Alfred Pietroforte Collection of California Indigenous Song Recordings

• Collection identifier: 2024-05
• Primary contributor: Alfred Pietroforte (researcher, donor)
• Additional contributors: Harry Alston (consultant); Josie Atwell (consultant, depicted); Eleanor Bethel (consultant); Rosalie Bethel (consultant); Evelyn Chiatovich (consultant); Roy Chiatovich (consultant); Roy Chiatovich (consultant); Mary Garcia Pohot (consultant, depicted); Sam Kinney (consultant, depicted); Leon Manuel (consultant, depicted); Molly Pomona (consultant, depicted); Minnie Williams (consultant); Alfred Pietroforte (author, depicted); Catherine Ware (researcher); Fannie Ade (depicted); Lawona Icho (depicted); Elsie Kinney (depicted); Lucy Pete (depicted); Mary Sampson (depicted)
• Languages: Mono (mnr); Northern Paiute (pao); Tachi; Wukchumni
• Dates: 1959-2006
• Extent: 2 seven-inch reel-to-reel tapes, 2 folders, 2 bound volumes
• Historical information: Beginning in 1959, Alfred Pietroforte (born 1925) recorded 25 songs for a master's project at Fresno State College (now University), receiving the degree of Master of Arts in Education in 1961. He recorded 11 individuals and interviewed others. Catherine Ware (1919-2011) was born Luella Catherine Callis, and was a public school music teacher in California. Rosalie Bethel (1915-2009), who she recorded, was born Rosalie Wenz. Her daughter was a student in Mrs. Ware's class. Ware received the degree of Master of Music the College (now University) of the Pacific in 1959. According to her graduate thesis, she recorded 34 "Mono Indian tunes." Only 21 of those songs, all sung by Mrs. Bethel, survive on the tape that was in Mr. Pietroforte's possession. The remainder were "from Indian students who first learned the songs from their grandmothers, then sang them at school for the recording." For additional biographical information in this collection, see the introductory sections in 2024-05.003 and 2024-05.004.
  The original tapes that Pietroforte and Ware recorded on are lost. What survives is a compilation tape that Pietroforte made of his own recordings for the publication of his MA thesis in 2006 (see 2024-05.004). Similarly, the tape featuring Bethel does not include all of the recordings Ware indicated she made. The handwriting on this tape is also not Ware's (compare 2024-05.005). As a consequence, on the Ware tape (2024-05.002), short segments of Western classical music can be heard between some songs.
  The published version of Pietroforte's thesis includes an accompanying CD that derived from a first digitization of this tape. The audio files in 2024-05.001 and 2024-05.002 derive from a second digitization, done by the Berkeley Language Center at the University of California, Berkeley in January 2024.
• Scope and content: Sound recordings of 46 songs, unpublished MA thesis (including photographic prints of all people Pietroforte recorded or interviewed) with later published version, and associated notes and correspondence.
• Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• Suggested citation: Alfred Pietroforte. Alfred Pietroforte Collection of California Indigenous Song Recordings, 2024-05, California Language Archive, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7297/X2WW7GSB.