1946 Dix Lawrence Pictorial Folklore Music Map of the United States

Dorothea Dix Lawrence (September 22, 1899 - May 23, 1979) was an American soprano and folklorist. Born in New York City, she attended Barnard College for a while where she studied voice. Her operatic debut happened in 1929 in Montreal with the Quebec Opera Company, and her career blossomed during the 1930s and 1940s, performing regularly throughout the United States and Europe. She also performed on television and radio broadcasts. Lawrence's passion for American folklore and folk music developed during the 1930s and she began collecting songs, including those from the Zuni Indians in New Mexico and residents of the Pine Barrens on New Jersey. She created a radio program called Primer of American Music in 1939, which was sponsored by the Philadelphia Board of Education and consisted of twenty-seven weekly broadcasts. She also produced and starred in an eight-week program entitled Folk Musicians for WNYC. This interest led to the creation of the Folklore Music Map of the United States in 1945, which was widely distributed to American schools. The map became the basis for Lawrence's hundreds of recitals and lectures of American music across North America and Europe. She retired in 1970 and died in Plainfield, New Jersey on May 23, 1979. More by this mapmaker...

Harry Cimino (1898 - 1969) was an American woodcut artist, illustrator, and engraver. Cimino collaborated with Dorothea Dix Lawrence (1899 - 1979) on her Folklore Music Map of America. He was born in Marion, Indiana, and died in Sharon, Connecticut. Learn More...