In the USA the first people to be called folk singers were a talented and diverse group of individuals who were born late in the 19th century, and who came to prominence in the 1920s. These included Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock (1882-1957), Frank Crumit (1889-1943), Carson Robison (1890-1957), and John Jacob Niles (1892-1980). With exception of McClintock, who had actually learned many of his songs as a working cowboy and later as an itinerant worker, none could be considered a true source singer. They were collectors, arrangers, popularizers, adapters, censors, and even singer-songwriters. But what they did was sing folk songs, or at least songs that sounded like folk songs and which the public considered folk songs. Thus on this side of the Atlantic, that is what the term "folk singer" has meant from the beginning.