This multiformat ethnographic field collection includes 686 sound recordings, as well as photographic prints, fieldnotes, dust jackets, and other manuscripts documenting folksingers and folksongs discovered on the Lomax's three-month, 6,502-mile trip through eight Southern states: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Beginning in Port Aransas, Texas, on March 31, 1939, and ending at the Library of Congress on June 14, 1939, John Avery Lomax, Honorary Consultant and Curator of the Archive of American Folk Song (now the Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center), and his wife, Ruby Terrill Lomax, recorded approximately 25 hours of music from more than 300 performers. The recordings represent a broad spectrum of musical styles, including ballads, blues, children's songs, cowboy songs, fiddle tunes, field hollers, lullabies, play-party songs, religious dramas, spirituals, and work songs. Over 100 songs are sung in Spanish.

A special presentation on the collection provides a state-by-state snapshot of the Lomaxes' expedition, highlighting the diverse musical styles of each region, the variety of documentation archived by the collectors, and many of their experiences on this field expedition through the rural South in the 1930s.

Patrons wishing to use this collection can search for items in many ways, including by city, state, and county where the recording took place, performer name, song title, musical genre, and recording venue. Also included in the collection is an extensive bibliography and discography for those interested in doing further research on the folk music documented in this collection.

Other folklife-related online collections, selected publications of the American Folklife Center, and information about products and services are available from the Center's homepage: http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife

American Memory is a project of the National Digital Library Program of the Library of Congress, which, in collaboration with other institutions, is bringing important American historical materials to citizens everywhere. Through American Memory, fifty-nine multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, motion pictures, and text are now available online, free to the public for educational purposes. This collection is the fifth American Folklife Center contribution to the American Memory Web site. All American Memory collections can be accessed through http://www.memory.loc.gov

Please send any questions regarding this or other American Memory Collections the address below.