Work Films

Lawrence Older [1912-1982] is a relaxed, direct and engaging performer who spent the majority of his life working in the woods. His songs and fiddle tunes are mostly from his…

Pete and Toshi Seeger, their son Daniel, and folklorist Bruce Jackson visited a Texas prison in Huntsville in March of 1966 and produced this rare document of of work songs by…

Portrait of Albert "Hap" Collins of South Blue Hill, Maine. Hap Collins was a poet, painter, fiddler, lobster fisherman, storyteller, and craftsman.

A 1973 film of Alex Stewart, a mountain craftsman from near Sneedville, Tennessee, constructing a churn. Film includes discussion of the use of non-powered tools and skills handed…

The Amish keep surprising their technology-programmed neighbors by keeping alive ways and beliefs that many modern Americans wish they could recapture. Mennonite historian John…

The culture and identity of contemporary ironworkers in southwestern Wisconsin.

This 28 minute piece documents the construction of a communal bread-oven in Cambridge, NY. As part of the events celebrating the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Quebec City…

John E. "Frail" Joines was a master tale teller from Wilkes County, N. C., on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. His hunting tales, stories from World War II, and…

The disappearing traditions of the old cattle ranches of the Southwest are presented in director Philip Spalding\'s film BELLOTA. This 1969 film concentrates on five Mexican…

Ben Thresher's mill is one of the few water-powered, wood-working mills left in this country. Operating in rural Vermont since 1848, the mill is a unique link between the age of…

Boom and Bust is a meditation on economic cycles and the American Dream. This remarkable film tells the story of industrial expansion and decline along the Erie Canal, and…

An introduction to H. Lee Waters and his Movies of Local People 1936 to 1942. A film by Tom Whiteside.

A behind the scenes look to see how the magic of the midway comes together, town after town, and how carnies create a community and way of life that transcends place and time.

Using only birchbark, cedar splints, spruce roots and gum, César Newashish, a 67 year old Attikamek of the Manawan Reserve demonstrates how to build a canoe the "old" way.

Jack Ofield\'s 16-mm film shows the work of Henry Duncklee, who retired from his job as a circus sign painter in 1949, and begin building this circus of his own.