This site is an outgrowth of independent research projects by Nicole Saylor, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Research was made possible through a grant from the Gerald E. and Corinne L. Parsons Fund for Ethnography at the Library of Congress. A special thanks to archivist Cathy Kerst and everyone at the American Folklife Center, Betty Auman in the Music Division of the Library of Congress, Professors James P. Leary and Susan C. Cook, UW music librarians Steve Sundell and Geri Laudati, and Hiroko Sakurazawa with the Cowell Estate. Also, help provided by Charlie Spencer, grandson of singer Charlie Spencer and Bruce Brosoe, grandson of Leizime Brusoe, proved invaluable.