Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures

432 East Campus Mall, Room 332
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
608-262-8180
Web site: http://csumc.wisc.edu

UW-Madison Folklore Program (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Minnesota Historical Society (Map)

The Minnesota Polka Project documents the polka music traditions of German-American, Czech-American, Slovenian-American, and Polish-American ethnic groups throughout Minnesota. Sixteen bands and 21 of the bands' musicians were documented, resulting in a 44-minute anthology of Minnesota polka recordings and an accompanying 20-page booklet in 1990. Available materials include recorded interviews with band leaders and members, color slides of musicians and performance venues, and artist files containing correspondence, tape logs, electronic versions of the tape logs, and news clippings. The project was co-sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota State Arts Board and was also known as the Minnesota Polka Oral History Project.