Historical Portrait
Pablo Ruthling, portrait, photograph
Archive record
Photograph caption: "Of German extraction, but has lived 11 years among Mexican Indians." Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Pablo Ruthling performing an unaccompanied Spanish song from Mexico on January 19, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Carmel, California.
About this photograph
Pablo Ruthling was photographed by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Carmel, California, on January 19, 1939, as part of the W.P.A. California Folk Music Project. According to the photograph's caption, he was of German extraction but had lived eleven years among Mexican Indians. Cowell recorded him performing an unaccompanied Spanish song from Mexico the same day.
The W.P.A. California Folk Music Project ran from 1938 to 1940 and documented traditional musicians across Northern California. Cowell deliberately worked across the state's immigrant communities, recording and photographing performers from Armenian, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Mexican, Irish, and Serbian backgrounds. The recordings and photographs 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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