Local Centers/Global Sounds: Historic Recordings and Midwestern Musical Vernaculars

FAIN: PW-234642-16

University of Wisconsin System (Madison, WI 53715-1218)
James P. Leary (Project Director: July 2015 to March 2021)
Jeanette L. Casey (Co Project Director: March 2016 to March 2021)

Archival processing, digital reformatting and preservation, and increased access to nearly 800 hours of 78 rpm and field recordings and supporting archival materials related to musical cultures of European ethnic communities in the Upper Midwest.

Mills Music Library, the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, and partners at the University of Wisconsin-Madison seek implementation support for ongoing efforts to arrange, describe, catalog, conserve, digitize, and disseminate a unique body of historic, regional, endangered, mostly inaccessible sound recordings: "foreign series" 78 rpm recordings produced for immigrant, ethnic, and indigenous audiences by American companies in the first half of the 20th century; and original field and home recordings from the 1950s through the 1990s featuring the Upper Midwest's culturally diverse traditional musicians. This project will result in: online finding aids for 4 significant multi-format collections; the cataloguing and digitization of 800 hours of historic field, home, and 78 rpm recordings; digitization and meta-data for at least 3,000 images and 1,000 pages of field recording indexes and notes; and a series of related public programs.

Media Coverage

Schweizer Auswanderer - Als in Wisconsin noch gejodelt wurde (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Arndt Peltner
Publication: Swiss National Radio (SRF)
Date: 9/5/2018
Abstract: This is a radio feature with an accompanying online blog with images. It is just one of many media productions related to Alpine Dreaming, which was also reviewed in newspapers and journals.
URL: https://www.srf.ch/kultur/musik/schweizer-auswanderer-als-in-wisconsin-noch-gejodelt-wurde?ns_source=srf_app

Associated Products

Local Centers/Global Sounds: Historic Recordings and Midwestern Musical Vernaculars (Web Resource)
Title: Local Centers/Global Sounds: Historic Recordings and Midwestern Musical Vernaculars
Author: Jeanette Casey (Mills Music Library)
Author: James P Leary
Abstract: The Mills Music Library and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, along with many partners at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are pleased to present a growing collection of unique, historic, regional and endangered sound recordings with related documentation. These include 78-rpm recordings produced for immigrant, ethnic, and indigenous audiences by American companies in the first half of the 20th century; and more than 700 hours of original field and home recordings from the 1950s through the 1990s featuring the Upper Midwest's culturally diverse traditional musicians. Captured in kitchens and parlors, in churches and halls, amidst festivals and in professional studios, this online collection presents dance tunes, ballads, lyric songs, hymns, laments, political anthems, and recitations, together with extensive interviews of many performers. The collection offers: Full audio streams, whenever possible Photographic images Field notes Tape Indexes Translations of titles
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ALocalCenters
Primary URL Description: This URL is for the Local Centers/Global Sounds portal, which currently includes 15 discrete collections, with more to come.

Alpine Dreaming: The Helvetia Records Story, 1920-1924 (Web Resource)
Title: Alpine Dreaming: The Helvetia Records Story, 1920-1924
Author: James P. Leary
Abstract: In 1920 Ferdinand Ingold, a poor but visionary Swiss settler in the small Wisconsin town of Monroe, audaciously launched a record label, Helvetia—invoking his homeland’s ancient name and celebrating its musical heritage. Praised in the immigrant press yet beset by fiscal challenges, Helvetia issued a scant 36 sides. Scattered, scarce, and nearly forgotten, Ingold’s entire catalog, newly restored and remastered, is offered here. Rollicking and somber, sentimental and lusty, these Swiss, German, and Tyrolean tunes and songs feature virtuoso instrumental combos, vocal quartets, and especially yodelers from Swiss communities in New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin. A 60-page booklet by folklorist Jim Leary, richly illustrated with rare images, offers extensive background on the label, performers, and each track, along with bilingual lyrics unlocked by a team of translators tackling dialectical challenges. Illuminating one of the first American record labels established by an immigrant for his own community, Alpine Dreaming both recalls a bygone era and resonates with all who seek better New World lives while remembering their homelands.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.archeophone.com/catalogue/alpine-dreaming/

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