Historical Portrait
John Olafson, portrait, photograph
Archive record
Forms part of a group of field materials documenting John Olafson performing Icelandic songs on May 25, 1938, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in San Francisco, California.
About this photograph
This portrait documents John Olafson, photographed by Sidney Robertson Cowell on May 25, 1938, in San Francisco as part of the W.P.A. California Folk Music Project. The session recorded Olafson performing Icelandic songs.
Cowell directed the California Folk Music Project between 1938 and 1940, photographing and recording traditional musicians across Northern California. She worked deliberately across the state's immigrant communities, which accounts for the project's range of Armenian, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Mexican, Irish, and Serbian performers.
The materials from Olafson's session 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.
Rights & Attribution
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