Ritual Remembrance: Folklore and Visionary Ideals

Abstract Cultural institutions house and categorize material culture, preserving the visionary ideals of the collecting institution through the choices and intention evident in collecting practices. Studying the collection through the lens of diverse representation reveals areas of erasure for marginalized voices within the historical narrative. A folkloristic practice that centers intersectional Appalachian identities is able to locate shared cultural markers and historical practices that resonate as true expressions of ancestral identity. At the Reece Museum, material culture collection and study include ancestral knowledge in a practice of ritual remembrance, which is explored within this article as a conceptual approach to museum work.