You may browse some of the collections at the Library of Congress's American Folklife Center (http://www.loc.gov/folklife/onlinecollections.html) without leaving home. Of particular interest to Alabamians  is the following collection, which contains recordings John Lomax made in Sumter County under the guidance of Ruby Pickens Tartt:  Southern Mosaic: The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lohtml/lohome.html)