Folklore Music Map of the United States

Fine pictorial map of the United States designed to promote folk music to a broader audience.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Dorothea Dix Lawrence was a successful opera singer who went on to become a worldwide promoter of folk music, traveling across the United States to sing, play and lecture to the American public (occasionally in the Native American language). The “Primer of American Music” (seen in the title cartouche) was Dorothea’s radio program that was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Board of Education. In 1946, she and artist Harry Cimino first collaborated on this fabulous celebratory map of the genre, which was published by Hagstrom and wonderfully distills the breadth of American folk music into a pictorial image. This is a somewhat later example, issued in 1959 to accompany a songbook of the depicted tunes.

The border is filled with illustrations of popular instruments that represent a variety of cultures and musical styles. Scattered throughout the map are depicted individual measures of popular folk songs, alongside cartoons depicting the (often stereotypical) cultural association. Also next to each set of notes is a numerical value which, when referenced in the helpful key at the top of the sheet, indicates the type of tune. An extensive bibliography, plus the professional backgrounds of the contributors, ensures the accuracy and timeless historical value of this fantastic map.

The accompanying songbook is included. It’s inscribed as volume number 871 and includes the signatures of Dorothea Dix Lawrence and Walter Rosemont – both credited as compilers of the music.