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Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife, by Jan Faul. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 80-2634.10.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife, by Jan Faul. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 80-2631.17A.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife, by Jan Faul. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 80-2629.29A.

At the 1985 Festival of American Folklife, the Hayride String Band performs.

At the 1985 Festival of American Folklife, the Hayride String Band performs, by Jeff Tinsley. Record Unit 371, Box 5, Folder - June 1986, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 85-15097-01.

Good Morning America's Steve Bell and Joan Lunden interview Chief Charles Taylor

Good Morning America anchors Steve Bell (r.) and Joan Lunden interview Chief Charles Taylor at the Festival of American Folklife on July 4, 1985, by Richard K. Hofmeister. Record Unit 371, Box 4, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 85-15023-07.

The crowd at the Festival of American Folklife, 1985.

The crowd at the Festival of American Folklife, 1985, by Jeff Tinsley. Record Unit 371, Box 5, Folder - June 1987, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 85-15131.4.

Festival participants performing a dance associated with Haitian Vodoun ritual

Festival participants performing a dance associated with Haitian Vodoun ritual, 1989, by Rick Vargas. Accession 93-114, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 89-17204.5.

Junior volunteer John McCauley demonstrates marblemaking to onlookers

Junior volunteer John McCauley demonstrates marblemaking to onlookers at the 20th Festival of American Folklife, in the Summer of 1986, by Dale Hrabak. Record Unit 371, Box 5, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 86-7301-15A.

Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies

Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, working to prepare the Mall for the Festival of American Folklife, 1991, by Jeff Tinsley. Accession 98-015, Box 2, Folder - Torch 1991, July 1991, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 91-7875.19A.

A participant from Hawaii demonstrates the making of an Hawaiian lei

At the Festival of American Folklife in 1989, a participant from Hawaii demonstrates crafts to children while visitors look on, the making of an Hawaiian lei. Record Unit 95, Box 59A, Folder 14, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 89-18479.

A woman participates in the blanket toss, a game in the World Eskimo Olympics.

At the July 3-14, 1974 Festival of American Folklife, Native Americans section, a woman participates in the blanket toss, a game in the World Eskimo Olympics. Record Unit 371, Box 2, Folder - July/August 1974, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 94-13194.

Summertime in Washington, DC usually brings a few things to mind for me:  the United States Department of Agriculture farmer's market, tourists, buses, Jazz in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.  First started in 1967, this year's festival focuses on the following:

• Hungarian Heritage: Roots to Revival
• One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage
• The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity

Running from June 24-26 and July 3-7, the schedule of activities, programs, and performances is incredible.  So if you'll be in Washington, DC during this time or live nearby, please come out to learn from and experience the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Related Resources

• Smithsonian Folklife Festival

I was visiting South Carolina recently, and passed through Beaufort.  It turns out this beautiful southern town has a surprising connection to the Smithsonian.

In November 1861, when Union troops occupied Beaufort, one of the principal treasures of the town was its outstanding library - which had been incorporated in 1807 and encompassed several thousand books, many having been brought back from Europe by wealthy Carolinians. With the arrival of the troops, landed Beaufort-area residents had fled and the town was in the hands of those left behind: enslaved people from the Sea Islands plantations.

General Isaac Stevens, the Union commanding officer, ordered that the library, called "the pride of the town," be arranged for the use of the troops. Within a few months, however, a treasury agent appeared, demanding the books be confiscated as war booty. The books were sent to New York, where they were put up for auction.

This caused an immediate outcry. The New York Times editorialized against it; and a letter to the editor urged them to continue the fight (or as the writer wonderfully put it, "ventilate" the subject!). Within a day, Salmon Chase, Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, allegedly declared "the Union does not make war on books," and put a halt to the proceedings. The books were then deposited for safe keeping at the Smithsonian. They were to be returned at the conclusion of the war. (Salmon Chase became a Smithsonian Regent in 1864, after Lincoln successfully nominated him to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and he continued in that role until his death in 1873.)

Saved from auction, the books were placed in the fifth floor of the South Tower of the Smithsonian Building (the Castle - then the Smithsonian's only building). The war dragged on; in 1864, two years after the seizure of the books, newspapers reassured the South that the library remained safe and sound.

Tragically, on January 24, 1865, fire ripped through the Castle building. The Beaufort Library collection was completely destroyed, along with many other collections and papers - including almost all of the relics of the Smithsonian's founder, James Smithson, which were being kept a few floors below in the Regents Room.

Beaufort eventually received some token compensation for their loss. Today the Beaufort County Library is a thriving place. Happily, the book collection lost in the 1865 fire wasn't the last connection between Beaufort and the Smithsonian. The library hosted a Smithsonian traveling exhibition in early 2012.

Related Resources

• Smokin' Smithsonian, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives