As we close the books on 2019, I want to thank everyone for a fantastic and celebratory 75th anniversary year. New York Folklore was founded in 1944 by Louis Jones and Harold Thompson, two close friends and folklore colleagues who had a vision for a folklore organization that would draw together academics teaching folklore, students of folklore, tradition bearers, and local enthusiasts. Founded in October 1944 at a meeting of the New York History Association at the Albany Institute for History and Art, the New York Folklore Society was instituted and immediately convened a day-long series of presentations about folklore in New York State. This activity continued with twice annual gatherings and a journal that began publication in 1945. We haven’t stopped since! Predicated on a vision of cultural equity and inclusion, the nascent New York Folklore Society aligned itself with social justice and social action movements of the time, including the Progressive Education Movement and the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s. I am proud of the organization’s seventy-five year legacy of promoting cultural and social justice and I am pleased that this vision remains a vital part of the organization’s mission.
We began our 75th celebratory year with a birthday cake on June 6, 2019 that was handed out to anyone passing by outside our offices and gallery at 129 Jay Street in Schenectady. We were able to share this event with our visiting guests from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The celebration continued with a 75th Anniversary party that was held on November 16, 2019 at the Bethany Arts Community in Ossining. More than 110 guests were in attendance to wish us well. As President Tom van Buren and Vice-President Kay Turner declared, the ongoing vision of New York Folklore – to promote and nurture community – was in evidence. Of the guests attending, New York Folklore’s friends and constituents were in attendance, including folklore colleagues, folk and traditional artists, leaders of allied folklore organizations and folk arts specific organizations, former and current staff members, former journal editors, and former and current board members. Celebration participants came from as far away as Maine and New York’s St. Lawrence County, and from as near as Ossining and New York’s Westchester County.
While this was a grand year, we intend to continue into 2020, as next year will be the anniversary of our publication that began as New York Folklore Quarterly and today is known as Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore. To keep abreast of events and other anniversary initiatives, connect with us on Instagram and Facebook, subscribe to our blog, and visit our website. And please join us as a member so that New York Folklore can remain strong for the next 75 years!