Summer 1998 PDF - New York Folklore Society

N E W
Register Now!
Living, Working & Playing on the Waters of
Long Island
Fall Conference, September 18-2O,lW8
Along the coastlines of Long Island, the ecologies and cultures of land and water meet in
dynamic zones of encounter and transition. One result is a rich folk culture of maritime
traditions that permeate people's lives at work, at play, and at home. At the Hallockville
Museum Farm and Folklife Center, located near Riverhead on the north fork ofeastern Long
Island, folklorist John Eilertsen has been documenting and presenting many of these
traditions for 18 years. Hallockville is the host forthis year's New YorkFolklore Society fall
conference.
We invite you to explore with us some of the recreational and occupational traditions of
the island and learn as well about other maritime cultures along the Eastern Seaboard.
Among the presenters at the conference will be David Taylor, a noted scholar on maritime
folklore from the American Folklife Center in Washington; RitaMoonsammy, director ofthe
Folk Arts Program at the New Jersey State Arts Council; Nancy Solomon, founder and
directorofLong IslandTraditions, and JohnEilertsen. We will hear from baymen, fishermen,
and others of the men and women of the Long Island shores, and you can look forward to
folklife demonstrations, a riverboat dinner cruise, and delicious food from the sea.
To sign up for the conference, use the enclosed registration form. (If a form is not
enclosed, let us know right away, and we'll send one to you. The deadline is Aug. 24, so
please register now before the summer slips away.
We are pleased to announce the New York Folklore Society's new web site, which should
be coming on line just about the time you're reading this. Come to the address above, and
you'll find information about our mission and history, our publications and programs
(including the fall conference), our board and staff, excerpts from the newsletter, and more.
Send us via email your contributions to Voices. We'll print what we can, either in Voices on
the web or in our newsletter. And we'll point you to other fun and interesting web sites
around New York State and the nation. Once you've had a look, let us know what you think.
We are eager to make this site as interesting and useful as possible.
Ensuring a Future for Our Past
For the past 18 months, NYFS director John Suter has served as co-chair of the New York
State Historical Records Advisory Board. In June, the board released its ten-year strategic
plan, Ensuring a Futurefor Our Past, which sets priorities and goals to be addressed by all
who are involved in the creation, preservation, and use of historical records. Historical
records is a broad term that covers all kinds of documentation of topics that are deemed
historically valuable. The plan "gives high priority to activities that redress past
Continued o n page I8
Y O R K
FOLK
LORE
N E W S L E T T E R
Editor: Karen Taussig-Lux
Design: Diane Ghisone
Printcd on recycled paper by
Weldenhammer Printers
The New York Folklore Society
Vewsletter will be published three times in
1998.TheNewsletterprovidesinformationand
;emices to individuals and organizations iniolved with folk arts.
'lease observe the following copy deadlines:
Sept. I for the FalllWintcr issue (Nov.-Feb.);
Ian. 15 forthe Spring issue (Mar.-June);May I
"or the Summer issue (July - Oct.). Articles
ihould be submitted on disk using ;I standard
Wac~ntoshorDOSwordprocessor. If this~snot
,ossible, please contact the editor in advance.
New York Folklore Newsletter
Karen Taussig-Lux, Editor
420 North Jackson Street
Media. PA 19063
(610) 627-0246
email: <[email protected]~>
New York Folklore Society, Inc
632 W. Buffalo Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
John Suter, Executive Director
Deborah Clover, Administrative Director
Voice: (607) 273-9137
Fax: (607) 273-3620
email: <jsutcr(@nyfolklore.org>
New York Folklore
Egle Zygas, Editor
P.O. Box 48. [.enox Hill Station.
New York, NY 1002 1
Board of Directors:
Todd DcGarmo, President;
Mary Zwolinski, Vice President:
Dav~dQuinn, SecretalyiTreasurer;
Dan Bergyen. Kathleen Condon.
Ed Franquemont, Elsie Freeman Finch,
'Madaha Kinsey-Lamb, Nelida Perez,
Elly Shodell, Gretchen Sorin.
Sally Yerkovich
Mentoring
Program
Awards
New York Folklore Society, in partnership with the Folk Arts Program of
the New York State Council on the
Arts, offers opportunities for technical assistance and professional growth
to organizations and individuals engaged in orplanningfolklife and traditional arts programs inNew York State
through its Mentoring and Professional
DevelopmentProgram. The following
have received awards this year:
The Hungarian-AmericanClub of
Rochester, to hire community scholar
Eniko Farkas to teach members to
interview anddocument the stories of
refugees ofthe 1956 Hungarian revolution.
City Lore, to hire archivist Nancy
Johnson and computer scientist
Valerie Barr to upgrade arrangement
and description of their folklore library.
Project Greenhope Services for
Women,to hire Malika Lee Whitney
to conduct a workshop with residents
to gather oral histories, personal stories and narrative.
Black Crow Network, to hire folklorists Pat Wells and Willie Smyth to
consult on cultural tourism issues and
give a public workshop.
Center for Traditional Music and
Dance, to hire photographer Martha
Cooper to lead two workshops on
documentary photographic technique.
Arts and Cultural Council of
Greater Rochester, to hire folklorists Mary Zwolinski, Catherine
Schwoeffer-mann, and Kate Koperski
to provide mentoring and training to
the staff folklorist. Continued o n page 6
Meet The
NYFS Board
Resz~mingour series of sey-authored
profiles of NYFS board members, we
introduce Elsie Freeman Finch. Elsie
joined the hoard two years ago and
serves on the Publication and 2000
Conference Committees.
Elsie Freeman Finch
.Joined in 1996
Like David Quinn, whose comments preceded mine, I am neither a folklorist,
a museum specialist nor an anthropologist, as are many of my colleagues on the
NYFS board. In my last career dispensation, J was an archivist-cum-educator
in charge ofpublic education programs at the National Archives. Earlier I have
been a secondary school and collegiate level teacher ofEnglish and history, an
editor for several small consumermagazines, an advertising person, a waitress,
a dressmaker, and a singer specializing in music of the Baroque but making
money from Gilbert and Sullivan. Currently I edit learning material for my
professional society, serve on several boards in my new hometown, Ithaca,
New York, and give unqualified advice to the owners of a restaurant in which
I am a partner.
oddly enough, all of those fields made me an aficionado, consumer, and
probably a creator of folklore. Literature, particularly American literature,
absorbs and reconstitutes folk stories and traditions; instrumental and vocal
music from the 16th century forward liberally quote the melodies and forms of
folkmusic; and social history, which has in the past 20 years dealtwith the lives
and times of ordinary people, is coming to understand the connection between
the events we call history and the beliefs and behavior of the people who make
it. And in each field in which 1 worked, I absorbed the traditions-stories,
jokes, myths, behaviors-that bound that particular group together. So it was
with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation of the board of the NYFS to
join them, and I now tell friends that it is one ofthe few ofmany boards, advisory
groups, committees, task forces, and other work units I've served on where I
comeaway from aday's meeting still liking and admiring my colleagues and its
exemplary director, John Suter.
~ i k eany organization of professionals, NYFS creates and maintains
programs that enhance scholarship in the field; the archives, mentoring and
publications efforts are powerful examples. But like David Quinn, I too want
to see a wider popular base ofmembers and enthusiasts, beginning with school
children and advancing through our senior population, of which I am one.
Folklore is serious stuff but it's also great fun, as anyone who has enjoyed (or
in my case, endured) jokes about tenors and sopranos, folk music concerts,
demonstrations of traditional crafts or storytelling sessions with an ethnic or
age group will testify. Folklore may be the most accessible of the scholarly
NYFS FORUM
fields-everyone lives with it and creates it-and NYFS is now making that
NYFS announces the following Folk accessibility a working reality. But we need more members, more appreciators
and creators of folklore among our number. I personally hope to see our
Arts Forum:
The State of Folklore in New York excellent and evolving publications in more schools and public libraries, see
State,Friday,October2,1998,1:00 folklore material integratedmore aggressively into school curricula, help more
p.m.-4:00p.m.,Roberson Museum community groups understand the coherence that their own folklore and
customs give them. It can be done, and this organization is working hard at it.
and Science Center
The personal stuff: I grew up in Rochester, New York, and have lived all
This forum will continue the discussion led by Ma1 O'Connor at the New overthe country. Six years ago, after many years of being single, I married my
York Folklore Roundtable last May. best friend in the archival profession, ~ e r b e r t inch, and moved to Ithaca; my
The goals of the forum are to further two sons live in the Washington DC area. From first grade through college, 1
discuss a common agenda for the was a beneficiary of New York's splendid education system. J have a BA in
field, develop strategies that can be history and literature from SUNY-Albany (which was then a college to train
Continued o n page 18
Elsie FreemanFinch
and her husband,
Herbert. Photograph
courtesy of Elsie
Freeman Finch
Continued o n page 18
3
crossfire, trapped in her aunt's apartment for days at a time. It was during
this fearful yet rather boring time that
she took up embroidery. "I taught
Karen Taussig-Lux and Deborah Clover
myself to embroider during the hostilities when there was nothing else to
A community folklore scholar is an do but to wait to die while the Soviet
individual who has shown a significant tanks fired onour apartment building.
contribution to the collection, preserva- We didn't die, and I continued to
tion and presentation of traditional c ~ d - embroider." Both her participation in
ture in a community or region, without this historical event and her passion
,formal training in folklore or an allied for embroidery have remained lasting
influences on her throughout her life.
field.
The aftermath of the revolution
-Betty Belanus, Community Scholar
Survey: A Report on Responses and Pre- opened opportun~tiesfor Eniko; some
limina?y Database, Center for Folklife educational restrictions were eased.
Programs and Cultural Studies, "In the spring of 1957 I realized that
I was going to soon be 16, and after
Smithsonian Institution. 1995.
that regular high school and the posWhen you walk through the front door of sibility of higher education were out
Eniko Farkas' house and into the living of my reach for ever. My heart was
room, your first impression is that you aching to be in high school like most
haveentered amini-folkart museum, and other children my age. I was also
it is hard to walk through it without miserable for a lack of intellectual
stopping and looking. Displayed in china environment. With my aunt'spromise
cabinets, framed and mounted on the walls of financial support I decided to try
are exquisite examples of the various types once more to be accepted for admisof Hungarian embroideries and laces she sion by Geologist Technician School.
has made and collected over the years. This time I made it in! At the age of
Each table is graced with an exquisitely sixteen finally I was a high school
stitched cloth or doily, and brightly pat- student." Despite high grades and
terned embroidered pillows perch on the winning a scholastic competition she
sofa and chairs. The enchanting smells of was unable to continue her studies at
goulash, fresh bread and lekvaros bukta the university because of her sympa(fruit-filled cookies) lure you into the kitchen, where you are confronted with thies with the revolutionaries and the
another stunning example of her creativity: a cupboard on which she has fact that she was female.
Eniko worked as a geologist techpainted a stunningly beautiful embroidery pattern of flowers in bold reds,
greens, blues, yellows, and purples. The pattern, composed of new buds, nician, following her company's drillopening blossoms and fully emerged flowers, symbolizes the life and growth ing rig around thecountry, identifying
deposits in the drilling cores, and ulof a woman.
It is clear from only afew moments in her house that Eniko is a prolific and timately writing reports at the comhighly skilled traditional embroiderer, and a fabulous cook. After speaking pany headquarters.After working four
with her, it soon becomes apparent that she is also a woman of strong years she became interested in learnintellectual drive who has worked hard to documentthestoryofhercommunity's ing English so that she could translate
scientific articles in her field; no one in
past over the years and who has a fascinating life story of her own.
Eniko was born in 194 1 and grew up in the
town of Vacs in Hungary. At 14, she had
completed elementary school but was barred
from high school because of her parents' class
position. Her father had held a minor post in
city government before the war and faced
discrimination under the Soviet-dominated
regime because he was considered middleclass. Because he had difficulty securing work,
her family struggled financially. Unwilling to
be a burden on them, she found a job through
her aunt in Budapest, working underage in a
rag factory. This circumstance put her in the
middle of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
[See Eniko's description ofthe events ofthose
days on page 9 of this newsletter 1. Her aunt's
apartment was located in the heart ofthe rebel
district, and Eniko was literally caught in the
Community Scholar
Eniko Farkas
demonstrating
Hungarian
embroidery at
Schweinfurth Art
Center, Auburn, NY.
Photograph by
Karen Taussig-Lux
See Eniko's
recollections of
theHungarian
Revolution
along with her
interviews with
refugees who
fled to America
in its aftermath
in "Crossing
the Border" in
the Voices
section.
Interpretive
embroidery display,
Eniko Farkas,
Schweinfurth Art
Center, Auburn, NY.
Photograph by Karen
Taussig-Lux
"My early life in Hungary, surher company could read English. Her the end it turned out that I actually
aunt, who had fled Hungary after the took enough courses to think about rounded by the stories and history of
Revolution and immigrated to the compiling adcgree." Her last position the time ignited my lifelong interest
United States, invited her to visit. (she is now retired) was as a book in the experiences of the Hungarian
While staying with her Ithaca, NY, preservation technician at Cornell people. Following my immigration
with its large Hungarian community, University Library, which enabled her to the United States in 1965, my
she met Louis Farkas, fell in love, and to take courses there. She fulfilled her interest took a scholarly form when I
dream of receiving a university edu- discovered that, in addition to the
decided to marry him and stay.
With no job in this country and as cation, ultimately earning a B.A. de- 56er immigrants [refugees from the
yet, little English, Eniko turned to gree in Art History from Cornell in 1956 Hungarian Revolution], Hunembroidery for a creative outlet, and 1997. At the same time she initiated a garians comprised the largest prethis time her interest deepened.
number of projects documenting the WWI immigrant group in my new
"At first [doing embroidery] was history and culture of Hungarians in home of Ithaca, New York. Yet, desomewhat painful [because of her Tompkins County.
spite their presence and history in the
homesickness]. But 1
region, there had been
no public discussion or
enjoyed doing the empresentation ofthem as
broidery so much and
From her own experience Eniko knows that people who
an ethnic group. After
seeing the colors and the
document their own community often need training and
waiting 10 years for
designs emerge, that at
other forms oj'assistance. The following are some of the
one point itwas no longer
someone else to write
types of support she and others have found to be particupainful, but it was someour history, I realized
larly important:
thing to look forward to
that, ifwe wanted to be
very much. It was a sort
visible with our hisMentorship. An ongoing relationship with a profesof relaxation. It was not
tory and contributions
sional who can look at the community project, assess
only for enjoymcnt; it
recorded, we needed to
its strengths and weaknesses, give advice on how to
was also for disappointdocument ourselves.
proceed, and offer encouragement.
ments. When there were
"I began learning
Training opportunities for developing interview and
problems I would sit
how to do oral history
research skills-including workshops on folklore and
down and embroider.
interviews, and in
folklife and library and Internet searches.
After a while I would get
1986, self-published
Technical training inaudio recordingandphotography.
the booklet They Were
rid of some amount of
lnformation on various ways to present documentation
frustration by doing the
Not WellToDo People,
to the public, such as demonstrations, exhibitions,
embroideryand enjoying
But Having a Picino
festivals, and archives.
it."
Was Important, a collnformation on how to make the results of a documenOver time, she taught
lection of interviews
tation projectpublishable; how to find apublisher; how
with Ithaca Hungarian
herselfstitches and styles
a community group or individual can self-publish.
from every region in
immigrants. I knew the
Bibliographies on folklore, folklife, and the specific
Hungary and became
peoplk and language,
subject of the project.
well known as an expert
and I understood the
Locatingpotential community scholars and encouragon many different types
history andculture, but
ing them to research their group.
of embroidery. She has
lacked training in inNetworking opportunities-ways to meet and combeen a teacher for the
terpreting and presentmunicate with peers in other communities.
Embroidery Guild of
ing my findings. It was
Funding sources for community projects.
America, for whom she
disheartening that, at
Grant writing and fundraising skills.
developed anational corthe time. no one in a
respondence course, has
position to help me
published numerous artook an interest in my
ticles on lace making, an d 1.ias pubwork. Addi tional training was not
lished a bibliography of lace-related
available to me. It was another 10
literature. Her work has been feayears before I was finally encouraged
tured in a number of exhibitions, and
and supported in pursuing my idea of
she is in demand as a speaker and
collecting the border crossing stories
demonstrator.
of lthaca Hungarian 56ers. I've now
While Eniko is well known as an
renewed and expanded that research
embro~derer,needle skills comprise
to include 56er immigrants living in
only a part of her interests. Her intelother Central New York communilectual curiosity has remained a proties." [See excerpts from these interpelling force. "The embroidery was
views in this issue's Voices section.]
not enough. I started to take courses
She received this encouragement
in a class she took at Cornell on local
at Tompkins-Cortland Community
history with social historian Carol
College. And whenever1 took acourse
Kammen. Carol directed hcr to the
I was hoping it was going to improve
my various work situations. And in
Continued o n page 18
Paprika molif,
Hungarian
embroidery pattern,
drawing by Eniko
Farkas.
Waiting for Go Dot
Steve Zeitlin
Steve Zeitlin is
Director of City
Lore and a
commentator
for the radio
show Artbeat,
heard on
National Public
Radio. His
column is a
regular feature
of the
Newsletter.
My daughter's assignment was a simple one. She and two friends had
to choose a scene from a play to perform for their language arts class. First they
tried a scene from Peter Pan, then the witches scene from Machetlz. But
nothing seemed right to this feisty group of 12-year-olds. Without telling me,
they set out for the library. When they saw it was closed, they wandered a few
blocks away to a used bookstore. Together, they managed to scrounge up a
dollar in change. They asked the bookstore owner what plays were available
at that price. "What did you get?" I asked when they returned. "Waitingjor Go
Dot," my daughter answered. A used paperback version.
"Waiting for Godot?" I threw a fit. The performance was due the next day!
Since it was too late to even read the book, they went with another play. But
a few days later my daughter did pore over Waiting jor Godot. She was
interested in it, she told me, because the cover said that it was a "tragic
comedy." She thought that sounded "cool." When she finished, she declared
it her favorite play.
A few days later, I reread the play, recalling lines I'd long ago forgottenthe absurd conversations: Vladimir: "We met yesterday. Do you not remember:'" Pozzo [anscvering]: I don't remember having met anyone yesterday.
But tomorrow 1 won't remember having met anyone today. So don't count on
me toenlighten you." Or Pozzo saying, we "give birth astride a grave, the light
gleams an instant, then it's night once more." My daughter thought Vladimir
and Estragon were hilarious. Sheespecially liked the way they said, "let's go,"
at the end of each act, then stayed in the same place. She seemed to relate to
Beckett's famous bums a bit like an old capodi~nonte ceramic of two
vagabonds on a park bench that my brother and I saw in a shop window when
we were her age and tried to convince my parents to buy.
In college I'd studied Godot as part of what was then the new Theatre of
the Absurd. At the time, it epitomized the appalling absurdity of life that my
wholegeneration seemed tograsp atthe same existential moment. Readingthe
play 25 years later, it meant something different. Now the meaninglessness of
the cosmos is simply a given. Instead, the play spoke to me about the meaning
hidden in relationships-like those, now decadesold, I share with my brothers
and my wife. Half the time we're saying things to one another we've said a
million times before. Yet, as one person put it, we've "refined our communication into a work of art."
That's the wonderfid thmg about at-tthe way it becomes a part of our
folklore, part ofwhat BarbaraMyerhoffcaIledour"equipment for living." We
think of it as existing separately from us, but we make it meaningful when we
watch or read and when we share it. We add layers of meaning as we
personalize it, and it becomes part of family stories and traditions. Layers of
meaning are transposed onto our lives as metaphors, rendering our own lives
more artful. It is sometimes convenient to divide art into "high" or classical
arts; popular arts, disseminated through mass production and mass media; and
folk arts, aptly defined by Dan Ben Amos as "artistic communication in small
groups." But all art is experienced at the folk level. Opera is experienced as a
culture of opera goers; not many people go to the opera or the movies alone.
Movies and sit coms are fodder for family stories and expressions.
In John Suter's family, for instance, the "get it, got it, good" lines from
Danny Kay's film, The Court Jester, reverberate through his family's folklore.
In our family, Rob Reiner's delightful movie, The Princess Bride, figures
heavily in our folklore. In one scene, the hero is carried all but dead to
"Miracle Max" in hopes of miraculously reviving him. "It just so happens,"
observes Max, "that your friend here is only mostly dead. Mostly dead is
slightly al~ve.There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. All
dead there's usually only one thing you can do.. .go through his pockets and
look for loose change." In one week in our family, I used those lines in a
commentary about the threats to the National Endowment for the Arts, my son
Ben used them in a school skit, and my daughter Eliza to describe a dead or
dying bug. Folklorists have a great deal to contribute to understanding how
popular and the so-called "h~gh"arts
are used in families and relationships
as tools for building culture at the
most intimate levels.
In college, I was affected by
Vladimir and Estragon trying to find
a piece of rope long enough to hang
themselves. Now, the relationship
between them seems a bit like the
worn coat Vladimir uses to cover
Estragon. The art that most affects
me these days, I seem to stumble on
unexpectedly. And no matter how
many people are in a theater, it's
always personal. How it strikes depends on where I am at a particular
point in time. This time around, Godot
reminded me of my aging relatives. In
one family story, my cousin Marc
Wallace was mixing drinks when he
called out to my uncle in the living
room, "Do we have any vodka'?" His
fatheranswered,"Did you say latkes?"
At which point, his mother in the
kitchen called out, "You want matzos?" "Vodka? Latkes? Matzos?"
became a full-fledged family expression in the Wallace family. They'd
make Samuel Beckett proud.
MENTORING AWARDS
Continued from page 3
The Museums at Stony Brook, to
hire folklorist Kathleen Condon to
provide training in skills necessary to
produce folk arts programs in a museum setting.
The Roxbury Arts Group, to hire
food historian Mary Barile to provide
assistance in planning a traditional
foods component to Fiddlers Festival.
Jean Lindblad, to hire folklorist
Yvonne Lockwood to advise on design and development of a Finnish
Heritage Project and to provide training in fieldwork and documentation
practices.
Long Island Traditions, to hire accountant Andrew Hollander to provide a three-hour seminar on optimizing the use of Quickbooks to meet the
financial needs of four folk arts organizations: Long Island Traditions, City
Lore, World Music Institute, and
Hallockville Folklifecenter and Museum.
For more information on
the Mentoring and Professional
Development Program, see
page 19.
Welcome to Voices, a new section of the Newsletter devoted topresenting in words and images, the traditions
practiced by thepeopleandcommunities ofNew YorkState.We want to hear fromyou! Send usfamily stories,
interviews, recipes, reminiscences, anecdotes, songs, how-to columns, and more. We are also looking for
photographs and sketches of people, places, objects, and community events to publish. Write us with your
responses to the articles you read and ideasforfuture issues. Don't be strangers! Join us as we learn about
each other and enjoy each other's stories.
Tales of an lsland: Fishing and Fisherman on
Long IslandysEast End
John Eilertsen with stories contributed by Stewart Lester and Johnny Collins
Suffolk County, NY, is home to almost one and a half million people. The county occupies the eastern two thirds of
Long Island and, including several smaller islands offthe east and north coasts, contains approximately 1200 square
miles. The eastern end of the island divides into two narrow, unequal branches, or forks, called the North Fork and
the South Fork. The North Fork looks across Long lsland Sound to Connecticut,and the South Fork faces the Atlantic
Ocean. The two forks, also called The East End, consist of the towns of Southampton, East Hampton, Riverhead,
Southold, and Shelter Island, and were settled by Europeans of English descent in 1640, making the area the first
English-speaking settlement in New York State. Native Americans, however, had settled in the same area some time
after the last Ice Age, between eight and ten thousandyears
ago.
All of Suffolk County is an area steeped in maritime
traditions. Generations of residents have earned their
livelihoods harvesting the Great South Bay, the Atlantic
Ocean, Long Island Sound, and to the east, the streams,
creeks, bays, and harbors of the Peconic Estuary System.
Flounder,jluke, swordfish, bass, cod, menhaden, sturgeon,
oyster, clams, scallops, eels, crabs, and countless other
species offin and shellfish have, over the years, sustained
fisherman through good times and bad. Although local
commercial fishermen are finding it increasingly difSicult
to maintain their traditional lifestyles
and occupations,
- they are still here.
Members of East Hampton town's fishing community
are proud of theirfishing heritage, but they recognize that
times are changing. Jarvey Wood, now over 80 years old,
was born in a section of East Hampton called the Springs.
Jarvey recalls that, as a youngster, he could walkfor hours
overfields and through woods,following creeks and shore
lines andpaths walked by hisfather, grandfather, and great
grandfather. His great grandfather and grandfather were
fishermen and whalers, and his father was a fisherman, ". .s o nuturally I come fishing too." The biggest change,
Jarvey and others have noted, is the vast number of people "jiromaway," who know little or nothing about the old
ways in general, or abocit fishing in particular. Stewart Lester, born in Amagansett a generation after Jarvey,
Continued on page 8
remembers a shark incident involving a little girl.
Cover photograph:
Mending net.
Photographby John
Eilertsen
J a ~ e wood.
y
P h o t ~ a P h b YJohn
Eilertsen
The captain gets the boat underway, but in just a few
minutes, the engine dies again, and the captain sees the
boat drifting back towards the shoals again, so again he
I saw them bring a mako runs below to work in the engine and again he hollers out
in the Yacht Club one time. the mate, "Throw out the anchor." After a moment or two,
They had caught it about he hears the mate holler back, "There's no 'stwing' on it."
two o'clock in the after- And again, before he can answer the mate, the engine
noon, and they had it on the starts up. So, he runs back topside and gets the boat
gin pole, it was so long, underway again. And again he forgets to ask the mate
probably weighed out what he was talking about.
But in just a few moments the boat's engine conks out
about350,400pounds. His
head hung in the water to again, and as he runs below to work in the engine again,
the gills. Now they had it he hollers out, "Throw the anchor." Of course, the mate
hanging off the boat all the hollers back, "There's no 'stwing' on it," but this time the
way back to the club'sdock, captain can't get the engine started, and worried that they
they got into the club could go aground on the shoals, he starts screaming,
around fivethirty that night, "Throw the anchor, throw the anchor." And the mate
and they hung them up on hollers back, 'There's no 'shving' on it, there's no 'shving'
the dock, you'd swear he on it."
Finally the furious captain screams out, "Stwing or no
was dead. Now a little kid,
a little girl about five or six stwing, I'm the captain. Throw out the damn anchor!"
years old went up and And almost immediately he hears a splash as the mate
startedpoking his eyeballs. finally throws out the anchor.
Well, right after that, the captain gets the engine
Aaaraugh! I grabbed the
kid and pulled her back. running again, and he goes topside, and hollers out to the
That shark was just waiting and ifanybody walked within mate, "Pull in the anchor," and the mate just looks at him,
what he thought was strikingdistance,boy, he'dgo boom! and the captain says,"What are you waiting for?I said pull
And you should have seen the people! They couldn't in the anchor!" And the mate says, "I can't. There weren't
believe it. They thought it was dead, and she started no 'stwing' on it." And the captain finally understandsthat
poking his eyeballs, and it went wild. Those people just the mate was trying to tell him there was no line tied to the
anchor.
didn't know any better.
Well, this time the engine keeps running, and they get
The late Johnny Collins, a fisherman, boat builder,
back to the dock, and the captain starts telling everyone he
grid storyteller, once told Stewart and me of a prank
knows about what happened with the first mate and the
olayed on tourists on party, or charter,fishing boats.
You'd wait for someone to fall asleep, with his fishing anchor, thinking everybodywill think it's funny.And most
line still in the water, trolling a line behind. And very folks did laugh, but not at the mate. And now, if someone
quietly you'd pull the line in and tie a bucket on it, and tells you to do something really stupid, or somethingthat
throw it back overboard. See, it catches up with the end you know is not right, folks will shrug and say, "Stwing or
~ f t h aline
t and, "ZZZZZZZZZ, Oh, boy, I got a fish!" And no stwing, you're the damn captain."
he'd crankand crank on the fishing pole for three-quarters
of an hour and finally come up with a bucket. It wouldn't
amuse him too much. You gotta have a fellow with a sense
of humor, I guess.
But one of the community'sfavorite tales is not told
about people ''f?omaway," but about one of their own,
someone who "shouldhave known better."Johnny Collins
related the tale to me in 1982.
There was an old captain on a small dragger, and he was
fishingaround the shoalsoff Gardiner's Island withjust his
first mate on board. And this first mate was agood worker,
but not real sharp,kind ofslow, in fact. Anyway, they were
finishingup a day's fishing, and heading back to port when
the engine on that old boat just died. So the old captain
scurriesbelow to work on the engineand hollers out to the
mate, "Throw the anchor." He was worried that the boat
was going to drift right onto the shoals, and he wanted to
Tales and stories are an importantpart of any commuanchor the boat till he got the engine started up. Anyway, nity.Among East Hampton 'sfishingfolk, these stories and
he's working on the engine, and he hears his first mate many like them educate youngsters about the "thingsthey
holler back, "There's no 'stwing' on it." The captain kind oughttoknow about life,"asonefishermanonce explained
to me. And, they express shared values and attitudes
ofwonders to himself, "What is he talking about?'Butjusl
then he gets the engine started, and in his hurry to get within the fuhing community. And, as Johnny Collins
topside and get underway again, he forgets all about the used to say, "They'rekind offin to tell and hear, I guess.
Makes you feel good."
mate.
BAYMEN
Continued from previous page
S h a l t Lester.
Photograph by John
Ellertden
Bottle fish. Photograph
by John Eilerken
Crossing the Border: Stories of the 56ers
Eniko Farkas
In spring of 1997, encouraged by her teacher, historian
Carol Kammen, Eniko Farkas began interviewingfellow
Hungarian immigrants in the lthaca area who had escaped Hungary during the Revolution of 1956 [See
article on Eniko on page 4 of this newsletter]. Most of
those who escaped faced severe political repression or
imprisonment had they stayed. While not a 56er herself,
Eniko was trapped in the area of heaviest fighting in
Budapest during the Revolution. The revolution was a
life-changing experience for her and has remained a
subject of fascination throughout her life. Eniko's account, below, is followed by the stories of four other
Hungarians who risked all to cross the western border.
Eniko Farkas, Ithaca, NY
In January of 1956 I was unemployed, too young for
factoryjobs, and had to look for a solution what to do with
myself. One day I wrote apoem about hunger, which I felt
was looming on the horizon again. I showed the poem to
my aunt who had published some of her own writing. She
decided to write a letter to Paula Oravecz, a communist
adolescent literaturewriter and sent my poem to her. God
bless her, she felt sorry for me and found me a job where
I could work underage. The place was a sheltered sewing
workshop for people damaged by the war. My new work
mates were elderly Jews who came back from the concentration camps and couldn't have coped in the faster-paced
environment of a real factory. There were also Greek and
Macedonian partisans, some partially crippled, and a few
Christians with handicaps. We sewed dust rags. The air
was full of rag dust; the janitors came with a water pump
and pumped moisture into the air from time to time.
Comrade Stakhanov found his place in the sheltered
workshop too. Our production was noted by name on a
blackboard. Finally, I made real money; I was able to buy
clothes and was not a burden on my parents. I was hoping
that my intellectual creativitywas finally dead, and I could
live happily ever after as a factory worker.
My life was suddenly turnedupside down by the events
of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. My aunt's apartment
was located in the rebel VIIIth district, one block away
from the big military barrack named the "Kilian Laktanya."
I was home with a cold when we heard that there was a
mass demonstration in front of the Hungarian Radio and
the Parliament. At night I went towards the area and saw
trucks coming with bleeding people hanging to the sides.
The revolution began.
The events of the next few days profoundly changed
my life and outlook on life. I was excited about being able
to see a real historical event; consequentlyI spent as much
time as possible in the streetsobserving. I carried acamera
with me and took pictures which were sold by my aunt to
an Austrian news agency. When I heard that Stalin's statue
was being taken apart, I went there and acquired a piece
of it. Then I went to the Russian bookstore which was
being looted and its contents burned in the street. I also
stepped on one of the records laying on the street where
the crowd was dancing on them. This barbarian behavior
can be understood only if one realizes the depth of
Hungarian resentment against forced Russianization. I
saw the first few Russian soldiers to die in Budapest and
later saw the streets covered with corpses. There were no
sanitation workers, so at one point the corpses were piled
up into pyramids.
I was the food buyer for my family and the go-between
for my cousin and his girlfriend.One time on my way, I was
caught in a crossfire and was saved by somebody who
pulled me up from an open window. At one point the
Russian tanks started to fire so ceaselessly at the apartment complex I lived in that we couldn't go out anymore.
Hungry and bored, I started to teach myself embroidery
using my dead girl cousin's embroidery book. Finally the
Russians stopped firing, and it looked like we got rid of
them. My aunt arranged for me to go back to my parents
in Vac on a horse-drawn carriage. The next day was
November 4, 1956. The Russian bombers attacked
Budapest in the wee hours ofthe morning. In my homecity
of Vac, in the middle of the night, we heard the thump of
tanks rolling on the road toward Budapest.
Clara Teremy,Rochester, NY
ClaraTeremy leJt Hungary with her husband and four
children. They lived in a small village in the northeastern
corner of the country.
CT: We were not able to make a decent living for
ourselves and our four children. Besides we lived in fear
all the time. In the village there were onlya few people who
represented the old regime. Becausemy husband had been
a head notary public he was a red flag in the authorities'
eyes. Whenever the communists picked up people, not
because they did something wrong but because they
wanted to scare a certain class, my husband was a target.
We lived in constant terror and slept in the attic ofthe barn
many a time because we never knew when the authorities
needed a body so they could say they captured a "reactionary."
Continued on next page
Eniko Farlcas (top
row, left) and her
caworken in front
of the dust rag
factory, 1956.
Photograph
courtesy of Eniko
Ferkas
Comrade
Stakhanov was a
coal miner who
"mined coal at a
rate no human
possibly could"
and who was
held up to
workers as a
model. The
"Stakhanov
Movmenent"
forced workers to
overproduce
beyond capability to follow
his example.
Kilian Laktanya
was the barrack
where
Hungarian
soldiers first
sided with the
revolutionaries.
Soldiers
opened up the
barracks to
street fighters
and provided
them with
weaponry.
56ERS
bed that we could cross the border in some miraculous
way. We woke up at midnight to hard knocks on the door.
It was the dreaded avo. We were told that we would not
We had no opportunity to find a guide. We dragged our be taken in to the collecting station, we could stay the
feet until it was too late to start toward the border. We night, but had to be on the train because they will watch the
didn't have enough money, it was mid-winter, and we hotel.
The morning came. Gyula, my husband, who was good
were worried about risking the four children's lives. After
we left it would become common knowledge. We would at seizingopportunities, went out to the hallway and asked
lose our apartment, and the children would be kicked out a man at random. He said, "Sir, I want to cross the border,
of school. We kept waiting for the West to interfere. The I have four kids, would you please tell me which direction
crackdown started on people who were involved in the I should go." The man told him to come into his room and
Revolution in January. Actually it didn't matter whether gave him advice. "Your biggest problem is going to be to
they were involved with it or not; unwanted people were cross the Tisza River Bridge because it is closely guarded.
targeted. We felt that the situation was hopeless, and we If you cross the bridge you will be O.K. because the lands
are not that closely guarded." So we started to cross the
had to go, but we didn't know how. We were clueless.
My husband couldn't get ajob where we lived because Tisza Bridge. There were secret police all over. My
of his class origin, so he worked in Debrecen. He came husband said, "Let's cross the bridge, not too close, but
home on the weekend, and on the train he met a young not too far from each other, whistling, looking carefree."
soldier who was from the Yugoslavian border area. The With God's help, nobody asked us for our papers. I
soldier said that his village is located in a good place, not couldn't believe it. I kept looking back, and when the sixth
on the border, but there member ofthe family crossed the bridge I felt like kissing
the ground.
It was midday; the bells were ringing when we arrived
into that quiet village. All the dogs ran out and jumped on
us. We wanted our entrance to be kept secret, but every
villager came out-they all knew what we wanted. We
border. My husband found the house [ofthe family of the soldier Gyula had met
who was very sharp on the train]. God bless them they greeted us with such
questioned the soldier love. True, my husband told a story portraying his relaabout his family and tionship with the soldier son a lot closer than it actually
where they lived. The was. He said their son was sending his greetings,etc. The
soldier complied, and family was eating their Sunday lunch, and we sat down to
my husband noted ev- the round masonry hearth. I will never forget its warmth.
We were offered food-good chicken soup, and we dried
erything.
So we made the our wet shoes around the hearth.
The family set out again to cross the border and got
decision to leave. But
my husband had to go back to Debrecen. One son was in lost. They eventually met a 50 year-old woman who led
high school in Kisvarda, two others were steel manufac- them to the canal that marked the border and told them to
turing trade students in Vac. It was difficult even to gather run across. They were not sure whether or not they had
crossed the border because the canal was covered with
the family.
At night my two sons climbed over the big stone wall snow and had several branches.
I said, "Why don't we make noise trying to attract the
surrounding their school. They tried to buy a ticket at the
train station to Debrecen, but they didn't have enough attention of the Yugoslav border patrol." My wishes were
money. This was the start of heavenly miracles, because answered when we saw two soldiers emerge from the fog.
the ticket seller gave them the tickets without money and We greeted them with joy, but when they got closer to us
told them to pay in two weeks when they were coming they talked to us in Hungarian in a very mean way. They
back. Have you ever heard such a thing that somebody is were the Hungarian border patrol. We were totally congiven a ticketwithout paying for it? Finally they arrived in fused and half-frozen. We didn't realize that they had
Debrecen, and we started out toward Szeged (in southern come into Yugoslaviato capture us. The patrol lined us up,
Hungary) on the train. There was no help we hoped to get hands over heads, three step distance between every
person.
there from anybody.
Everything was white like milk, the air, the earth.
We arrived in Szeged-that was another miracle because everybodywas asked to show their official identifi- Suddenly we see a soldier coming in a large fur coat with
cation except us, and there were the six of us. There was two dogs. He said "stoj." This was in Russian. I thought,
a big raid everyeveningin Szeged. Theevening came, and this is the end if the Russians are here too. The Hungarian
we were cold. We couldn't take it any more. We went to border patrol threw away their weapons. My husband
ahotel to get aroom. The clerk looked at us and said, "You grasped the situation and ran up to the new soldier. Gyula
want to cross the border." "No, we don't." "It is written asked, "Are you Yugoslavian?" "Da," answered the solall over you. What are you doing wandering with four dier. Suddenly I thought my husband went insane because
school-age kids in the middle of winter? I don't care ifyou he started to beat up the Hungarian border patrol. Gyula
want to go across the border, but every midnight the secret said, "You wanted to kill my children!"The patrolmen said
police (avo) come to round up people." We rented two that they wanted a week of extra vacation because that
rooms. I fell on my knees and prayed to God in front ofmy was their reward if they captured refugees. So they came
Continued from previous page
Mark Hamilton: Old-Time Fiddler,
Caller, and Singer
Karen Canning and Mark Hamilton
Mark Hamilton was born in 1919 in WolfRun, town of Clarksville (just south of Cuba in Allegany County),andgrew
up on thefamily farm there. His musical repertory of songs,fiddle tunes, and dance music stretches back into the midnineteenth century,passed downfrom both sides ofhisfamily. Like many rural New York musicians who haveprovided
local entertainment through several decades, Mark draws from a wondeel variety of sources and styles. These
include old-time Scots-lrishfiddle tunes, old-fashioned quadrille tunes, singing square dance calls, wakes, polkas,
two-steps,schottisches,fox-trotstandards, commercial country tunes,andsing-alongfolksongs. His keen memory and
love of storytelling give vivid pictures of house parties and maple sugaring,family stories about pioneer days in the
southern tier, and a wealth of songs with more alternate lyrics than one could imagine.
Music has been a partofMarkS family asfar backas he can recall,though with the earlier generations it was largely
limited to singing, whistling or dancing. Onefamily story tells of great-great grandfather Stephen Abbott, who made
up a song about a wolf hunt:
My great-grandfather Abbott used to go hunting over
there. He always said the best wolf hunting in this part of
the country was Wolf Run and Wolf Creek. And one time
he was gonna go over hunting and some guy named
Levake was gonna go with him. Well, something happened and this fellow didn't go. So, the guy decided to go
by himself. And of course, in them days, it was all big
timber. He got over there and got lost. It commenced to
getting dark, and he was afraid if he laid down on the
ground, the wolves would eat him up. So he found a
hollow log, and he built a fire out in front of it, 'cause he
knew the wolves couldn't go through the fire to get to him.
Well, in the night he woke up, and his log was on fire. And
he had to crawl out through the fire to get out of there. He
found his way out the next day. Well, he saw Grandpa
Abbott after that. And Grandpa Abbott used to sing a
song:
Old Levake was only halfbaked,
He went hunting alone.
Thefoolish old dog, he crawled in a log,
And built him a hell of his own.
As a child,Mark remembersgoing to local dances and
house parties, where the children would often sleep
through a good part of the dance:
We alwaysused to go and get sleepy; we'd lay down on
acouple chairs or, ifthey didn't haveenoughchairs,they'd
go and get a plank off of a wagon and put down some
potato crates and set the plank on the potato crates and
made a long bench. Sixteen-foot plank. A lot of people
would sit on that. Sometimes they'dput the kids on a bed.
They laid there asleep a good many times.
My father never drove a car. Always drove horses. We
had a lot of fin going, and we'd go to sleep on the way
back. I can remember my mother used to get us out when
it was just so nice and warm. I don't see why we couldn't
stay right there 'till morning. She'dmakeus get out ofthat
nice warm straw in that wagon and go and get into an old
cold bed. Buffalo robe and straw kept us nice and warm.
Mark started outplaying the harmonica as a boy, then
the pump organ,piano, and accordion. He was about 18
when he began to fiddle, with encouragementfiom his
uncle and cousin:
The first song I ever played on a fiddle was "Home On
The Range." I borrowed a violin at night, and my cousin
tuned it up. The next morning I got up and got the
milking done, and whilemy
mother was getting breakfast, I learned to play that
tune. And I learned one
every day from then on,
while she was getting
breakfast. Six weeks later
they wanted somebody to
play for a dance down here
in East Cuba, and I played
it.
Theodore Wagner was
an old timer when Mark
was young,andalso taught
him to fiddle. Mark remembers this story:
Theodore's father
played fiddle too, and he
used to tell about how his
father and mother'd get in
a fight. He'd sit out on the front porch and fiddle. One day
shegot madand kicked him, fiddle andwholebusiness, off
the porch. Another time they got in a fight and was just,
oh, just hollering and rarin', and he'd set and fiddle. So
when she'd quit talking, why he'd go hang his fiddle up,
on the wall. She doubled up her fist and smashed it right
through it. So he went, got him some glue and glued his
fiddle all back together, and when they got ready for
another fight, he was ready for fiddling.
As a young man going to dances, Mark took aparticular interest infiguring out how the squares worked:
When I first started learning square dances,our neighbor fellow had a car. . .he used to pick me up, and we'd go
over [toBedford Corners] to learn squaredances. This old
fellow was always calling somethingdifferent,sowe'dget
home and Monday morning I'd get the old team of horses
out on the plow. I'd plow a while, then I'd stop, and while
they was resting, I'd mix up some mud and sticks, and I'd
move 'em around like people. I figured out how that
square dance went, so when it come next Saturday night,
I knew how to do it.
A regular dance in Bolivar, NY during World War II
provided entertainment for a wide area, and was also
Continued on next page
Mark Hamilton.
Photograph by
David N. Boyer
Interview
quotations in
this article
have been
adapted from
Jim Kimball's,
Mark Hamilton:
Songs and
Tunes from
Wolf Run,
published by
Sampler
Records (P.O.
Box 19270,
Rochester, New
York 14619; Tel:
(716) 328-5856).
A CD or tape
collection with
the same title is
also available
through
Sampler, as
well as other
titles of
traditional New
York State
musicians and
music.
where Mark met his wife. Katie Hamilton remembers:
Well you know, during World War 11-that's when I
was going to high school-there was absolutely nothing
to do. Gasoline was rationed. But there was that dance in
Bolivar every Saturday night. And ifyou didn't go to that
dance, now let me tell you something, you hadn't lived.
The world had passed you by for that week. And, you
know, back then a bunch ofgirls could walk from Richburg
to Bolivar, and you never had to worry about anybody
picking you up or anything like that. And gosh, a whole
bunch of us would get together and walk to those dances.
And we would dance every dance, and just have a fit when
it was time togo home. That's what you lived for, because,
gosh, in that area all the servicemen that were home on
leave were always at the dance on Saturday night. Then,
my gosh, from the time you walked in till it was overwith,
you had every dance booked u p s q u a r e dances and
round dances and everythingelse. And that's just all there
was to do.
Mark creates his own verses tofamiliar songs, and his
aew versions are seemingly endless. His son once mentioned to ethnomusicologist Jim Kimball that for every
extra verse, he has yet another, more "colorful" version.
[To the tune of "Four Leaf Clover"]
I'm overlookin' my wife's poor cookin'
I overlooked before.
First come the 'taters and then comes the meat,
Then comes the gravy that ain't fit to eat.
There's no need explainin' the one remainin'
Is something that I adore
I'm overlookin' my wife's poor cookin'
That I overlooked before.
.
[To rhe tune of "Little Brown Jug "1
Went down to milk and I didn't know how,
Set right down to a gentleman cow;
Pulled on his horn and then on his tail,
Didn't get any milk in my little tin pail!
Mikulas is the
Hungarian St.
Nicholas whose
day is celebrated on
December 6.
Young men are
hired to dress
as Mikulas and
hand out gifts tc
children.
Bought a cow from farmer Jones,
She was nothing' but skin and bones.
Dressed her up in the finest silk;
Jumped the fence and strained her milk!
The dance Mark calls to "Little Brown Jug" follows
below ( ". .."indicates musicplaying while dancers c a r v
out the movement):
Do an allemand left and a corners all,
Right in the corner, grand change all.. .
First two, promenade through,
Between the opposite facing you;
Lady go right, gent go left.. .
Swing you up ahead with a foot on the floor.. .
Now down the center and cut 'em up four.. .
You swing her, and she'll swing you.. .
Now down the center and a cut-away two.. .
Everybody swing, everybody swing.. .
Now an allemand left and a cut-away all,
Right to the corner, and a grand right and left.
56ERS
Continued frompage 10
after us to Yugoslavia to capture us. I ran up to the
Yugoslavian soldierand hugged him. The soldier couldn't
ieal with all this and firedshots into the airto get help. The
athers came, and the Hungarian border patrol became
prisoners. Gyula taunted them. Suddenly they became
very meek.
The next day they trucked us to a refugee camp. The
resident refugees were watching our arrival from the
second floor of the school where we were to be housed.
When we went into the building the young man who was
the room head told me, "My soul, you have to clean
yourself!" He was really ashamed later. So this is the
~niraculousstory of our escape.
Elmer Medgyaszay, Zthaca, NY
Elmer Medgyaszay left Hungary in November of 1956,
after the Hungarian Revolution failed.
EF: You were very close to the border with Austria,
right?
EM: Right. Yes, I lived in a border town named Sopron.
EF: Why did you leave Hungary?
EM: Well, basically they already started arresting students who were involved with the revolution, so basically
we had to go.
EF: Were you involved a little bit with the revolution?
EM: Yes, but we were not fighting, meaning when
people were standing in line for food, anticipating food
shortages, we made sure that everybody stayed in line to
keep the order. And we watched factories and made sure
no machinery got destroyed. Overall, we were engaged in
keeping the social order.
EF: What did the West mean to you, and how did you
learn about it?
EM: Through books than we had read. Cowboy books,
which we read against the regime's wishes. And anything
you could get your hands on.
We read and acquired blacklisted books several ways.
We used to trade Zane Grey books on the street. We
actually made money on it. 1 would be dressed up as
Mikulas and would be hired to give gifts to little kids.
Sometimes I would be paid in contraband books for that.
My uncle was a school principal, and he was ordered to
clean the library fiomcertain books. School librarieswere
ordered to remove certain books from the school libraries.
He didn't throw out or burn books; instead he hid them in
his attic. The attic had a little window,just large enough to
give enough light for me to read. I would go up to the attic
and read there. There were not too many blacklistedbooks
available in the cities; there were no places to hide them.
The books were there, but you have to know how to get
to them. In the little villages more books survived because
the village intellectuals hid them in the attic. One time my
mother managed to give me a Bible bound in leather for
Christmas.
Everyday at four o'clock, we went to the pastry shop.
We didn't discuss it in advance. We raced who can eat the
most kremes (Napoleons). Whoever ate the least paid.
The day we left [Hungary] we met there and talked about
Continued on next page
56ERS Continued from previous page
leaving. The four of us, Alex, Jo, James, and me. We had
a large circle of friends and several groups within it. The
pastry shop owner heard that we were going to leave. We
ate more than usual that day, and we had a very big bill. He
said "lsten aldjon" (Don't worry about the bill).
We were eating grapes when we crossed the border and
never worried about getting shot. We were 18 years old,
not scared of anything. We were too young to be scared.
I had a friend who knew that part of the region around the
city. We crossed without any problem.
Edgar and his friends walked to Vienna, about 40
minutes away from Sopron. A Catholic organization
sponsored their passage to the United States. They lived
in CampKilmer,inNew Jersey, which had been amilitary
base during World War 11.Here, they were connected with
American sponsors, usually of Hungarian background.
In Camp Kilmer there was what we called the "slave
market." Basicallythis was ajoke. We dressed up, and we
went down there where people looked for people to
sponsor. Basically that was a kind of a joke that we had a
slave market there. We had one necktie among the four of
us, and each of us got to wear the necktie a different day.
I would wear it one day, and my friend would wear it the
next day. So I wore the necktie, and we went down there
after breakfast, which was excellent. They treated us very
well. My sponsorcalled me over and asked if I would like
to come with them. And I said, "Yes, I'd be more than glad
to." He says, "Would you take any sort of a job?" I said,
"Yes, any sort of a job I could make a living with, but the
only way I will go is if I can take my friends with me."
That's how my friends came with me to Ithaca.
Balint Korik
I
Balint Korik left Miskolc, Hungary, on November 4,
1956, with twofriends.
BK: There was a last train that was going to Budapest.
It was the day after they took over Hungary, the Russians.
So we went there, and we stayed at the Keleti train station
all night, and the next morning we took a train to the
border with Austria, to the last town-I forgot the little
town's name. By that time there were 70 of us. Seventy
men and one lady. When we started out, two little kids
about 10 to 12 years old said that they were going to take
us to the border. They were at the train station. It was
about three o'clock in the afternoon when we started out
through plowed fields toward the Austrian border. By six
o'clock it was dark already, and the kids finally said that
they were lost. They didn't know where they were. We
didn't have to, but we gave them money. We gave them
some money, and told them to go back.
They told us to look at this light,just a faint light in the
distance, and they said, go that way, so we went there. So
there was a little settlement there of four, five houses. So
we went there and talked to a man. He didn't want to take
us to the border, but he told us which way to go. He said,
"See that light?" There was another light beyond that was
about five, six kilometers. So we started out toward the
light way in the distance. It was a little village. The first
house had a light. By that time it was about midnight. So
we went in there, and this man was a teacher in the little
town, and he told us, "Yes, the border is here." He said, "I
will take you there." So he put on a big slab of bacon on
the table and bread for 70 people. We gave him all the
money and watches we all had. And he took us to the
border. He said, "You cross here and keep to your right all
the time. If you turn to the left you will end up in Hungary
because there is a curve in the border." So that is what we
did. About an hour later we came to four or five big
haystacks. It was cold and we started to dig holes to get
warm, but we heard some voices coming from the haystacks. There were about 20 other people there already.
So about morning the Austrian patrol came along and said
O.K., just wait there, and they were going to send some
trucks after us.
Pigfeetjelly
[kocsonya)party at
the Farkas home.
From left to right,
Elmer Medgyaszay,
Balint Korik, Louis
Farkas. Photograph
by Eniko Farkas
Julie Kovacs, Rochester, NY
Julie Kovacs lefr Budapest and her home country in
January of 1957 with her husband and brother-in-law.
JK: We didn't get a guide. We guided ourselves. They
told us where the border was. My father lived close to the
border, so we got a permit, and we went to visit with him.
Then we hopped on the train like students and mingled
with the students and went to the nearest border town,
which was Barcs.
First there were three of us. At the end there were the
four ofus because an 18-year-oldkid, when he heard that
we were planning to cross the border, joined us.
We crossed the Drave-that's the big river which
separates Hungary from Yugoslavia. That was the only
way-the only border open-not really open,but the only
way to cross. There was ice on it still, but it was breaking.
We fell into the river, and we almost drowned. Then we all
crossed the border, and we were all wet, and then my
husband said we had to find a farm no matter which side
of the river we were on (we were told that we could end
up back in Hungary again because the Drava is very
sneaky, very curvy). My husband said it didn't matter
whether Hungarian or Yugoslavian;we had to go because
we were going to freeze. We heard a dog bark, so we went
in that direction. The first person we heard talking, we
couldn't understand what they were saying, and we knew
that we were in the right place.
We were in Yugoslavia for 11 long months. They
shifted us from place to place. I ended up going to Canada
because none of the Western countries wanted to take me
because I was eight months pregnant. We spent 11 years
in Canada. Then we came here because it was a better
opportunity work-wise for my husband.
Hungarian
Goulash
Eniko Farkas
From Hungarian Cuisine and
Personal
Memories by
Eniko Farkas.
The book,
which contains
the recipe
printed here is
available by
writing to:
Eniko Farkas,
156 Crescent
Place, Ithaca,
NY. $16.00 +
$4.00 for
postage and
handling.
How we cook and what we like are very closely related tofamily history and traditions. Food traditions are things
that we inherit and carry on with vehemence. Sometimes nationality and religion disappear but not the upkeep of
familyfood traditions.Ifound this out when I was collecting informationfrom secondand thirdgeneration Hungarian
immigrants to the Ithaca area. Even ifthe language was longforgotten and there were no other ties to Hungary, the
food traditions and recipes lived on. Hungarians veryjealously guard their recipes and ifa Hungarian trusts you with
her secret recipe you can trust her with your life. Giving your favorite recipe away is the ultimate bonding experience
between women; it makesfriends for life. Even in the best cookbooks ingredients are left out so nobody will be able
to recreate exactly the art of afamous chef. Z guess in this regard I am the exception because everything I know is here.
The Hungarian word gulybs means cattlemen in En8 c. water or as needed
glish. This delicious, thick, spicy soup was their main
1 bay leaf
1 tomato, quartered
food. The cattle herdsmen cooked this souplstew over an
open fire in a kettle while tending to the herd in the Great
1j-ying green pepper, quartered
Lowlands of Hungary. Gulyhs soup has been around for
4 carrots sliced into 1 112 in. pieces, then quartered
a long time. Some authoritiesthink the Hungariansbrought
2 parsnips, sliced into 1 112 in.pieces, then quartered
the tradition with them from Asia. Thegulybs soup got its
2 stalks of celery, sliced
final form in the early nineteenth century when the use of
5 sprigs of parsley
paprika as a spice was incorporated into mainstream
2 Ibs. red potatoes, cubed.
Hungarian cooking.
Csipetke :
Except for politics, there are few subjects that can as
I T. softened butteeasily incite strong feelings in Hungarians as the subject of
I large egg
the proper kinds of spices and vegetables that go into the
114 t. salt
goulash. Friendshipscan end over whether the carrots are
213 c. all purpose flour
sliced round or lengthwise. Goulash is a good base for a
Soak cubed beef meat, marrow bones and plate beef in
wine or beer drinking party and can be a meal in itself. cold water until no longer very bloody. Melt lard in the
Serve it steaming hot with a good rye bread. Use a six- cooking pot and fry caraway seed in lard for no more than
quart pot for making the soup. By the way, substitute twominutes. Add onions and sautkuntil onions aregolden
macaroni for csipetke only in an emergency. If this recipe brown. Add minced garlic to onions and fry two minutes
doesn't look like anything you've thought to be "Hungar- longer. Turn off heat. Drain meats, and add to pot. Sautt
ian Goulash" do not despair. Try to make it anyway; you meats for 10 minutes, then add the two kinds of paprikas,
might get a pleasant surprise.
salt, marjoram, and black pepper. Saut6 meats in paprika
onion mixture for five to 10 minutes. Stir continuously.
Ingredients:
Wash peel, and slice carrots and parsnips. Add the water,
2 lbs. lean beef meat, cubed into 1 in. pieces
then add bay leaf, tomato, green pepper, carrots,parsnips,
2 marrow bones
celery, and parsley. Cook soup for an hour or until meat is
1 (8 02.) plate beef (back ribs)
3 T. lard
just about soft. Add the cubed potatoes. Add csipetkes.
112 t. caraway seed
Before serving, prick meat and potatoes with a fork to see
that they are thoroughly soft and well cooked.
2 large onion, cubed
Prepare csipetke: Soften butter, then mix I egg. Add
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. sweet Hungarian paprika
salt. Add flour. Work up ingredients to form a soft dough.
Roll out dough as thin as possible. Punch off small pieces
1 t. hot Hungarian paprika
and throw into boiling soup. Dumplings are done when
2 t. salt
they rise to the surface of the gulybs and are soft in the
112 t. marjoram leaves
middle.
114 t. black pepper
Letters & Queries
An absolutely great issue. Liked it all, especially Frankie
Manning & the Lindy Hop in '27.
Keep on,
Pete Seeger
Thank you so muchforthe wonderful piece. It is a memory
all of our family will have, thanks to you all.
Sharon Bates
I don't know whether this isNew York folkloreor not; I'd
like to pass it to somebody who'd be interested.
My great-great-grandfather,Lawson Valentine, bought a
farm in Orange County just south of Mountainville and
named it Houghton Farm.
He was interested in a lot of things that others weren't
yet, including various types of experimental agriculture
and the traditions ofNative Americans. He made a point
of finding out the Native names for things in his area,
including Kiawhela, the small mountain across Route 32
from Schunnemunk, and the Awessima, the stream flowing down that valley, known on maps as Woodbury Creek.
Does anybody else know these names? Is my bit of
unreliable family oral history any use to anybody? I hope
this is of some interest to somebody you can pass it on to.
Yours truly,
Valentine Doyle
The Voices Workshops:
A Report
Deborah Clover
Last year, NYFS launched a new The Grand Generation: Memory,
program called Voices.The three com- Mastery, Legacy (by Mary Hufford,
ponents of this initiative are designed Marjorie Hunt, and Steven Zeitlin),
to bring the content of folklore-the
and A Celebration ofAmerican Famstuff folk life is made of-to a wider ily Folklore (by Steven J . Zeitlin,
audience within our state and around Amy J. Kotkin, and Holly Cutting
the world, presented in the voices of Baker). She used these sources to
the people themselves. While muchof move participants beyond genealogy
public folklore practice focuses on to an understanding of what comfinding and presentingexemplary folk prisesfamily folklore-storiesand oral
artsand artists or examples offolklife traditions, food and recipes, and obthrough exhibits, festivals and other jects of importance to family memprograms, Voices strives to help es- bers-how to identify family folktablish a sense of personal relevance lore, why it's important and how to
and emphasizes the value of everyday document it. Many ofthose attending
shared their own stories and anecfolklore in the lives of all of us.
Readers of this publication have dotes. The second part of Mary's
already had the opportunity to sample workshop focused on how to make
some of the results. The new center tangible objects out of family folksection, aptly titled Voices, features lore. Items such as photo albums,
the folklore contributions from the scrap books, wedding and birth books,
people who have created and lived it, oral history collections of tapes, letincludingpersonal stories, interviews, ters and photographs, recipe books,
recipes, and photographs.
and family treasurechests all function
The soon-to-be-up-and-running
to help a family keep and pass on its
NYFS websitewill include highlights story and traditions.
of Voices from the newslettel: JoinLast October, I worked with the
ing the increasing number of state Spencer Historical Society, located in
folklife websites, the NYFS site will a rural community in the Southern
also introduce people the world over Finger Lakes region, to look at local
to our work and to the rich and di- community traditions from 50 years
verse cultural traditions of our state. ago to the current time. Within the
On a more local level, the third context of the remembered past and
component of Voices is a series of the present, people talked about both
four pilot workshops conducted by change and continuity in the
folklorists in cooperation with com- community's way of life. Stories of
munity-based organizations in differ- Saturday night bath time, cider barent locations around New York State. rels in cellars, Christmas Eve dinner,
Each workshop engages participants the impact of World War 11, technoin thinking about and sharing the tra- logical advancement, styles of dress,
ditions in their own lives, families, entertainment and recreation, social
groups and communities.
activities, holidays and celebrations,
Mary Zwolinski, Director of the pranks, business and education,
Folk Arts Program at RCCA: The painted a living picture ofthe last half
Arts Center, Troy, and Vice President century in the life of this community.
ofNYFS, led a workshop in February
Last month, Karen Canning, staff
on "Family Folklore: Finding It, Mak- folklorist for a four-county region
ing It, Keeping It." Co-sponsored by that includes Genesee, Orleans,
theRensselaer County Historical So- Livingston, and Wyoming counties in
ciety, Mary supplemented her presen- Western New York, met with a group
tation with plenty of personal ex- of 15-year-olds from the Batavia
amples and readings from the books, Youth Bureau Job Development Pro-
gram to explore the traditions experienced by teenagers in thisregion. The
group of about 20 teens were led
through a discussion of folklore as a
field, both as a career and as an element in one's community life. They
explored various folkways in their
own lives through readings, taped
interview samples, material objects,
family stories, and hands-on activities
coordinated by Canning. The workshop generated interest in heritage
and children's arts, and introduced
the group to a previously unknown
field of study. The big question at the
conclusion of the workshop-how
muchdoesa full-time folklorist make
a year?
Finally, folklorist Kathy Condon
and Madaha Kinsey-Lamb, director
ofthe Cominunity Folk Arts Program
of Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center in the Bronx, are working with the
Black American Roots Society in
Brooklyn to hold a workshop on Salurday, July 18, entitled "Documenting and Sharing African-American
Family and Community Traditions."
The workshop will be held from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cadman Plaza
Branch Brooklyn Public Library, 280
Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn
Heights. For more information, call
Barbara Muniz, Black American
Roots Society, 7 18-783-7375.
The Voices program provides an
opportunity for newsletter readers,
web browsers, and workshop participants to interact with one another
through these three venues. NYFS
also hopes the program causes people
to pause and reflect on the value ofthe
culture and traditions in their lives,
even as those traditions evolve in
response to social changes. Every
one of us learns and lives within the
cultural values and expressions ofour
varied groups. But more than that, we
support and continue that culture
through our celebrations, foadways,
traditional music and arts, and by
passing them on to future generations. Voices allows us to share our
own folklore in a broader way, not
only within ourown groups and communities but also across cultures.
Deborah Clover
is Administratiwe
Director of
NYFS
Both The Grand
Generation and
A Celebration
of Family
Folklore may be
purchased
through The
Culture
Catalog. Call
1-800-333-5982,
or write to
City Lore,
72 E. First St.,
New York, NY
10003.
From the Field
The Newsletter welcomes contributions to
this col~irnrtfrom its readership. Please
submit a paragraph of about 100 words
describing your clirrent folklore-related
activities. We willprint asmany as we have
roomfor on afirsl come first served basis.
Some items may have to he edited, depending on avuilahle space.
Ellen McHale, past president of NYFS, is
working as staff folklorist at the Schoharie
Arts Council. Her current project focuses
on Sharon Springs, a mineral spa which has
been in operation since the eighteenth century. She is interviewing the owners of
boarding houses for people who come to
take the baths, which, since the late 1800s,
have been Jewish-run. Most ofthe clientele
now are Russian emigres and Orthodox
Jews. She has also been hired to do an oral
history project on Robert Sterling Clark,
founder of the Robert Sterling and Francine
Clark Art Institute of Williamstown, MA,
which holds his renowned collection of
French Impressionist painting. (The collection of his brother, Stephen, formed the
basis of the Fenimore House and Farmer's
Museum in Cooperstown).
Shan Jia, former staff folklorist at the
Arts& Cultural Council of Greater Rochester, now lives with her family in Cerrito, CA,
outside of Los Angeles. Since leaving New
York State, Shan has pursued a career as an
educator; she recently passed her California
teachers exam and has been offered a position as a seventhgrade social science teacher
starting in September. With her husband's
job as a finance manager, the family now
splits its time between three countries, with
homes in Hong Kongand Beijing as well as
Cerrito. For the school year, Shan remains
in Cerrito, where her son, Yi Wei attends
school. Shan misses her friends in New
York State and says that New Yorkers are
muchfriendlier than Californians. She likes
the weather much better there, however.
Karen Porter, whoreplaced Shan at the
Arts &Cultural Council only a few months
ago, is regretfully leaving that position fora
job at the University of Pugel Sound, in
Tacoma, WA. Karen will be teaching in the
Department of Comparative Sociology and
has been specifically asked to develop a
community dimension to the program. She
says she has learned agreat deal in her short
time here and appreciates the support she
has received from other folklorists In the
state. She intends to incorporate traditional
arts into her community work. Good luck,
Karen. We will miss you.
eer. Early reservations are recommended.
For information send a self-addressed
stamped envelope to Black Crow Network,
P.O. Box 158, Rexford, NY 12 148. After
August 3, call: 5 18-399-03 15
Roderick J . Roberts
Traditional Music and Dance at
the Troy Music Hall
Folklorist Roderick J. Roberts, a past vicepresident of New York Folklore and past
editor of New York Folklore, died on June
13, 1998. Born in Camden, NJ on January
22, 1932, Rod attended school in Philadelphia. He served in the U.S. Air Force during
the Korean Conflict. He then earned a
bachelor's degree in English from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in folklore
from Indiana University. He began his career as a college professor at Michigan
State University in East Lansing. In 1967,
Rod joined the faculty of the Cooperstown
Graduate Programsand taught in the American Folk Culture Program there until 1980.
He then taught full-time in the English
Department at State University College,
Oneonta, until his retirement in 1995.
Rod also worked as a folk arts consultant for arts agencies throughout New York
State and as oral historian for the National
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in
Cooperstown. From 1969 to 1977, Rod
edited the New York Folklore Quarterly
and New York Folklore. He served as vicepresident from 1977 to 198 1.
Black Crow Network Spotlights
ADK Women
On October 23 and 24, Black Crow Network will sponsor "Celebration o f
Adirondack Women's Stories"inNorthville,
Fulton County. Friday night's buffet and
organizational meeting will feature speaker
Kenda James, director of Adirondack
Women and History. On Saturday, interactive workshops on sharing Adirondack
women's keepsakes and diaries will take
place, as well as storytelling with featured
artists, informal music, readings and book
signings by Adirondack women authors,
and a vernacular architecture walking tour.
The Saturday evening performance, hosted
by George and Vaughn Ward and Peggy
Eyres, will include Sara Milonovich, 14year-old fiddle prodigy; Marge Bruchac,
Abenaki historian; Katherine Charron
Labier, Champlain Quebecois raconteur;
and Collecn Cleveland, Adirondack ballad-
The following music programs will take
place at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
this fall:
September 20, 7 9 0 p.m., ODADAA!, a
Ghanaian dance and drumming troop featuring master artist Yacub Addy.
October 22, 7:00 p.m., Los Pleneros de la
2 1, a New York City based Bombay Plena
group.
Both programs are supported by the National Endowment forthe Arts. Call RCCA
the Arts Center at 5 18-273-0552 for more
information.
Caribbean Arts Festival
The Latin American Caribbean Cultural
Arts Festival, sponsored by Centro Civico,
will take place August 15 and 16, at Guy
Manor Park in Amsterdam. The Festival
features two days of Latino food, music,
and entertainment, including activities for
children. On Saturday, Trinidadian band
Steel SensationsfromLong Island will hold
a children's workshop at 1:00 and perform
from 3:00 to 5:OO. Following them will be
Alex Torres and Los Reyes Latinos, a salsa
and merengue band based in Amsterdam.
Sunday, Giyssel Ramirez, from Hartford,
CT, will sing traditional and popular Puerto
Rican music. On both days, Graciela
Quiones, also from Hartford, will demonstrate instrument making and gourd carving. An exhibit on the histoly ofcockfighting in Puerto Rico, including a documentary by Alex Torres, will be housed under a
tent.
Dance Parties in Schoharie
County
As part of their dance party series the
Schoharie County Arts Council is sponsoring the following events:
June 20, Sharon Springs, NY, Irene Heskes
will speak about Yiddish American music,
followed byaconcertby the Kleiner Klezmer
Orchestra
August 1, Jefferson, NY, Jim Kimball will
speak about country dance and music in
New York State, followcd by a concert by
Hilton Kelly and His Sidekicks.
For more information contact the Schoharie
County Arts Council at 5 18-234-7380.
Underground RR Explored
OnOctober 17, the Arts& Cultural Council
for Greater Rochester will hold an exhibition, lecture, and performance event entitled, "Let Freedom Ring: Oral and Woven
Narratives of the Underground Railroad."
The event entails two lectures by Dr. Larry
Hudson, Associate Professor of History at
the University of Rochester, on the Underground Railroad, each of which will be
followed by a lecture demonstration by a
community scholar and artist; ademonstration of quilting, an art form which embedded hidden messages and directions for the
Underground Railroad during slavery times
and which to this day, serves as a central
kind ofnarrative in African American tradition that preserves social and personal histories; and anon-going quilt exhibition. The
event will take place at The Center at High
Falls, Rochester's Urban Cultural Park Exhibit Center. For more information call the
Arts & Cultural Council at 7 16-546-5602.
Grange Hall Square Dances
The TiogaCounty Council on the Arts Folk
Music Program will feature a series of oldtime music and square dance parties at
grange halls in the county. Their schedule is
as follows:
September 12,8:00, North Barton Grange
Hall, The Crumtown Ramblers
October 3, 8:00, Goodrich Settlement
Grange Hall, Bucky Moon
October 3 1,8:00. Poor Shots Hall, The Kay
Brothers
November 14, 8:00, Spencer Grange Hall,
R.J. Siegers
The Council will also sponsor a folk music
program August 15 at the Art in the Air
Festival in Owego.
Oral History Meeting
The Oral History Association will hold its
1998 Annual Meeting on October 15- 18, at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Buffalo, NY.
Following the meeting's theme, "Crossing
the Boundary, Crossing the Line Oral History on the Border," papers will consider
shifting borders in oral history, relationships in interviewing, marginality, oral historyand received historical wisdom, lesbian
and gay history, class, ethnic, racial, and
gender perspectives, interdisciplinary approaches, transnational issues, and ethical
and legal boundaries. To attend the meeting
contacttheoral History Association, Baylor
University, P.O. Box 97234, Waco TX,
76798, tel. 254-7 10-2764.
New York Folklore Journal 1s seeking qualified individuals who are interested in read- We at the New York Folklore Society give
ing folklore-related books and writing re- our heartfelt thanks to all those who joined,
views. Books currently available are listed renewed their memberships, and made dobelow. Address your request to: TheEdi- nations this year. Your support is crucial to
tor, New York Folklore, P.O. Box 48, the work we do.
Lenox Hill Station, New York,NY 10021.
1998 NEW MEMBERS (*Individuals
Please specify which book(s) you are interested in reviewing as well as yourarea(s) of are named on institutional memberships):
special interest. Requests will be filled ona Louise Bement, Phyllis Berk, Hazel
first-come first-served basis. Book reviews Blackman, Ellen Bonn, Simon J. Bronner,
are due two months after receipt of book. Nicholas K. Bums, Kamala Cesar, Sharon
Richard C. Adams,L.qenclsof the Dela- Celia Clarke, Karen Engelke (Mohawk
ware Indians and Picture Writing (reprint Valley Heritage Corridor Commission)*,
Eniko Farkas, Eva Gemmill, Robert Grassi,
ed., Syracuse University Press, 1998).
Simon J. Bronner, Following nadition: Ann F. Green, Hanna Griff, Bess Lomax
Folklore in the Discourse ofAmerican Cul- Hawes, Gary Hertzberg, Marion Jacobson,
Hilton Kelly, Stephen Lewandowski, Leeture (Utah State University, 1998).
Julie Cruikshank, The Social Life of Ellen Marvin, Mike McHale, Edward
Stories: Narrative and Knowledge in the Nizalowski, Sandra H. Olsen (Castellani
Yukon Territory (University of Nebraska Art Museum)*, Elizabeth Orton, Yvan
Pompillus, Marci Reaven, Stephanie Ross,
Press, 1998).
P.K. Devine, comp., Devine's Folk Lore Roberta Singer
of Newfomdland in Old Words, Phrases,
1998 RENEWING MEMBERS: Jane
and Expressions, Their Origin and Meaning (reprint ed., Memorial University of C. Beck, Dan Berggren, Joseph Bruchac,
Jan Harold Brunvand, MonaBuckley, Ellen
Newfoundland, 1997).
Alan Dundes, From Game to War and C. Butz, Helen L. Cackener, Karen Park
Other Psychoanalytic Essays on Folklore Canning, Varick A. Chittenden, William M.
Clements, Les Cleveland, KathleenCondon,
(University Press of Kentucky, 1997).
Oyekan Owomoyela, Yoruba Trickster James Corsaro, Jean Crandall, Cara De
Tales (University ofNebraska Press, 1997). Silva, Judith Drabkin, John Eilertsen, Lynn
Case Ekfelt, Robert A. Emery, Elsie Freeman Finch, Ed Franquemont, Sean Galvin,
Robert Godfried, SylviaGrider, Lee Haring,
Allen & Marjorie Hendrickson, Joyce A.
Ice, Lou lsmay, Herman J. Jaffe, Sylvia
The Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Conzett Jung, Ethel Keshner, Barbara
Rochester seeks to fill the position of Staff Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Lisa Kochik,Norma
Folklorist. The position is part-time (3 to 4 Koperski, Robert Krebs, Melissa
days per week) and permanent. Responsi- Ladenheim, James E. Lawrence, Lael Leslie,
bilities include: document traditional in the AlisonLurie, MarshaMacDowell, Jeri Burns
Rochester region; design and implement and Barry Marshall, Lucia McCreery, Robpublic and education-based folk arts pro- ert McDonald, Felicia Faye McMahon,
grams; provide support services to folk WilliamK. McNeil, Phyllis S. McNeill, Isaartists and presenting organizations; par- Kae Meksin, Edwin H. Mizer, Scott Douticipate in planning and implementation of glas Morrow, Barbara Mueller, Philip
cultural development plan. Candidatesshould Nusbaum, Valerie Pawlewicz, Sally
have a graduate degree in folklore, a related Pellegrini (New City Library)*, Nancy M.
field, or commensurate experience. Strong Piatkowski, I. Sheldon Posen, Leonard
verbal and written communication skills, as Norman Primiano, David P. Quinn, Stanley
well as fieldwork and documentation skills A. Ransom, Gretchen Sachsc, Suzanne
are required. Position may be increased to Samelson, Catherine Schwoeffermann,
full-time. Salary: low 20s + benefits. The Anthony Seeger, Eleanor Shodell, Deborah
Council is an equal opportunity employer. A. Silverman, Susan Slyomovics, Nancy
Send a cover letter, resume, and list of three Solomon, Gretchen S. Sorin, Shalom Staub,
references to: Sally Gaskill, Arts & Cultural Ellen J. Stekert, Phillips Stevens, Jr., RichCouncil for Greater Rochester, 335 East ard Sweterlitsch, Karen Taussig-Lux,
Main Street, Suite200, Rochester,NY 14604. Katrina Thomas, Agnes N. Underwood,
HISTORICAL RECORDS
Continued from page 2
inequities in the documentary record and
that help ensure a place for under-documented constituencies in the State's documentary heritage." This includes folklore,
and folklore is mentioned explicitly in the
plan as an area of importance.
Based on extensive research conducted
by the State Archives and Records Administration through surveys, focus groups in
ethnic and occupational communities, and
public meetings, the plan will guide the
development offunding guidelines and priorities at the state level and will influence
federal funding in New York State as well.
It is also expected to stimulate program
initiatives at the state and local levels.
A brochure summarizing the plan is available from the New York Folklore Society;
the brochure and the complete plan itself
are available free from the State Historical
Records Adv~soryBoard, Room 9C49 Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230
(5 18-474-4372) www.shrab.nysed.gov.
FINCH
Continued from p a g e s
secondary school teachers, and the only
upstate New York school that I knew about
wherea kid without money couldget an arts
degree) and an MA from Boston University
in American literature and education.
Like many of my cohort at SUNY-AIbany, I swore I would never teach, but not
only did I come to teach students from
middle school through adult education, I
also endedmy full-time career creating and
managing an innovative program for those
learners at the National Archives. My job
there was to make archives accessible at
many levels, in many formats, to many
people, and to persuade my colleagues in
the profession that it was theirjob as well.
Over time, I succeeded.
Making folklore equally available is my
self-appointedjob withNYFS. Join us. We
are a strong, flourishing organization, and
we need you, your stories, yourworldview,
your energy. And by the way, you'll love it.
FORUMS
throughout the state that bring people together to discuss issues related to folklore
and folk arts. Under the auspices of the
New York Folklore Society, an individual
or organizational co-sponsor hosts and helps
plan each forum. Often, the organizers
invite the participation of individuals from
related fields or professions outside folk
arts to cncourage lively discussion and the
cross-fertilization of ideas. NYFS relieson
local co-sponsors to help plan our forums.
If you have an idea for a forum please
contact our office at 607-273-9 137. Watch
this newsletter for announcements of upcoming forum meetings.
FARKAS Continued from page 5
New York Folklore Society. Since then,
NYFS and Eniko have been engaged in a
mutually beneficial relationship, withstaff
offer~ngsuggestions and encouragement
on her documentation projects and Eniko,
in turn, advising NYFS on its various
community outreach projects. Through the
society's Mentoring Program, she has received training on interviewmg skills from
folklorist Yvonne Lockwood and was
awarded her own mentoring grant to teach
members of the Hungarian Club of Rochester how to collect 56er stories in their
community.
Another recent project of Eniko's is the
publication of her cookbook, Hungarian
Cuisine and Personal Memories: Everytlzing from Budget Cooking to Elegant
Dining, a collection of succulent recipes
learned from her mother, interwoven with
recollections of daily life from her youth.
[See page 14 of Voices.] In a future project
she plans to interview and document the
lives of other cmbroiderers in Central New
York State who immigrated to the United
Slates from another country. She is also
involved in plann~ngan exhibition about
Hungarians in Rochester. This fall she will
make a presentation at the American Folklore Society meeting in Portland, OR.
Reflectingon the work she has done over
the years, Eniko comments, "Onc thing that
I think would be extremely useful-that
people who are professionals in their fields
would have a really accepting and encouraging attitude to us-people that they run
across by accident. Because I think community scholars have a very ~mportantplacenot the only place. You know it's like the
way Michael Kammen,my history professor
from Cornell used to say, that history is like
a compilation ofpoints ofview. There is not
one correct point of view, and not only one
point of view about history. It's always the
summation of various situations. Community scholars have one voice, other people
have a voice too."
MEMBERS AND DONORS
Continued from page 17
Kathleen Urbanic, William M. Vergo (Wyoming Central School)*, Eleanor Wachs,
Susan S. Wadley, Marc S. Waggener, Warren S. &BarbaraK. Walker, Daniel Franklin
Ward, Patricia Wells, Sherre Wesley, Phil
Whitney, Ristiina Wigg, Sally Yerkovich
1998 DONORS: Helen L. Cackenel;
Jean Crandall, Elsie Freeman Finch, Ethel
Keshner, Alison Lurie, Mike McHale,
Gretchen Sachse, Pete Seeger, Phillips
Stevens, Jr., Marc S. Waggener
ORGANIZATIONS: Albany Institute
ofHistory and Art, Artsand Cultural Council of Greater Rochester, City Lore, Geneva
Historical Society, Hanford Mills Museum,
New York Historical Society, New York
State Historical Association, Philadelphia
Folklore Project
Continued from pages
brought to bear on local programs, and to
consider possibilities for collaboration
among folklorists, folk arts programs and
other disciplines.
Ifyou were not able to attend one ofthe
June forums held on this topic, please try to
come to this one.
Folk Arts Forum is a series of informal
but stimulating meetings held in locations
I
Hungarian embroidery pattern, drawing by Eniko Farkas
MENTORING AND
...................
a
e e e o e e e e o e e e e e e e e e e a a e e e e
a
: Become a member of NYFS or :
Make a special donation i
: renew
Order NYFS publications
Notify
of your ne address :
GUIDELINES
New York Folklore Society invites readers f
to apply to our Mentoring and Professional
V
Development Program. A partnership with
V
V
the Folk Arts Program of the New York
State Council on the Arts has enabled US to
US
W
expand our technical assistance program, f
funded by the National Endowment for the
a
Arts. People involved in folklife and tradiMembership-Benefits
include
thejournal
New
York
Folklore
plus
discounts
tional arts programming need to keep current with developments in the field. Our
o n NYFS publications and activities.
intent is to enable professional staff or folk
artists to gain knowledge and develop or
Membership Category
U.S.
Foreign
improve skills that will help them become
more successful in their work.
Basic
Cl $35
Cl $40
Small grants are now available for a 0 Student (full time)lSenior (65 or older)
D $20
Cl $25
a
vxietyofshofl-and l ~ n g - t e l m ~ ~ n ~ ~ l t a n ~ iJoint
e s . (two or more share a membership)
a $50
0 $50
0
Individuals or organizations may apply in
Supporting
D $60
U $60
any of the following categories:
a
Short-term consultancies. The most
Sustaining
0 $100
0 $100
a
often used component, providing technical
Institutional
a
D $50
Cl $55
assistancewithinthenormalapplicationcycle
a
Enclosed
to individuals and organizations engaged in f
Membership dues for 1998. U New
h~ewal
or planning folk arts programming ($2501
$day plus travel; generally will not exceed
Additional donation
$three days or $1,000, including consulting
and travel).
Publications
a
a
Quick-respOnse
These
Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music
a
specialshort-termconsultanciesaredesigned
a
[dentity in N~~ york
to respond to immediate needs fortechnical
Cl $15lmembers Cl $17.95/non-members
$
assistance that
appliWorking with Folk Materials in New York State: A Manual for
cation cycle($250/day plus travel; generally
~ ~ l kandl ~ ~ ~~ i~ ~ h ~ i ~ ~ i ~ ~ ~
will not exceed two days or $700, including
D $25lmembers
Cl $35/non-members,plus
$4 shipping
$
consulting and travel).
I Walked the
Road Again: Great
Stories from the Catskills
$14
$
Ongoing
llnFolk Arts Programming in New York State: A Handbook and
der special circumstances requiringmultiple
Resource Guide $10
$
consultant visits over time, designed to pro~ h ~,
~~~k~~ ~~~~~~i~~
~ ithe
k score
: ~ $9
i
~ $
~
vide continuing technical assistance for on- a N ~ , ,york
, ~ ~ leuarrerly
k l (1946-74)
~ ~ ~ 58 issues
going processes and projects ($250/day plus
Cl $I l Olmembers Cl $125/non-members
$travel; generally will not exceed fivedays or
a
N,, york ~ ~ l( ,975-96)
k l 30
~ issues
~ ~
$1,500, including consulting and travel).
Cl $85/members Cl $95/non-members
$F O I ~artist mentoring. Opportunities
a
NyFQ and NYF (1946-96) 88 issues
for master folk artists to teach or advise
D $150lmembers Cl$175/non-members
$other folk artists in their traditions through f
lessons,
Add Shipping $4.00 for first order; 756 for each additional order
$
shops ($30lhour plus travel; generally will
not exceed 16 hours or $600, including f Total amount enclosed
$teaching and travel).
(check payable to New York Folklore Society)
Professional development exchanges.
a
Travel within the state or region to attend
Address Change? D Yes D No
a
conferences and meetings, observe exema
plary programs, and interact with colleagues
Name/Tit1e
(travel and/or registration expenses only;
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Phone
0
generally will not exceed $200; one applica0
tion per year).
For further information or to receive an
application, contact John Suter or Deborah
a
a
Ci@lStatelZip
Clover at NYFS, P.O. Box 130, Newfield.
a
NY 14867, tel. 607-273-9137, email:
Return to: New York Folklore Society, PO Box 130, Newfield, NY 14867 (607) 273-9137
<[email protected]>
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a e a e a e e e e e a e a a a a e e o o a o e a a
19
Inside
\
V Voices
Register Now!
1998 Fall Conference, Sept. 18-20
LLLiving,
Working & Playing on the
Waters of Long I ~ l a n d ~ ~
featuring Long
Island Baymen;
Escaping Hungary in
1956; Mark
Hamilton,Jiddler and
caller; Hungarian
Goulash
V Eniko Farkas:
Community
Scholar
Voices Workshops
V Steve Zeitlin
reflects on
Beckett and
family folklore
J
Tom Lester, Long Island Bayman. Photograph by John Eilertsen
The New) York Folklore Society 's programs are made possible in part with public
fiinds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. The Annual Fall
Conference and the Mentoring Program are supported in part by a grant from the ENDOWMENT
National Endowment for the Arts. The Folk Archives Project is made possible by
grants from the New York State Documentary Heritage Program and the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission. Stabilization support has been
l~rovidedby a grunt ji-om The Fund for Folk Culture, in cooperation with the Folk
& Traditional Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. All NYFS
activlties crre made possible in part by the generosity of our members and
contributors.
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