Field collections are the lifeblood of folklore studies. Since 1928 the Archive of Folk Song in the Library of Congress at Washington, D.C., has been the coordinating agency for the gathering and preservation of our country's folk heritage. At present it is not only the leading American institution, but one of the world's principal establishments in the fields of traditional music and lore. Originally established in the Library's music division to house collections of American folk songs, the Archive has expanded so that it now contains 200,000 manuscript pages and 20,000 unpublished field and interview recordings of every facet of folklore from every state and many foreign countries.

The Archive's holdings have resulted from and contributed to the researches of virtually every important American folklorist and ethnomusicologist in the last 42 years, including a succession of illustrious scholars who have headed the Archive: Robert W. Gordon, John A. Lomax, B. A. Botkin, Duncan Emrich, and Mrs. Rae Korson.