Nancy Sweezy was interviewed by Francine Berkowitz on July 7, 1996. Born in New York in 1921, Sweezy worked with Ralph Rinzler both before and during his career at the Smithsonian. She was involved in the production of several Festivals. Sweezy taught art in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is also a potter. This interview discusses how she met Ralph Rinzler; her increasing interest in crafts and the growing folk movement; Rinzler's and Sweezy's work for the Newport Folk Festival; how the crafts exhibition was received at the festival; the establishment of Country Roads, Inc. in 1965 with Norman Kennedy; the growth and popularity of this business; how displays were created in the store; continuing to work with Rinzler at the Smithsonian; her work with the 1981 Southern crafts exhibit at the Festival; the Festival's concern with presenting the whole craft process to the public; her work with recent immigrant communities and their struggles to preserve their culture; and the different perceptions of folkarts and fine arts and how Sweezy would like to change this.

Object Details

See more items in: Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews; Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews / Interviews

Collection Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9594, Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews