The AFS Public Programs Section will provide up to three awards of up to $500 each, named for folklorist and activist Archie Green of San Francisco, to defray travel costs for the annual meeting. The Section is interested in supporting graduate and undergraduate students who have an interest in working as public folklorists, or who have chosen an area of public folklore as a primary topic of research.
The American Folklore Society’s Archie Green Award is a way for our field to recognize and honor local cultural leaders and workers outside the Society’s membership who have made significant contributions to the expressive life of their own communities. This award is given at the time of the Society’s annual meeting to a person, group, or organization from the community or region in which the meeting will take place. Recipients’ contributions to their community may include (but are not limited to) art-making, mentoring, teaching, advocating, program- or institution-building, and the like.
Each year, members of the local committee planning the Society’s annual meeting select a recipient or recipients of that year’s Award, based on their own extensive local knowledge, relationships, and networks. The recipient will be recognized in person as part of the Society award ceremonies on the opening evening of the annual meeting, and will receive an award certificate and travel support.
The deadline for submission via email is Friday, September 15, 2023 (9:00 A.M. CST). Award recipients will be announced in early October.
To apply
Submit a single Word or PDF document that includes:
- Applicant’s name, address, email, phone number, university, degree objective, and expected month and year of completion.
- A letter (2 pages max) describing your interest in public folklore, goals for attending the meeting, and plans for using the resources of the meeting to further your academic and/or professional development.
- A budget outlining anticipated expenses.
In the same document, or as a separate attachment, include:
- A letter of support written by a faculty member or public folklorist that describes the applicant’s interest in public folklore and supports the student’s plan for using the AFS meeting to further their interests in public folklore.
Please be sure your subject line references the Archie Green Student Award.
Recent winners of the AFS Archie Green Award include:
Jade Banks (Harrisburg, PA), 2021 Award
Patrick Donmoyer (Kutstown, PA, Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center), 2021 Award
Jess Hayden (Susquehanna Folk Music Society), 2021 Award
James Lane (Crisfield, MD), 2019 Award
Allan Jamieson, Sr. (Neto Hatinakwe Onkwehowe), 2018 Award
This prize originated in 2009 as the Archie Green Public Folklore Advocacy Award. Before it was suspended in 2013, it was given to Tom Davenport, filmmaker and creator of Folkstreams; Jack Loeffler, author and producer, for his cultural and environmental advocacy; and Patty Miller, director of the Basque Museum and Cultural Center in Boise, Idaho (2009).