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MF 035 Maine Folklife Survey
The Maine
Folklife Survey was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
(Folk Arts Program) and the Maine Arts Commission. Begun in 1980,
this immense project was directed by Dr. Richard Lunt. Lunt and his
staff of six fieldworkers produced an index of research findings in
addition to three public programs (a slide/tape presentation and two
traveling photographic exhibits), and The Maine Folklife Index:
Resources for Study, a bound volume of the types and locations
of private and public folklife collections.
The survey was developed to identify and document folklife
resources within the state. Material culture collections were
identified, and traditional festivals and community events were
recorded using audio and video equipment. Almost a hundred
interviews were conducted with informants during the course of the
project. The interviews have been accessioned in summary form
instead of with full transcriptions, and they are open to the
public. Through a series of questionnaires and interviews,
fieldworkers were able to locate and document private collections of
photographs, artifacts, family records, etc.
The materials found within the Maine Folklife Survey are most
valuable to researchers seeking leads or preliminary information.
The survey project laid valuable groundwork for future projects.
However, it is only the diligent researcher who can make productive
use of the printed Index. It is at best simply a finding list.
Though a variety of topics are included, such as unpublished
manuscripts (letters, scrapbooks, business records), local
publications, (county histories, church or civic group cookbooks),
material culture (kitchenware, farm implements, school and household
furnishings, textiles) and ephemera (broadsides, postcards,
letterhead), the Index lacks vital information on the quantity and
condition of materials.
The slide/tape program, "Maine's Folklife," presents an
overview of the traditional arts and occupations of Maine and the
Canadian Maritime Provinces. Other resources include a black and
white photo exhibit, "Maine Folklife 1980", and a color exhibit,
"The Lobster Buoy". These are the results of the many fieldwork
photographs collected during research.
The most valuable records of the Maine Folklife Survey
materials are the fieldwork journals kept by researchers. Although
these materials are not at present available to the public, they
provide significant information about the regions, informants and
folklife encountered during the study. The Archives also houses the
questionnaire forms completed for the survey which often provide
more specific details than those included in the Index.
A sampling (not exhaustive) of interview topics covered during
the survey includes crooked knives and gum boxes; river drives;
country music; supernatural powers; wood carving; Skowhegan Fair;
scrimshaw; vernacular architecture; dowsing; canoe building;
fiddling and fiddle making; moose calling; livestock auctions; horse
and ox pulling; bean hole beans; Ossipee Valley Fair; Jonesport
lobster boat races; Franco-American music; Fryeburg Fair; guides and
guiding; storytelling; buckwheat milling; lobstering; Blue Hill
Fair; and blueberry raking.
The collection includes artifacts, photographs, videotapes,
audiotapes, field journals, questionaire forms, and other materials.
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