Historical Portrait
Ben Pitts standing with guitar, portrait, photograph
Archive record
Photograph caption: "Son of a 49er and singer of minstrel songs." Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Ben Pitts and Leonard W. Jones performing Anglo-American music on October 3, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Pine Grove, El Dorato County, California.
About this photograph
This photograph was made during a W.P.A. California Folk Music Project field session on October 3, 1939, in Pine Grove, El Dorato County, California. The project, directed by Sidney Robertson Cowell, recorded and photographed traditional musicians across Northern California between 1938 and 1940.
The archive caption identifies Ben Pitts as the son of a forty-niner and a singer of minstrel songs. The session also documented Leonard W. Jones performing Anglo-American music. The recordings and photographs from the project are held by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
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