Manuscript/Mixed Material Mu Kyong Dickerson interview notes and photographs by Laura Marcus Green, 2015-03-31

Title

• Mu Kyong Dickerson interview notes and photographs by Laura Marcus Green, 2015-03-31

Summary

• There is no recording for this interview, only field notes and fieldwork photographs. The interviewer visited the Four Seasons Hat & Wigs shop on two occasions. During the first visit, on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, Laura Marcus Green introduced herself and explained the Baton Rouge Folklife Survey to the proprietor, her employee, and several customers. Both staff and customers shared information about hat wearing traditions and one customer engaged her in helping to select a hat. The customers talked about the economy of buying and re-purposing hats, and also about "lap scarves," which are purchased at shops like Four Seasons and can be draped over young women at church to cover them if their clothing is deemed immodest. The interviewer returned a few days later to interview an employee, but since the employee did not show up, Green spent time photographing the shop, observing additional interactions with customers, and conducting an interview with Four Seasons' owner, Mu Kyong Dickerson. Mrs. Dickerson did not wish to do a recorded interview, but she allowed Green to take notes on their conversation. She talks about going into the hat business, how she learned the trade, shopping and hat wearing practices, fashion trends among her customers, how she serves her customers, and how she orders items for the shop. She has been in business for over twenty years. The interview was relatively brief, as it took place towards the end of the work day.

Names

• Dickerson, Mu Kyong, interviewee
• Green, Laura Marcus, interviewer
• Occupational Folklife Project, sponsor

Created / Published

• 2015-03-31

Headings

• -  Dickerson, Mu Kyong
• -  Millinery workers--Louisiana
• -  Women's hats--United States
• -  Spiritual life
• -  Shop stewards
• -  Courtesy in the workplace
• -  Employees--Training of
• -  Handicraft
• -  Jargon (Terminology)
• -  Mentoring
• -  Non-formal education
• -  Quality of products
• -  Blue collar workers
• -  Religious life
• -  Self-employed
• -  Merchants--Louisiana--Baton Rouge
• -  Business enterprises--Louisiana--Baton Rouge
• -  Baton Rouge (La.)--Social life and customs
• -  Baton Rouge (La.)--Commerce

Genre

• Digital photographs--Color--2010-2020
• Interviews
• Oral histories
• Personal narratives

Notes

• -  There is no recording with this interview record, only fieldnotes, interview notes, and photographs.
• -  For additional fieldnotes on this project, which include research on bakeries, cake and St. Joseph's Altar traditions, milliners, and hat wearing traditions, see: afc2014023_01961. In addition to milliners, folklorist Laura Marcus Green interviews several Baton Rouge women about hat wearing hats traditions. She also attended and photographed three events where women were wearing hats, and went hat shopping with two interviewees the weekend before Easter. Other documented events include Palm Sunday and Good Friday services at the historic African American Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church; and Hat Day and an Easter devotional service at the Sensational Seniors group at the Dr. Leo S. Butler Community Center.
• -  Baton Rouge Small Businesses and Trades: Archie Green Fellows Project, 2014-2015 (AFC 2014/023: 02301) American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
• -  To honor the memory of Archie Green (1917-2009), a fellowship program was established at the American Folklife Center in 2010. Archie Green Fellowships support new research in the contemporary culture and traditions of American workers.
• -  In English.

Medium

• 35 photographs : digital, jpg, color
• 1 manuscript : pdf, text file

Source Collection

• Baton Rouge Small Businesses and Trades: Archie Green Fellows Project, 2014-2015 AFC 2014/023: 02301

Repository

• Library of Congress American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC USA 20540-4610 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.home

Digital Id

• afc2014023.afc2014023_02301_ph
• afc2014023.afc2014023_02301_ms02

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2020655633

Rights Advisory

• Duplication of collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.

Access Advisory

• Collection is open for research. To request materials, please contact the Folklife Reading Room at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact

Online Format

• image
• pdf

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2020655633

Additional Metadata Formats

• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record

IIIF Presentation Manifest

• Manifest (JSON/LD)