We've compiled a variety of folklife resources relevant to a wide range of activities. We are always expanding our network, so please get in touch to tell us about other resources.

 

Select Public Folklore Resources
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Oregon Culture Keepers Roster is a project of Oregon Folklife Network. The roster is an ever-expanding, juried selection of folk and traditional artists documented through our regional surveys and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.

Indiana: Traditional Arts Indiana is a partnership established in 1998 between Indiana University Bloomington and the Indiana Arts Commission. Traditional Arts Indiana is dedicated to expanding public awareness of Indiana’s traditional practices and nurturing a sense of pride among Indiana’s traditional artists.

The Louisiana Folklife Program is designed to identify, document, conserve, and present the folk cultural resources of Louisiana. 

Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Folk Arts & Heritage Programs aim is to identify craftspeople, performers, and cultural specialists; help sustain the practice of tradition where they live; and increase appreciation of their artistry within the community and beyond.

The Missouri Folk Arts Program was established in 1984 and builds cross-cultural understanding by documenting, conserving, and presenting the state’s living folk arts and folklife in collaboration with Missouri’s citizens.

The New York Folklore Society celebrates the extraordinary in everyday life, bringing focus to the traditions of the state’s diverse peoples.

The South Dakota Arts Council encourages the preservation and continuation of traditional culture and traditional/folk art throughout North Dakota.

Texas Folklife Resource is a private, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to celebrating and perpetuating the traditional arts and culture of the Lone Star State. It works directly with folk artists and communities to document living traditions and present them to the public through exhibitions, concerts, media projects, and educational residencies.

The Western Folklife Center is dedicated to exploring, presenting and preserving the diverse and dynamic cultural heritage of the American West. 

The Vermont Folklife Center, founded in 1984, is dedicated to preserving and presenting the cultural traditions of Vermont and the surrounding region.

National Folklife Resources
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American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress offers digital collections containing myths, legends, fairy-tales, superstitions, weather-lore, and ghost stories.

American Folklore Society website offers extensive background on folklore. The Folklore and Education Section publishes an annual newsletter with useful articles and the latest resources.

Folkstreams is a video-streaming national preserve of folk culture documentaries and includes films by Sharon Sherman of the University of Oregon. See the Educators Portal for student worksheets and lesson plans for middle and high school and higher education.

National Endowment of the Arts

National Council for the Traditional Arts is a private, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the presentation and documentation of folk and traditional arts in the United States. Founded in 1933, it is the oldest folk arts organization in the nation.

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage has online curriculum guides, exhibits, and the Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide in the Education portal.