Panels from the original 2019 exhibit.
Photo by Michele A.H. Smith, UCLA Newsroom African American Folklorist, Documentary Photographer, Educator, Actress, and Theatre Historian Beverly J. Robinson (1945–2002) Beverly Robinson was born in Los Angeles and raised in Berkeley, California. She earned her BA from UCLA, MA in folklore studies from UC Berkeley, and PhD in performing arts and history from University …
Photo courtesy of Debora Kodish African American Folklorist Gerald L. Davis (1941–1997) Dr. Gerald Davis was a leading scholar of African American folklife who contributed to the academic and public arenas, a documentary filmmaker, and a mentor. Born in New York City in 1941, Gerald Davis earned his BA in English/speech and drama from Fisk …
Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives, from the 1978 Festival of American Folklife Cherokee Cultural Activist and Specialist on American Indian Affairs Clydia Dotson Nahwooksy (1933–2009) Clydia Nahwooksy is best known throughout Indian country for her work as an advocate and activist for Indian rights. A Cherokee born in Oklahoma, she served as a …
Photo courtesy of Maryland Folklife Archives African American Folklorist and Historian Gladys-Marie Fry (1931–2015) Born and raised in Washington, DC, Gladys-Marie Fry earned her BA and MA at Howard University (where her father taught as a prominent professor and architect) and her PhD from Indiana University Bloomington, studying with Dr. Richard M. Dorson. She became …
Photo courtesy of Tom Pich Puerto Rican Folklorist Walter Murray Chiesa (1923–2014) Walter Murray Chiesa, the 2008 Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellow, spent a lifetime documenting and championing the traditional crafts of Puerto Rico. He grew up in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, but he left to study at the University of California at Los Angeles. …
Photo by Héctor Méndez-Caratini Puerto Rican Folklorist Ricardo Alegría (1921–2011) Ricardo Alegría was a highly regarded historian, archeologist, and leading researcher on the culture and language of the Taínos. Born in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, he was one of the first scholars responsible for the conservation of the cultural heritage that Puerto Ricans treasure …
Photo courtesy of Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College African American Folklorist, Historian, Poet, and Educator Kathryn Lawson Morgan (1919–2010) Dr. Kathryn Lawson Morgan was a pioneering folklorist, educator, historian, storyteller, and poet. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she earned an MA at Howard University in history and an MA and PhD in folklore from …
Photo courtesy of the Mid-Pacific Institute Japanese American Musician, Educator, and Ethnomusicologist Harry Minoru Urata (浦田ハリー實) (1917–2009) Harry Urata was born in 1917 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Drawn to music from an early age, he was responsible for preserving and perpetuating holehole bushi, a folk song tradition of Japanese immigrant sugar plantation workers in Hawaiʻi. Holehole …
Photo courtesy of the Center for Mexican American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin Mexican American Folklorist, Educator, Writer, Poet, and Musician Américo Paredes (1915–1999) Born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, Dr. Américo Paredes was an accomplished ethnographer, musician, poet, singer, novelist, cultural critic, journalist, activist, folklorist, and prolific scholar. Paredes received an upbringing …
