Reference Request
Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Accession 11-088
National Museum of American History. Division of Cultural History
Program Records, 1985-2000
Descriptive Entry
This accession consists of records created and maintained by Howard Bass while producing public programs at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). The majority of the records pertain to the "American Sampler" series of programs which presented traditional music, dance, and storytelling from communities and cultural groups throughout the United States. Also documented are the "Communities in Concert" series which presented outdoor concerts featuring a variety of musical styles including jazz, folk, gospel, Latin American, and American popular songs; the "Word of Mouth" series which featured performances celebrating African American, Native American, and Anglo American oral traditions in storytelling, oratory, and ballad singing; the "Music of New Mexico Festival" which explored traditional Hispanic and Native American music and dance; and the Smithsonian's America exhibition in Chiba (Chiba-shi), Japan in 1994. This accession contains materials from when Bass was contractor and later a program producer for the Department of Public Programs and then the Office of Cultural History prior to the Division of Cultural History. Materials include correspondence, brochures, programs, images, reviews, teacher's guides, student learning guides, advertisements, and clippings.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- American Sampler (Program series)
- Bass, Howard
- Communities in Concert (Program series)
- Music of New Mexico Festival (1993: Santa Fe, New Mexico)
- National Museum of American History (U.S.). Department of Public Programs
- National Museum of American History (U.S.). Office of Cultural History
- Smithsonian's America: An Exhibition of American History and Culture (Exhibition) (1994: Chiba, Japan)
- Word of Mouth (Program series)
Subject
- African American oral tradition
- African Americans -- Social life and customs
- Ballads, American
- Chiba-shi (Japan)
- Concerts
- Festivals
- Folk dancing
- Folk music -- United States
- Gospel music
- Hispanic Americans -- Music
- Hispanic Americans -- Social life and customs
- Indian dance -- North America
- Indians of North America -- Music
- Indians of North America -- Social life and customs
- Jazz
- Museums -- Educational aspects
- Museums -- Public relations
- Music -- Latin America
- Music -- United States
- Oral tradition -- United States
- Performances
- Speeches, addresses, etc., American
- Speeches, addresses, etc., Indian
- Storytelling
- United States -- Social life and customs
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 11-088, National Museum of American History. Division of Cultural History, Program Records