Archival Manuscript/Mixed Formats (Collection)Joel Martin Halpern collection, 1870-2000
Main title
- Joel Martin Halpern collection, 1870-2000 (bulk 1950-1990) / collected by Joel Martin Halpern and Barbara Kerewsky-Halpern.
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Description
- whole collection: approximately 3,100 items
- whole collection: 21 containers
- whole collection: 12 linear feet
- manuscripts: approximately 720 documents (approximately 4,750 sheets)
- sound recordings: 16 sound cassettes : analog
- sound recordings: 28 sound tape reels : analog ; 5 in. and 7 in.
- graphic materials: approximately 2,005 photocopies of photographs : black and white ; various sizes
- graphic materials: 126 photographs : prints, black and white ; 5 x 7 in.
- graphic materials: 57 photographs : prints, color ; 3.5 x 5 and 4 x 6 in.
- graphic materials: 54 photographs : negatives, color ; 35 mm
- graphic materials: 37 photographs : transparencies, color ; 35 mm
- graphic materials: 26 plates : color
- graphic materials: 20 drawings : ink, black and white
- graphic materials: 1 drawing : ink and paint, color
- moving images: 8 videocassettes (VHS) : analog ; 1/2 in.
Rights advisory
- Duplication of the collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.
Access advisory
- Collection is open for research. To request materials, please contact the Folklife Reading Room at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact opens in a new window
Finding aids
- Finding aid is available online https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/eadafc.af021009 opens in a new window
Local shelving no.
- RXH 5234-5262; RYN 9575-9591; VAP 7096-7103, VAS 6608-6628
- AFC 1998/001
Related names
Biography/History note
- Joel Martin Halpern was born April 8, 1929, in New York City. With a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University, he embarked on a long teaching career, highlighted by his time at the University Massachusetts at Amherst from 1967 until his retirement in 1992. His ethnographic research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the State Department, the Canadian Government, the National Academy of Sciences, the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as by the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Throughout his career, Halpern traveled widely and conducted extensive field research. In the summer of 1950, he studied Inuit settlements on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. Throughout various times in his career, Halpern and his wife traveled to and resided in parts of the former Yugoslavia, where they studied Serbian village folklife. In the mid-1950s, the Halperns also conducted fieldwork in Laos, while visiting Thailand and Vietnam. At that time, Halpern was employed as a Field Service Officer with the Community Development Division of USOM (the American aid mission). He returned on research trips to Laos in 1959 and 1969. Other research trips took him to Sweden, the Soviet Union, Greece, Israel, India, Bulgaria, and Canada. Although he conducted research in various global locations, the majority of the primary source materials in this collection was gathered in Yugoslavia, Laos, and Canada.
Organized/Arranged
- Organized into the following series: I. Eastern European materials, II. Southeast Asian materials, III. Inuit materials, IV. Miscellaneous materials.
Summary
- The Joel Martin Halpern Collection consists of photographs, slides, photocopies of photographs, photocopies of articles, audiotapes, videocassettes, published book materials, texts in native languages, manuscripts, reproductions of visual images, and ephemera related to his ethnographic field documentation undertaken from 1949 to 2000 in Asia, Europe, and North America. Much of the primary source material of this collection consists of photographs of Balkan areas, especially Serbian and Bulgarian villages. There is also a series of sound recordings of music and interviews with Serbians and Bulgarians (see tape logs), as well as a collection of folklore programs recorded from Sofia radio, plus videocassettes of Bosnian and Serbian rural life. In addition there are interviews with Canadian Inuit people and tapes from the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation recorded from broadcasts in the Baffin Island area.
LC Subjects
- Ethnology--Balkan Peninsula.
- Ethnology--Serbia.
- Ethnology--Slovenia.
- Ethnology--Southeast Asia.
- Ethnology--Yugoslavia.
- Albanians--Social life and customs.
- Bosnians--Social life and customs.
- Bulgarians--Social life and customs.
- Croats--Social life and customs.
- Folk songs, Bulgarian--Bulgaria.
- Folk songs, Lao.
- Folk songs, Serbian--Serbia.
- Inuit--Canada--Social life and customs.
- Laotian Americans--Social life and customs.
- Laotians--Social life and customs.
- Serbs--Social life and customs.
- Slovenes--Social life and customs.
- Vietnamese Americans--Social life and customs.
- OrasĖac (Serbia)--Social life and customs.
Form/Genre
Notes
- Collection material is primarily in English, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Lao. Additional materials are in Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, French, German, Hungarian, Inuktitut, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Slovenian, and Vietnamese.
Acquisition source
- Joel Martin Halpern; Donation; 1997-2000.
- 1 additional box of electronic media Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; circa 2001.
- 1 additional box of manuscripts Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; 2002-2003.
- 1 additional box of manuscripts and electronic media Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; July 2004.
- 15 additional boxes of manuscripts, publications, sound recordings, photographs, moving images, and electronic media Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; circa 2004.
- 2 additional boxes of manuscripts and publications Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; January 2005.
- 1 additional box of manuscripts and electronic media Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; March 2005.
- 1 additional box of manuscripts Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; December 2005.
- 1 additional box of manuscripts Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; April 2009.
- 1 additional box of electronic media Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; 2009.
- 1 additional folder of manuscripts Joel Martin Halpern; Accrual; October 2010.
Cite as
- Joel Martin Halpern Collection (AFC 1998/001), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
LCCN
- 2004695182
Language code
- eng mul
Geographic area code
- ed----- as----- n-cn---
Repository
- DLC-AFC Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC USA 20540-4610
Type of material
- Archival Manuscript/Mixed Formats (Collection)
Item Availability
CALL NUMBER
Request in
- American Folklife Center (Jefferson, LJG31)