Alan Lomax Material Used in the 2010 Children's Library Annual Summer Program in Anguilla

August 11, 2010
The Green Family Foundation is happy to report that the Lomax legacy continues to bring cultural light and awareness to people around the world. This article is about a children's program in Anguilla that uses Lomax materials to enhance the cultural and historical offerings of its summer camp.

'Jollification Time' is the theme of the 2010 Children's Library Annual Summer Programme (CLASP).  The programme, offered by the Anguilla Library Service, consists of a day camp for approximately sixty participants, ages 5-12.  For two weeks children and teachers have learned about and pushed for the revival of jollification, Anguilla's historical tradition of communal work. 

This year's CLASP students were divided into three teams: the Johnny Cakes (ages 5-7), the Shantees (ages 8-9), and the Jollies (ages 10-12).  They completed interviews with parents, grandparents, and others who remember details about how and why people gathered for jollifications.  Through these exchanges they came to better understand the jollification tradition. 

The teams also learned about the work of Alan Lomax, the folklorist and anthropologist who visited Anguilla and other parts of the Eastern Caribbean in 1962.  Lomax's collection consists of photos and audio recordings of Anguilla's culture-bearers. His work preserves local knowledge at the same time that it documents jollification songs and conversations about the tradition.

Read the full article.

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