AFC Collections about the National Heritage Fellowship Program

In addition to collections on the National Heritage Fellows, the American Folklife Center stewards collections about the administration of the National Heritage Fellows program. These files reflect the momentous task that the NEA team had ahead of them in determining the scope of this new category of awards. Since the AFC archival holdings tend heavily towards audiovisual materials, these administrative files are often the only place that early awardees in areas of material culture are represented.

Featured Public Program: Tom Pich and Barry Bergey

On February 28, 2018, photographer Tom Pich and folklorist Barry Bergey, co-authors of the book Folk Masters: A Portrait of America discussed their award-winning project. During the past 25 years, Pich has traveled across the country to the homes and studios of recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowships, the highest honor given to America's folk and traditional artists. His photographs provide a unique portrait of their art, their personalities and their culture. While each image tells a story on its own, Barry Bergey, the former Director of Folk and Traditional Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts, provides further insight into the lives of the featured artist as well as the remarkable stories behind each photograph. Folk Masters documents and honors the extraordinary women and men who take traditional arts to new heights while also ensuring their continuation from generation to generation.

Collections about the National Heritage Fellowship Program

Bess Lomax Hawes collection, 1894-2009
Papers and audiovisual materials relating to the career and personal life of folk arts administrator, folklorist, ethnomusicologist, filmmaker, musician, and teacher Bess Lomax Hawes, most from 1960-2001. Includes work produced by Hawes when she was a professor at San Fernando Valley State College in Northridge, California, and as head of the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Program in Washington, D.C. The collection includes writings, correspondence, business records, musical transcriptions, photographs, and other documents, as well as artwork produced by her husband, Baldwin "Butch" Hawes. Also included are sound recordings made during travels to a number of countries.
Bess Lomax Hawes oral history, 2004-04-05
Interview with Bess Lomax Hawes, folklorist, professor of Anthropology at Cal State Northridge. In 1977, she was named first director of the Folk and Traditional Arts Program at the National Endowment for the Arts, and created the National Heritage Fellowships, which recognize traditional artists and performers. Sister of Alan Lomax. Interview conducted by Joanne Rasi at the Library of Congress on April 25, 2004 in conjunction with the announcement of the acquisition of the Alan Lomax Collection by the American Folklife Center.
NEA National Heritage Fellowship awards banquet, 2000 September 20
Audio recording made during the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Award Winners Banquet, held at the Library of Congress on September 20, 2000. In 2000, the NEA instituted the Bess Lomax Hawes Award in conjunction with the Fellowships, "given to an individual for achievements in fostering excellence, ensuring vitality, and promoting public appreciation of the folk and traditional arts". The Hawes Award has been given annually since 2000 to recognize "artists whose contributions, primarily through teaching, advocacy, and organizing and preserving important repertoires, have greatly benefited their artistic tradition. It also recognizes individuals, such as producers and activists, who have comprehensively increased opportunities for and public visibility of traditional artists." Speakers include Bill Ivey, Bess Hawes, and Peggy Bulger.
Administrative documentation about the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Program
Administrative documents related to the National Heritage Fellowship Program, in the collections of Bess Lomax Hawes. Collections exist for the following years: 1981–1985, 1986–1987, 1988–1989, 1990–1991, and 1992–1997.

NEA National Heritage Fellowship Awardees: Resources at the American Folklife Center

AFC Collections about the National Heritage Fellowship Program

Featured Public Program: Tom Pich and Barry Bergey

Collections about the National Heritage Fellowship Program