Introduction

American Folklife Center collections from documenting Cubans in Cuba and the United States represent the diversity of their expressive culture. Among its unique collections are recordings of Afro-Cuban music made in Cuba in the 1950s by Tarafa, Josefina; Luiz Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo publications and papers on Cuban music; a recording of a special concert in the American Folklife Center 1994 concert series presenting the great Cuban mambo composer Cachao; and W.P.A. era recordings of Cuban music and riddles in Florida, described in more detail below.

Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections, 1937 to 1942

Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections combines sound recordings and manuscript materials from four discrete archival collections made by Work Projects Administration (WPA) workers from the Joint Committee on Folk Arts, the Federal Writers' Project, and the Federal Music Project from 1937-1942. This online presentation provides access to 376 sound recordings and 106 accompanying materials, including recording logs, transcripts, correspondence between Florida WPA workers and Library of Congress personnel, and a proposal to survey Florida folklore by Zora Neale Hurston. An essay by Stetson Kennedy, who worked with Hurston and other WPA collectors, reflects on the labor and the legacy of the WPA in Florida; and an extensive bibliography and list of related Web sites add further context about the New Deal era and Florida culture.

The example in the image at the top of this page is a song collected by Stetson Kennedy and Robert Cook that was a very popular Cuban American song in Key West at the time of their research in 1940. Here is the recording of the song,"El caballo de palo" (the hobby horse):

Explore the Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections, 1937 to 1942
These recordings documented folktales, life histories, beliefs, and sacred and secular music of African American, Anglo-American, Arabic, Bahamian, Cuban, Greek, Italian, Minorcan, Seminole, Slovak, and Syrian cultures and communities throughout Florida. It features sound recordings in many languages, includes blues and work songs from menhaden fishing boats, railroad gangs, and turpentine camps; children's songs, dance music, and religious music of many cultures.

Additional Collections of Interest

The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.

Katharine Beardmore recordings of Cuban folk music
Call Number: AFC 1948/025
Published/Created: 1947
Collection of studio recordings of the rhythms of popular black music in Cuba. The purpose of the recordings was to give examples of rhythm alone for students interested in the study of Cuban drumming. The collection includes two items of correspondence (December 20 and 24, 1947) from Katharine Beardmore to Duncan Emrich of the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress, describing the recordings, and her plans to make additional recordings of Yoruba ritual music. The examples recorded include columbia, comparsa, conga, guaguancó, and lucumí rhythms and one example of combined rhythms. In "Some Rhythms of Negro Popular Music in Cuba -- a Sketch" (3 p.) she describes these, including an account of the comparsas and celebration of Carnival in Havana.
Música de los cultos africanos en Cuba
Call Number: AFC 1959/013
Published/Created: 195-
Field recordings featuring instrumentals, prayers, salutes, and songs recorded in Agramonte, Jovellanos, Pedro Betancourt, and Perico, Matanzas Province, Cuba, and in Havana, by Josefina Tarafa, circa 1957. The majority of these recordings are of Lucumí religion, but also includes liturgical songs of the Arará and several Kongo Angolan cults. Unless stated otherwise all songs are accompanied by a combination of drums, metallic idiophones, and shakers.
1994 Neptune Plaza Concert Series collection, 1994
Call Number: AFC 1994/001
Published/Created: 1994
Manuscript materials, sound recordings, photographs, and moving images documenting the performance of Tibetan sacred music and dance; Tamburitza music from the Balkan Peninsula; Iroquois music; African American rhythm and blues quartet singing; gospel brass band music; bluegrass music; and Cuban mambo music recorded live outdoors on Neptune Plaza in front of the Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, at concerts from April through September 1994, sponsored by the American Folklife Center. An audio recording and other documentation of a performance by the Cuban composer Cachao is included in the collection,
Luiz Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo collection on Latin American folklore
Call Number: AFC 2005/008
Published/Created: 1904-1986
Comprises a collection of publications pertaining to Latin American folklore and musical traditions from the library of Luiz Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo, Brazilian folklorist and musicologist. The collection includes monographs, articles, bibliographies, conference proceedings, and other publications about folk music, musical instruments, popular music, dance, folklore, food traditions, proverbs, children's folklore, traditional and folk medicine, folk drama, local religious celebrations (including Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter) and devotions to various saints, Cuban santeria, Afro-Brazilian traditions, and anthropological studies of indigenous people of Brazil, among other topics.

Podcasts and Blog Posts

Songs from Cuban Americans in Florida, 1939-1940
Folklorist Stephanie Hall discusses Cuban songs collected in Florida as part of the WPA Florida Folklife Project with examples from the collections. (Folklife Today blog: September 17, 2018 )

Public Programming

Founded by tres guitarist and vocalist Gabriel García, Changüí Majadero was the result of García's pivotal pilgrimage to the Guantanamo region of Cuba, where he learned the changüí from the living masters of the style and was inspired to spread the spirit of Cuban folkloric music mixed with a dash of East Los Angeles grit. Changüí is the predecessor of son cubano and salsa, a style of music specifically from the region of Guantanamo, Cuba. Its origins can be traced back to the 1800s, during the days of slavery in Cuba. Changüí is to Cuba and Latin America what the blues and early jazz is to American music. Changüí Majadero has played their modern take on changüí in such disparate settings such as Lincoln Center, SF Jazz, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Dodger Stadium. (Event date: September 30, 2020)

Additional Public Programming

Carmen Agra Deedy
Carmen Agra Deedy is an internationally known storyteller represented in multiple American Folklife Center collections, and the author of twelve books for children, including "The Library Dragon," "Martina the Beautiful Cockroach" and the New York Times bestseller "14 Cows for America." She is an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for both the TED and TEDx Conferences, as well as the Library of Congress, Columbia University and the Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. She has appeared many times at the National Book Festival, and told stories in the 2016 Homegrown series. She is also a collector of oral histories. Her personal stories first appeared on NPR's All Things Considered. Funny, insightful and frequently irreverent, Deedy's narratives are culled from her childhood as a Cuban refugee in Decatur, Georgia. (Event date: August 19, 2020)

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