Following up on what I was saying about folklorists who had a hand in creating some of the public institutions that promote folk music, here's a link to the NY Times obituary of Archie Green. I hadn't remembered about his role in all this when I was posting to this thread:

Archie Green Obituary

Here's an excerpt:

"Mr. Green energetically promoted the idea of public folklore — that is, that folklorists should work outside the academy to gather, preserve and publicize local cultures through government agencies, museums, folk festivals and radio stations. His signal achievement in this area was the lonely lobbying campaign he conducted for nearly six years to create a national folklife center, which became a reality when Congress, by a unanimous vote, passed the American Folklife Preservation Act, signed into law by President Gerald R. Ford in January 1976.

"'By his energy, determination and enthusiasm he was able to impart his passion to members of Congress,' said Peggy Bulger, the director of the American Folklife Center in Washington. 'Without Archie, there would be no American Folklife Center.'"