Historical Portrait
Flora Earnson, portrait, photograph
Archive record
Photograph caption: "Flora Earnson from Utah." Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Flora Earnson performing an Anglo-American song on September 4, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Central Valley, California.
About this photograph
This photograph documents Flora Earnson from Utah performing an Anglo-American song on September 4, 1939, in Central Valley, California. The image was taken by Sidney Robertson Cowell as part of her work with the W.P.A. California Folk Music Project.
Cowell directed the project between 1938 and 1940, recording and photographing traditional musicians across Northern California. She worked deliberately across the state's immigrant communities rather than focusing on a single tradition, creating a collection of portraits and recordings that included Armenian, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Mexican, Irish, and Serbian performers alongside Anglo-American musicians like Earnson.
The photograph forms part of a group of field materials from that September day. The recordings and photographs from Cowell's 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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