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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 20.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 265 items) |
| Abstract | Folkstreams.net is an Internet website designed to disseminate documentary films about American folk culture. Produced by independent filmmakers, these films give voice to the arts and experience of diverse American groups. Folkstreams.net was started in 2000 by independent filmmaker and distributor Tom Davenport in collaboration with his wife Miriam Davenport; folklorist Daniel Patterson; and a committee of filmmakers, scholars, and computer specialists. The Folkstreams.net Collection consists of materials that were made and transferred between 1963 and 2010. There are about 265 film prints, videotapes, digital video discs (DVDs), data digital video discs (data DVDs), and papers that are in various media formats (such as 16mm print film, 16mm workprints, Betacam SP, U-Matic, Digital Betacam, MiniDV, DVDs, and Data DVDs). They were transferred at Colorlab in Maryland and New York to be used for streaming on the website Folkstreams.net. Included among the filmmakers are Bill and Josette Ferris; Barry Dornfield, Tom Rankin and Jeff Titon; Mike Seeger; Pete Seeger and Toshi Seeger; John Winninger, Elaine Lawless and Betsy Peterson; Alan Lomax; Light-Saraf Films; Frank DeCola; Alan Governor; Les Blank; Kim Shelton; Paul Wagner and Steve Zeitlin; Michael Goldman; City Lore: the New York Center for Urban Culture; Elaine Valazquez; John M. Bishop; Stan Woodward; Bess Lomax Hawes; Ferrero Films; Allen Tullos; Joyce Middlebrook, and Tom Davenport. Materials cover a wide range of subjects and locations, including folk life, music, stories, songs, and art; jazz, blues, hip-hop, gospel, country, Irish, Klezmer, Zydeco, and old time music; medicine and minstrel shows, some in the Adirondack Mountains; carnivals; hunting; fishing; crafts; cowboy poetry; Amish culture; African American culture, art, dancing, and singing; mills; ballads; Cajuns; Mississippi Delta; churches; American food and cooking; Gandy dancers; religion; Hispanic culture; Latino and Asian immigrants; dulcimers; Gullah culture; Finnish Americans; shoemakers; rodeos; pottery; singing games; quilting; rattlesnakes; homeless youth; Islenos; motion picture and videotape preservation; the Adironback Mountains; New York City food, styles, culture, immigrants, and festivals; ghost stories; New Orleans, La.; Deep Ellum in Dallas, Tex.; Spivey's Corner, N.C.; factory workers; and Native American folk art. The films are about people such as Alex Moore; Sarah Ogan Gunning; Bill Monroe; Fannie Bell Chapman; Sonny Terry; Mike Seeger; Hamper McBee; Ott Blair; Son Thomas; Prince Albert Hunt; Morgan Sexton; Ray Lum; the Popovich Brothers; Emanuel "Manny" Sayles; Tommie Bass; the Patoka Valley Boys; Howard Finster; Minnie Evans; Lawrence Older; Almeda Riddle; and Skip Armstrong. |
| Creator | Folkstreams.net |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Related Collections
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Historical Information
Folkstreams.net is an Internet website designed to disseminate documentary films about American folk culture. Produced by independent filmmakers, these films give voice to the arts and experience of diverse American groups. They are streamed on the website together with background materials that highlight the history and importance of the traditions and the films.
Many of the Folkstreams moving image materials are also available through the Media Resource Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The potential of the Internet to connect documentary filmmakers with their audiences became apparent to filmmaker Tom Davenport and his wife and co-producer Miriam Davenport when they constructed a website in 1999 for their feature-length fairy-tale film Willa: An American Snow White. In 1999, Davenport was approached by two independent feature filmmakers, who wanted to put his films on the site of a video streaming company they had founded, AlwaysIndependentFilms.com.
In March 2000, Davenport discussed his idea with staff members at the National Endowment for the Humanities, who encouraged him to assemble a group of filmmakers, scholars, and computer specialists to work on development. Working with folklorist Daniel Patterson and others on the Folkstreams committee, Davenport submitted a proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities and received grant funds to build a prototype. The Folkstreams.net website allows users to stream films chosen by the Folkstreams committee about American folk culture, ranging in subjects from aging and agriculture to immigrant culture and music and covering all regions of the United States.
Expansion of Folkstreams.net is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, regional and state Arts and Humanities organizations, private foundations, and contributions from filmmakers, scholars, and collaborating institutions.
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Scope and Content
The Folkstreams.net Collection consists of materials that were made and transferred between 1963 and 2010. There are about 265 film prints, videotapes, digital video discs (DVDs), data digital video discs (data DVDs), and papers that are in various media formats (such as 16mm print film, 16mm workprints, Betacam SP, U-Matic, Digital Betacam, MiniDV, DVDs, and Data DVDs). They were transferred at Colorlab in Maryland and New York to be used for streaming on the website Folkstreams.net. Included among the filmmakers are Bill and Josette Ferris; Barry Dornfield, Tom Rankin and Jeff Titon; Mike Seeger; Pete Seeger and Toshi Seeger; John Winninger, Elaine Lawless and Betsy Peterson; Alan Lomax; Light-Saraf Films; Frank DeCola; Alan Governor; Les Blank; Kim Shelton; Paul Wagner and Steve Zeitlin; Michael Goldman; City Lore: the New York Center for Urban Culture; Elaine Valazquez; John M. Bishop; Stan Woodward; Bess Lomax Hawes; Ferrero Films; Allen Tullos; and Joyce Middlebrook. Also included are films made by the Folkstreams.net founder, Tom Davenport. His films include The Shakers, Being a Joines, Born for Hard Luck, A Singing Stream, The Ballad of Frankie Silver , It Ain't City Music, When My Work Is Over , and Remembering the High Lonesome. Materials cover a wide range of subjects and locations, including folk life, music, stories, songs, and art; jazz, blues, hip-hop, gospel, country, Irish, Klezmer, Zydeco, and old time music; medicine and minstrel shows, some in the Adirondack Mountains; carnivals; hunting; fishing; crafts; cowboy poetry; Amish culture; African American culture, art, dancing, and singing; mills; ballads; Cajuns; Mississippi Delta; churches; American food and cooking; Gandy dancers; religion; Hispanic culture; Latino and Asian immigrants; dulcimers; Gullah culture; Finnish Americans; shoemakers; rodeos; pottery; singing games; quilting; rattlesnakes; homeless youth; Islenos; motion picture and videotape preservation; the Adironback Mountains; New York City food, styles, culture, immigrants, and festivals; ghost stories; New Orleans, La.; Deep Ellum in Dallas, Tex.; Spivey's Corner, N.C.; factory workers; and Native American folk art. The films are about people such as Alex Moore; Sarah Ogan Gunning; Bill Monroe; Fannie Bell Chapman; Sonny Terry; Mike Seeger; Hamper McBee; Ott Blair; Son Thomas; Prince Albert Hunt; Morgan Sexton; Ray Lum; the Popovich Brothers; Emanuel "Manny" Sayles; Tommie Bass; the Patoka Valley Boys; Howard Finster; Minnie Evans; Lawrence Older; Almeda Riddle; and Skip Armstrong.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Moving Image Materials, 1963-2010.
Arrangement: Alphabetical.
Some films may include laboratory notes and notes on the production; the existence of notes is indicated at the item level. All notes are filed together in Folder 1, described in Series 2. All film and video titles are transcribed from the original film containers and from the Folkstreams.net website.
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Series 2. Papers, 1963-2010.
Arrangement: Numeric.
Most of these notes are associated with the moving image items listed in Series 1. If the notes are associated with the moving image items, the moving image item number is written on the papers.
Processed by: Susan Hester, December 2005; Emily Jack, May 2007; Samantha Leonard, February 2011
Encoded by: Emily Jack, February 2006 and May 2007
Updated by Emily Jack in May 2007 because of addition
Updated by Samantha Leonard in February 2011 because of addition
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