Alan lomax and leadbelly biography

Alan Lomax () was a major figure in folklore and ethnomusicology, known for his theoretical work, cultural advocacy, and seminal public programs. He played a key role in the development of the Center’s work.

Pete Seeger described him as “the man who is more responsible than any other person for the twentieth-century folk song revival.”

The son of pioneering American scholar and advocate of folk culture John A.

Lomax, Alan, with his father, began a major effort in to record living folk music and to develop the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress. The thousands of field recordings they collected revealed a wealth of folk music in the United States, Haiti, and the Bahamas, and led to the publication of popular folk song collections such as American Ballads and Folk Songs and Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Leadbelly.

Alan’s book, Mister Jelly Roll, was a milestone in oral biography and inspired two Broadway musicals.

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