Identifier
NFAI.E.00000610

Preferred Name
Elaine Eff

Library of Congress Naming Authority
Eff, Elaine, 1946- [info:lc/authorities/names/n95086309]

Biography/History
Elaine Eff received a PhD in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. From 1985-89, she was the Baltimore City folklorist under then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer, exploring traditions throughout the city and generating projects, events, exhibits and partnerships with the Greek community, the North Avenue corridor, Lexington Market, Arabbers, and Baltimore screen painters. During this time, she produced the documentary film The Screen Painters (1989). In 1989, she moved from city to state government with the election of Schaefer as Governor and began the Cultural Conservation program at the Maryland Historical Trust. During this period, her engagement with the community of Smith Island helped to generate the creation of the Smith Island Cultural Center (opened in 1997), the documentary film Land+Water, People+Time(Director, 1996), and the creation of a crab picking co-op that safeguards this industry on the island. Her work with the state resulted also in the publication of the oral history guide, You Should Have Been Here Yesterday: A Guide to Cultural Documentation in Maryland (1995). In 2000, she allied with the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council and began infrastructure development efforts throughout the state that developed into Maryland Traditions in 2001. Under her Co-Direction with Rory Turner (2000-2007) and Clifford Murphy (2008-2011), programs and positions were created and funded at 8 institutions statewide, and the Maryland Traditions Project Grants, Apprenticeship Grants, and Achievement in Living Traditions & Arts (ALTA) Awards were developed. In concert with the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, she also spearheaded the creation of the oral history/audio guideFrom Bridge to Boardwalk: An Audio Journey Across Maryland’s Eastern Shore (2004). In 2010, Dr. Eff led an exploratory partnership between Maryland Traditions and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) where she taught in the Department of American Studies and created internship and fieldwork opportunities for students. She retired from state government in 2011, and serves as the Director of the Painted Screen Society of Baltimore. She was awarded the Forrest Pogue Award for Lifetime Achievement in Oral History from Oral History in the Mid Atlantic Region (2007), the American Folklore Society’s prestigious Benjamin Botkin Award (2010) and, along with Maryland Traditions and MSAC, the Preservation Service Award from the Maryland Historical Trust (2011).