KT Lowe

KT Lowe

Celebrating African-American Music Month

Celebrating African-American Music Month

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June is African-American Music Month, intended to celebrate the important contributions of African-American entertainers in the music industry.  Most American popular music is rooted in Black music traditions dating to the founding of the country, a fact not always acknowledged in society, and these traditions range from instrumentation to musical style to vocalization.  This blog highlights a handful of influential African-American musicians whose work is part of American collective social memory. Gladys Bentley Openly lesbian and among the first well-known drag king performers in American history, Gladys Bentley (1907-1960) was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and grew up in Philadelphia.  She left home at 16 to perform in jazz clubs in New York, under her own name but dressed in formal … Continued
McClure’s Magazine and the birth of investigative journalism

McClure’s Magazine and the birth of investigative journalism

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It’s 1893, and the United States is in the middle of an economic panic.  People are rushing to the banks, eager to take out all their money before it becomes worthless.  The national unemployment rate hovers near 18%, and hundreds of companies and banks go out of business.  Into this inauspicious moment, a new magazine eager to forge a new idea of American letters prints its first issue.  For thirteen years, the irrepressible Samuel S. McClure helmed an enormously talented staff whose work helped bring forth a new era of journalism. Samuel McClure (the middle name Sidney was added later) was born in Ireland on February 17, 1857.  His family became impoverished with the death of his father when he … Continued
The Archives of Traditional Music

The Archives of Traditional Music

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On wax cylinders, aluminum and lacquer discs, open reel tape, wire and cassette tape, Chinese folk songs commingle with Native American narrative songs and Sea Islands protest songs.  Here the works of Hoagy Carmichael rub shoulders with traditional songs of the Ainu, a people native to the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan.  With over 120,000 audio recordings spread out over 4000 collections, the Archives of Traditional Music is one of the country’s most important repositories of recorded music history.  This blog will dive into a handful of the collections available there. The Lawrence Gellert Collection Collector Lawrence Gellert (born 1898, disappeared 1979) possessed a sincere, if homegrown, interest in Black folk music.  His family immigrated to the US from … Continued
Freedom of Information

Freedom of Information

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A free society is predicated on transparency and access to information.  The ability to examine records generated by public entities can help expose controversies and keep people in power in check.  Moreover, a well-informed society is better equipped to make good decisions regarding its future.  These public records laws, known as “sunshine laws”, set ground rules for promoting and preserving access.  With National Freedom of Information Day on March 16, it is important to revisit the process of asking for public information, which is done through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The Freedom of Information Act was passed in 1966 and signed into law by then-president Lyndon Johnson.  It was updated in 2016 to accommodate electronic records.  With … Continued
Research lifelines for 2024

Research lifelines for 2024

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A new year means new classes, new studies and maybe a new approach to doing research.  But all this newness can be difficult to navigate.  Thankfully, there is a solution, available to every student, faculty and staff member on campus.  The IU East Campus Library is here to help, with plenty of databases, finding aids and good advice to help students, staff and faculty in engaging with a new year’s worth of learning. The new A-Z list Looking for a more organized, simpler way to find important databases?  The library recently launched a revised Databases A-Z list, with numerous features that help with finding information.  The library includes databases for all subjects taught at IU East, along with broader spectrum … Continued