In 1938 the Library of Congress dispatched the pioneering folklorist and song collector Alan Lomax—already a seasoned field worker at age 23—to conduct a folk song survey of the Great Lakes region. He traveled in a 1935 Plymouth sedan, toting a Presto disc recorder and a movie camera. When he returned nearly three months later, having driven thousands of miles on barely paved roads, it was with a cache of 250 instantaneous discs and eight reels of film documenting the incredible range of ethnic diversity and expressive traditions primarily in Michigan. Includes songs sung by Great Lakes seamen.

"Captain Pearl R. Nye: Life on the Ohio and Erie Canal" captures the culture and music of the men, women, and children who worked and lived along the Ohio and Erie Canal. Nye, who was born and raised on a canal boat, never lost his love of the "Big Ditch." After the canal closed permanently in 1913, he devoted considerable time and energy to preserving its songs and stories. This online presentation includes 22 audio discs containing 75 songs performed by Nye, 74 manuscripts of correspondence and song texts, and 7 photographs. The recordings were made by John Lomax, Alan Lomax, Elizabeth Lomax, and Ivan Walton between June 1937 and September 1938. Library staff transcribed the songs (both traditional music and original compositions by Nye) and included them in this presentation.

This online presentation comprises 35 hours of folk music recorded in 12 languages representing numerous ethnic groups and 185 musicians. It includes sound recordings, still photographs of the performers, drawings of folk instruments, and written documentation from a variety of European ethnic and English- and Spanish-speaking communities in northern California in the 1930s. Includes a group of field materials documenting Captain Leighton Robinson, Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur, Leighton McKenzie, and others performing Anglo-American ballads, shanties, and sea songs on November 12, 1939.