Historical Portrait
Leonard W. Jones, portrait, photograph
Archive record
Photograph caption: "An itinerant prospector from the Ozarks." 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
Leonard W. Jones was photographed by Sidney Robertson Cowell on October 3, 1939, in Pine Grove, El Dorado County, California. The caption describes him as an itinerant prospector from the Ozarks. Cowell documented Jones alongside Ben Pitts as they performed Anglo-American music, producing both recordings and field photographs.
The session formed part of the W.P.A. California Folk Music Project, which Cowell directed between 1938 and 1940. The project recorded and photographed traditional musicians across Northern California, working deliberately across the state's immigrant communities rather than focusing on any single tradition. The materials Cowell collected 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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