Programs Overview | Contact Information | Funders | Staff | Board | Site Specs

City Lore was founded in 1986 to produce programs and publications that convey the richness of
New York City's cultural heritage. Increasingly our many efforts embrace national audiences as well.

City Lore is a non-profit membership organization. Members receive a copy of City Lore Magazine and special premiums upon joining, and are eligible for discounts on books from our Culture Catalog or on tickets to City Lore events. Link to our membership page for information about joining City Lore.

Our staff includes folklorists, historians, anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists, all of whom specialize in the creation of programs and materials for public education and enjoyment. In addition to staff projects, affiliated individuals and organizations work through City Lore to produce independent films, exhibits, and other media projects. We are governed by a 14-member board of directors which includes independent artists, members of New York-based non-profits, and business and legal professionals.

City Lore is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, 72 East 1st Street, New York, NY 10003.

City's Lore projects are dynamic and diverse, much like the city in which we live and work. They include:

Staff

Steve Zeitlin, Executive Director (steve@citylore.org)
Steve Zeitlin received his Ph.D. in Folklore from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. in Literature from Bucknell University. He is the director and cofounder of City Lore, an organization dedicated to the preservation of New York City's—and America's—living cultural heritage. Prior to arriving in New York, Steve Zeitlin served for eight years as a folklorist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He has taught at George Washington University, American University, NYU, and Cooper Union. Steve Zeitlin has served as a regular commentator for the nationally syndicated radio shows, Crossroads and Artbeat, and currently develops segments on "The Poetry of Everyday Life" for The Next Big Thing, heard on National Public Radio. His commentaries have appeared on the Op Ed pages of the New York Times and Newsday. He also coproduces the storytelling series "American Talkers" for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and Morning Edition.

Steve is the author and coauthor of a number of award winning books on America's folk culture including A Celebration of American Family Folklore (Pantheon Books, l982); The Grand Generation: Memory Mastery and Legacy (U. of Washington Press, l987); City Play (Rutgers University Press, l990); Because God Loves Stories: An Anthology of Jewish Storytelling (Simon & Schuster, 1997); and Giving a Voice to Sorrow: Personal Responses to Death and Mourning (Penguin-Putnam, 2001). His children's books include While Standing On One Foot: Puzzle Stories and Wisdom Tales from Jewish Tradition (Henry Holt, l996); Cow of No Color: Riddle Stories and Justice Tales from World Traditions (Henry Holt, l998); and a book on world cosmologies, The Four Corners of the Sky (Henry Holt, 2000). He is the author of a new volume of poetry, I Hear America Singing in the Rain (First Street Press, 2003).

Marci Reaven, Managing Director (mreaven@citylore.org)
MA, U.S. History, New York University
Roles: Direct Place Matters project, a public history and historic preservation initiative to advocate for New York City's places of historical and cultural significance; direct History First Hand, a staff development program in U.S. History for NYC school teachers
Interests: NYC history; historic preservation; K-12 teacher training in U.S. and New York City history, film

Roberta Singer, Music Director (rsinger@citylore.org)
PhD, Ethnomusicology and Folklore, University of Indiana
Roles: Oversee and conduct research, writing, and public programs on jazz and Latin music in NYC; national/international festival and film events; City Lore events coordination
Interests: Puerto Rican and Cuban traditional and popular music; Puerto Rican bomba and plena traditions; ethnicity; event production

Elena Martínez, Folklorist (emartinez@citylore.org)
MA, Anthropology, MA Folklore, University of Oregon
Roles: Develop public programs; fieldwork, research, writing, and public outreach for City Lore programs, including Place Matters; People's Poetry Gathering Coordinator; Membership Coordinator; Archives Manager
Interests: Urban folklore; material culture; Puerto Rican culture and folklore; foodways

Lois Wilcken, Accounts Manager (lwilcken@citylore.org)
PhD, Ethnomusicology, Columbia University; MA, Ethnomusicology, Hunter College
Roles: Develop and maintain financial systems; manage City Lore accounts and grants
Interests: Traditional Haitian music and dance in Port-au-Prince and New York City; ethics of respresentation; applied ethnomusicology

Amanda Dargan, Education Director (adargan@citylore.org)
PhD, Folklore, University of Pennsylvania
Roles: Direct and develop education components for all City Lore public programs and publications; Editor, CARTS Catalog, Co-Editor CARTS Newsletter; direct all teacher and teaching artist training and development and curriculum development
Interests: Urban culture; sense of place; occupational culture; family history; folk arts-in-education; regional U.S. culture; folk-fine arts collaborations; children's folklore and games; immigration; storytelling

Anika Selhorst, School Programs Director (anika@citylore.org)
Ed.M., Arts in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Roles: Manage school partnerships program and budget; coordinate program documentation and assessment. Assist in designing and delivering professional development for teachers and teaching artists; developing program materials and new education initiatives; grant writing
Interests: Visual arts; the arts as a tool for social change; youth development; identity politics; museum education

George Zavala, Resident Teaching Artist and Education Associate (gzavala@citylore.org)
BA, Philosophy and Art, Catholic University, Ponce, Puerto Rico and Childhood Education, InterAmerican University, Ft. Buchannan, Puerto Rico
Roles: Teaching artist; presenter; teacher and teaching artist trainer
Interests: Sculpture; painting; multimedia installation; interdisciplinary collaborations; art as cultural and political expression; political theater; comedy; arts-in-education; Puerto Rican culture and history; gender politics

Hiroko Kazama, CARTS Catalog Manager (hkazama@citylore.org)
Roles: Manage all aspects of sales and marketing for print and online CARTS catalog, a multi-media educational catalog of cultural arts resources for teachers and students

Paddy Bowman, Coordinator, National Network for Folk Arts in Education (pbowman@citylore.org)
MA, Folklore, University of North Carolina
Roles: Coordinate network of folk arts in education practitioners integrating folklore and fieldwork research in K-12 education nationwide; co-edit the CARTS Newsletter; conduct teacher training; provide techincal assistance; design interdisciplinary curriculum
Interests: Folklore in K-12 education; arts in education; curriculum development; race relations; place-based education

Jennifer Scott, Anthropologist (jscott@citylore.org)
Doctoral Studies, Cultural Anthropology, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Roles: Place Matters fieldwork, research, writing, and public outreach
Interests: Ethnography; oral history; documentary film; visual and material culture, and dress. Field research in U.S., Caribbean, and West Africa

Board of Directors

RAY ALLEN has been affiliated with the Institute for Studies in American Music at Brooklyn College since 1993. He teaches survey courses in the music of the United States and New York City, and directs Brooklyn College's American Studies program, an interdisciplinary program that specializes in American music and cultural studies. He has co-produced a number of the Institute's festivals, including a tribute to Alan Lomax and the early folk music revival (in partnership with City Lore and the Alan Lomax Archive/Association for Cultural Equity, 2003).

JOSH BROWN is executive director of the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning at the CUNY Graduate Center. His work merges the scholarly with the popular, visual art with writing, fact with occasional forays into fiction-all dedicated to devising new ways to critically explore the past in print, film, video, CD-ROM, and the Web.

HENRY CHALFANT is a sculptor, photographer, and filmmaker. His work includes a documentary film on hip-hop culture and graffiti art called "Style Wars." In addition to being president of the City Lore board of directors, he is working with City Lore to produce a film on Latin music and hip-hop in the South Bronx.

MILLY HAWK DANIEL writes and edits reports and develops communications strategies for public education and media campaigns at PolicyLink, a nonprofit organization that works with national and local partners to influence economic and social policies related to affordable housing, health disparities, and public investments/fiscal reform.

CARRIE HARRIS is a real estate attorney, specializing in landmark preservation, zoning, and government relations. She also "dabbles" in real estate development, focusing on mixed use, community development projects. Carrie is an amateur photographer and a passionate supporter of City Lore.

DAVE ISAY is a radio producer and runs Sound Portraits Productions in New York.

ARGENTINA PALACIOS-ZEIGLER writes for children and is a translator of Spanish to English and English to Spanish. She is also a storyteller and a volunteer.

BILL PEARSON is a media and business service consultant with the Manursing Group, LLC. He earned a MBA as well as degrees in ethnomusicology and worked as an ethnomusicologist in the public sector before going into business.

ROBERT S. PERLSTEIN practices entertainment law in New York City. Bob's experience includes twelve years at CBS Records in a variety of positions, including vice president of Business Affairs and A & R Administration, CBS Masterworks.

MARILYN M. WHITE is professor of Anthropology at Kean University in Union, NJ, where she teaches courses in cultural anthropology and in African American Studies. She has a Master's and Ph.D. in folklore, and her areas of interest include African American folklore, family folklore, folk narratives, and jokes and humor.

WENDY WOLF is an editor at Viking Penguin, where she specializes in nonfiction, primarily history, science, biography, and politics.

SALLY YARMOLINSKY has a quarter century of experience as development director for two settlement houses: Union Settlement in East Harlem and The Educational Alliance on the Lower East Side. Through her work and her life experience, she has become a confirmed "citylorista."