negatives of the same image. For item-level description, see Folder 1c for the latest version of the concordance to photographic images. 112 items.
Black-and-white glass lantern slides, 4 x 3 1/4 inches. Arranged numerically by subject category. Almost all correspond to glass negatives of the same image; only four do not correspond to film negatives or photographic prints of the same image. Most have a one- or two-word description printed on the label, presumably by Carpenter. Originally arranged by the collector in groups that may correspond to lecture topics. For item-level description, see Folder 1c for the latest version of the concordance to photographic images. 115 items.
Note: Box 34 also contains materials from Series II, Subseries C.
Transcript provided by Dr. Kenneth S. Goldstein, in 1981, of the interview with Carpenter, recorded by Alan Jabbour, in Carpenter's home in Booneville, Mississippi, May 27, 1972. See sound recordings AFS 14762-14765. 29 pages.
“Raise A Fire and Strike A Light.” Press release and flier promoting the lecture by Paul Smith on British folk drama in the Carpenter Collection, presented at the Library of Congress on November 19, 1987. 2 pages.
Interview with Carpenter recorded by Alan Jabbour in Carpenter's home in Booneville, Mississippi, on May 27, 1972. A transcript of the interview can be found in folder 256. Listening copies are available in the Folklife Reading Room. Four 7-inch reels.
Note: Box 34 also contains materials from Series II, Subseries A. Oversize negatives are in Box 16, Envelope 1.
4 color photographic prints of Carpenter taken in May 1972, presumably outside his home in Booneville. Photographer was probably Alan Jabbour.
One black-and-white contact sheet and one 8 x 10 in. photo print of Paul Smith during the his lecture, on November 19, 1987.
17 35mm color slides of photographic prints and drawings of mummers housed in this collection, which were used for the November 19, 1987, lecture by Paul Smith. Photographed by Carl Fleischhauer.
Carpenter was primarily interested in collecting ballads, songs, and folk plays; however, since dance is often an integral part of these folk expressions, the materials in the collection include some documentation of dance or dance-related activities, as described below.
The majority of the folk plays can be found in folders 29-35, “Mumming Plays.” Carpenter's documentation of the plays focused on texts. Many of the plays include dance sections, whether or not this was noted by Carpenter. Some of the texts make references to dance within the speeches or lyrics of the characters; other times Carpenter makes a reference to action within the play (“they danced”). A few of the plays, most notably the sword-dance plays, contain more description of the dance movements and formations. Based on review during processing, the following are the plays (listed using Carpenter's title, informant, and sometimes location) in which Carpenter noted dancing occurs or that feature some description of dancing.
Contains some descriptions of several square dances and a few
diagrams. These were probably collected in the United States.
Carpenter did not always document a given performer’s name in the same way. The alternate names are variant representations of the uniform names, as defined by the team of scholars led by Dr. Julia C. Bishop.