The revered artist and longtime friend of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival left us on May 7.

María Catalina Robles Izquierdo, renowned Afro-Peruvian musician and music educator, passed away on November 26.

On the evening of June 25, the sounds of Puerto Rican plena, bomba, and Afro-Latin jazz echoed from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s Ralph Rinzler Stage

James R. Morris, co-founder of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, passed away on July 22.

Several hundred Jamaican Americans of all ages gathered at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida, on a beautiful bright Saturday afternoon in May to officially launch the Olive Lewin Heritage Foundation

The staff, interns, and volunteers in the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections are striving to make the Archives a more visible

White House butler and maître d' Eugene Allen served eight US presidents. In 1986, he told First Lady Nancy Reagan that it was time he retired.

White House workers often become very close to presidential families. Eugene Allen served as maître d' for eight presidents from 1952 to 1986. In this video excerpt, recorded in October 2007, he recalls his friendship with President Jimmy Carter.

On August 16, 2013, theaters will premiere Lee Daniels’ The Butler, a historical drama that follows the experience of an African American butler in the White House during eight presidential terms from 1952 to 1986.

The 2013 Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert pays tribute to Dr. Peter Seitel