One of the Philadelphia Folklore Project's (PFP) first projects, Uses of Tradition documented Italian craftspeople and artisans living in Philadelphia and the region. Initiated as fieldwork in the former Italian neighborhood surrounding PFP’s first home (at the Samuel Fleisher Art Memorial), this was a Philadelphia Folklore Month effort conducted by a team of researchers, but primarily by folklorist Dorothy Noyes. The fieldwork was presented in an exhibition at Samuel Fleisher Art Memorial (1989), later condensed and turned into a traveling exhibition, and in an accompanying exhibition catalog entitled Uses of Tradition: Arts of Italian Americans in Philadelphia by Dorothy Noyes. Walking tours of dressed windows and public buildings featuring Italian craftsmanship were also created. Traditional artists (many now deceased) documented include plaster-workers, woodcarvers, stained glass workers, carousel carvers, painters, ironworkers, stonecutters, plaster statue makers, instrument makers, pastry makers, and seamstresses. Likewise, aspects of community sacred life and festivals were documented, including family presepios (nativity scenes), palm-weaving, dressed windows, Mummers’ fancy costume-making, saint's processions, and the Italian Market Festival (further significant in documentation of folklife in a neighborhood that has undergone gentrification).
For field notes, see chiefly Dorothy Noyes’ field note accession, Philadelphia Folklore Project accession 1987-009, which includes a table of contents for 99 topics (308 pp.); corresponding pages are listed in individual accessions. Some fieldwork is also documented in Stephanie Kane's field note accession, Philadelphia Folklore Project accession 1987-063.
Accessions in this collection that document family businesses are cross-referenced with Philadelphia Folklore Project collection C0005: Family Business Project. Similarly, research begun during Uses of Tradition on palm-weaving and Mummers fancy costume-making led to the creation of the slide-tape/videos, The Palm Weavers and Everything Has to Sparkle: The Art of Fancy Costume-Making, and are cross-referenced with Philadelphia Folklore Project collection C0019: PFP slide-tape/videos (series 1 and 2) (C0019).
PFP’s magazine, Works in Progress, includes articles related to Uses of Tradition.
Noyes, Dorothy. 1987. Research on Italian crafts: a summary. Works in Progress 1(1):5.
________. 1988. About Italian plasterers, palms and artists. Works in Progress 1(2):5.
________. 1989. Uses of Tradition: Arts of Italian Americans in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Folklore Project and the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial. [80 pp]
Noyes, Dorothy, and Jan Greenberg. 1988. Passing on traditions . Works in Progress 2(1):4-5.
________, and Jan Greenberg. 1989. "How to do what can't be done:" Bobby Pandola's mummers' costumes. Works in Progress 2(2):2-3.
Collection is open for research. Duplication and use of materials is dependent on permission from the Philadelphia Folklore Project. Contact PFP for access and usage information.