Participant in the frog jumping contest at the National Tom Sawyer Days celebration. Photo by Bob Greenlee. Part of the documentation in Missouri's Local Legacies projects.

Missouri

The collections of the American Folklife Center contain rich material from Missouri that documents the state's diverse folk traditions. Among its unique recordings are Anglo-American ballads; shape-note singing; jazz performances from Kansas City and St. Louis; fiddle music; Ozark songs and folklore; and Missouri-French songs recorded on cylinders in the 1920s and now preserved on tape.

Collections

Finding Aid: View a complete list of our Missouri collections.

Local Legacies: This project provides a "snapshot" of local culture as it was expressed in the year 2000. View Missouri's Local Legacies projects.

Veterans History Project: Browse state collections from the Veterans History Project.

Songs of America: Browse an interactive state map for selected songs from the American Folklife Center’s collections, as well as songs from the Library’s Music Division and Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Concert Webcast

The Gannon Family: Irish music and dance from Missouri. Recorded November 15, 2006. [webcast and event flyer]

Additional Resources

Educational Resources: View a list of educational materials related to Missouri from A Teacher's Guide to Folklife Resources.

Folklife Resources: Find state folklife-related agencies, societies, archives, higher education programs, and more, in Folklife Sourcebook: A Directory of Folklife Resources in the United States.

Publication: "Debatable Land: Frontier Versus Wilderness in the Ozark National Scenic Waterways," Folklife Annual 88-89. [catalog record]

Published Recordings: Anglo-American Songs and Ballads, Library of Congress AFS L12 and L20. [audiocassette] (L12) [audiocassette] (L20)

Songs of the Mormons and Songs of the West, Library of Congress AFS L30. [audiocassette]