The American Folklife Center Archive, established in the Library of Congress Music Division in 1928 as the Archive of American Folk Song, is now one of the largest archives of ethnographic materials from the United States and around the world, encompassing millions of items of ethnographic and historical documentation recorded from the nineteenth century to the present. Designated by the U.S. Congress as the national center for folklife documentation and research, the American Folklife Center meets its mission to “preserve and present” folklife in all its diversity by stewarding archival collections, creating public programs, and exchanging knowledge and expertise.

This web archive collection aims to capture digital content related to the Center’s collectors and collections. For instance, reflected here are websites of many artistic, historical, and cultural institutions which have been creating or gathering ethnographic content as found in the American Folklife Center Archive.

Collection Period: May 2020 to present (this is an ongoing archive).

Frequency of Collection: The majority of sites in the collection were added to crawl on a quarterly basis, with fewer added on a weekly or monthly basis.

Languages: Collection material in English.

Acquisition Information: Sites have been added incrementally since the project began and will continue to be added as they are identified.