Podcast: Download (55.8MB)
Podcast: Download (55.8MB) Tennessee and baskets seem to go together, but their relationship probably is not at all what you think. In this episode, I talk with folklorist Roby Cogswell, the director of Folklife at the Tennessee Arts Commission, about his research of the basket making tradition in Cannon County, TN. This amazing craft has [...]
Continue reading about Episode 34: Cannon County Baskets a Tennessee Tradition
Podcast: Download (32.2MB)
Podcast: Download (32.2MB) A ton of information is embedded in historic photographs, especially when the images include artisans and handmade objects. In this episode of the Artisan Ancestors, I talk about my work identifying, organizing, and analyzing historic photograms. Focusing on my work with pictures of oak rod baskets from Southern Indiana, I share how [...]
Continue reading about Episode 27: Historic Photographs and Material Culture Research
In this video, I show how to use Google Alerts to discover new resources for your genealogical, family history and material culture studies. This is one of the simplest ways to make the most of your limited research time.
Continue reading about Artisan Ancestors Quick Tip: Google Alerts
Podcast: Download (29.1MB)
Podcast: Download (29.1MB) In today’s show, I talk with Chris Fennell about his multi-prong archaeological study in Edgefield, South Carolina. His research combines archaeological discoveries with archival research and scientific analysis. He works with students from the University of Illinois in this field school where they explore both the Remains of a pottery production facility [...]
Continue reading about Episode 23: The African Diaspora and an American Pottery Tradition
I took my Indiana Folklore class to the Rose Hill cemetery in Bloomington last week. They learned about the motifs, types of materials and the significance of some of the types of stone we researched in the cemetery. The next class meeting we used Ancestry Library Edition to research the carvers and the people buried [...]
While driving through Southern Indiana, I stopped at a small antique/ junk shop. in hopes of finding handmade objects that reflect the culture, aesthetics and values of the communities that I visit. I rummaged through boxes of several old tools, religious memorabilia (it was a historically Catholic community). In the back o t the store, [...]
Continue reading about Cut the Kraut (or Jon’s Artifactual Discretion)
Podcast: Download (32.7MB)
Podcast: Download (32.7MB) In this episode I talk with Yang Cai about his research work doing 3-D scanning of gravestones and rock art. This new technology allows scholars to reveal information and patters thought lost to the ages by setting a laser line on a stone and measuring the refraction of this line, which allows [...]
Continue reading about Episode 19: Old Gravestones and New Technology
Podcast: Download (27.1MB)
Podcast: Download (27.1MB) An Emmy Award-winning archival image researcher, Rich Remsberg assists documentary film makers locate the necessary archival footage and still photos that they need to visually tell their stories. From scouring collection at the National Archive to tracking down rare one of a kind materials held in personal and family collections, he prides [...]
Continue reading about Episode 16: Found Images and Research Methods with Rich Remsberg
Podcast: Download (35.7MB)
Podcast: Download (35.7MB) Folklorist Tim Tangherlini employs a research approach he calls, “computational folkloristics” which uses data-mining to reveal new information, once thought lost to the past. He deploys computers to plot, compare, store and assist in the analysis of data from various archival holdings from around the world. His method places historical individuals [...]
Continue reading about Episode 15: Computational Folkloristics
Podcast: Download (28.6MB)
Podcast: Download (28.6MB) What would you do if you found out that your ancestors were slaveholders who owned one of the most talented folk potters in South Carolina? When Leonard Todd found himself in this situation, he committed himself to a six-year journey of discovery about the Life and work of an enslaved artisan named [...]
Continue reading about Episode 11: Searching for a Slave Potter
Podcast: Download (27.0MB)
Podcast: Download (27.0MB) In this episode, I talk with Curt Witcher, the Senior Manager for Special Collections at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His work includes leading The Genealogy Center, which is a world-class research center for family and local history research.In this interview, Curt and I discuss general research strategies [...]
Continue reading about Episode 10: Genealogical Next Steps with Curt Witcher
Podcast: Download (26.7MB)
Podcast: Download (26.7MB) In this episode I talk with Brandt Zipp a young pottery scholar, who grew up around antique American stoneware in his family’s antique auction business, The Crocker Farm, Inc. Zipp shares his research findings, as well as his techniques for discovering important information about free African American artisans working in New York, [...]
Continue reading about Episode 9: Brandt Zipp’s Search for Forgotten African American Potters
Podcast: Download (28.1MB)
Podcast: Download (28.1MB) In this episode we talk with Sherrie Davidson a quilt research, who recently completed her book, the [amazon_link id="1551097680" target="_blank" ]Quilts of Prince Edward Island[/amazon_link]. We talk with her about the quilt survey and subsequent archival research she did to trace the origins and development of this traditional art. She shares how [...]
Continue reading about Episode 8: The Quilts of Prince Edward Island
My students often ask me what is the best scanner? I usually reply that it depends on how it is going to be used. My research takes me into the field to do interviews with people who want to share photographs, newspaper clippings and other documents with me. I try not to borrow objects or [...]
Safeguarding your research data and having access to your materials when you need them are imperatives for anyone doing genealogical or historical research, which is why I use Dropbox to backup and sync my files to my various computers. Offsite data storage helps prevent data loss from unforeseen issues such as theft and hardware failure. [...]
Continue reading about Backing up Your Research with Dropbox
Podcast: Download (26.8MB)
Podcast: Download (26.8MB) In this episode Jon Kay talks with Laurel Horton a folklorist and quilt and textile researcher. Horton has studied and made quilts since 1975. She recently published the book Mary Black’s Quilts: Memory and Meaning in Everyday Life, which blends historical and genealogical methods with a behavioral approach to material culture studies. [...]
Continue reading about Episode 7: Laurel Horton’s Textile Research
Podcast: Download (14.2MB)
Podcast: Download (14.2MB) In this podcast, I talk with Ralph Lee Smith, who is an authority on the history of Appalachian or mountain dulcimer’s history. For nearly four decades he has research this distinctly American Instrument and its European antecedents. He is the author of two books on the topic: The Story of the Dulcimer [...]
Continue reading about Episode 4: Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions
Podcast: Download (21.6MB)
Podcast: Download (21.6MB) Welcome to the pilot episode of Artisan Ancestors. I think we have an interesting program for you today. In our feature segment, I will be talking with Geoff Davis, a third generation ukulele player, and discuss how he discovered and researched Indiana’s lost history of ukulele building tradition. Also, in today’s program [...]
