Gene Bluestein Collection, 1955-2002

Resource Type

ArchivalResource

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Title

Gene Bluestein Collection, 1955-2002

Resource Link

http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/b/Bluestein,Gene.html

Abstract

Gene Bluestein was an English professor, musician, folklorist, and social activist. Influenced by the folk music revival, he taught himself to play banjo, performed as a musician, and provided educational programs on folklore and folk music in his classroom, on the stage, and on television. For most of his career, he taught English at California State University, Fresno, where he started and facilitated the Folk Artist in Residence Program. In 1974, while on sabbatical in France, he formed a folk music band with his four children called the Bluestein Family, which performed for over 20 years. The collection consists primarily of materials relating to the folklore and performing career of Gene Bluestein. Included are field recordings made by Bluestein, Bluestein's educational programs on folk music, recordings of performances by Bluestein and the Bluestein Family, and recordings of other performers. The field recordings are mostly from Bluestein's doctoral research on Appalachian folk music and narrative and feature Cal Owens, Billy Edd Wheeler, Anna Barnett, Buell Kazee, and Fiddlin' Bill Jones, as well as Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records. The educational programs on American folk music include lectures, performances, interviews, and television programs. Recordings of the Bluestein Family include solo recordings by family members and in other groups. There are also recordings of a number of other folk musicians in performance, including Mike Seeger's Traveling Folk Festival, featuring Tommy Jarrell, Blanton Owen, Mike Seeger, Dennis McGee, Sady Courville, and Marc Savoy, and participants in the Folk Artist in Residence Program that Bluestein started at California State University, Fresno, including the Balfa Brothers, Bessie Jones, Kenny Hall, Richard Hagopian, Lydia Mendoza, and Jean Ritchie. Other items include recordings of Pete Seeger in concert, 1956 and 1957, and a 1969 benefit concert for playwright and social activist Marvin X (also known as Marvin Jackmon and El Muhajir) by the Fresno Folksong and Poetry Quartet (Gene Bluestein, Philip Levine, Robert Mezey, and Peter Everwine).

Extent

145 items (0.5 linear feet)

Languages

eng,

Holding Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6625677

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.

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Seeger, Pete, 1919-2014

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k46k6g (person)

Pete Seeger (1919-2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. As a member of the Weavers, Seeger was often heard on the radio in the early 1950s, most notably on their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene". In the 1960s, Seeger re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture, workers' rights, and environmental causes. A prolific songwriter, his best-known songs include "Where Have ...

Gene Bluestein Collection, 1955-2002

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