Hi All,
Very nice to see the comments on my Folksongs of Another America project. I worked on it slowly for about 30 years, and intensively (whenever I had time, with a lot of help) for about 10 of those years.
We raised a lot of $$$ to do the digital transfers and restoration of the sound recording and film/DVD, and also to subsidize the final production so that it would be affordable.
About immigrant/ethnic labels emerging in the post-WWII era (when major labels like Columbia and Victor dropped "foreign" music/ musicians), there were lot and lots of 'em. In Wisconsin where I live, Pfau and Polkaland were prominent. Standard/Colonial operated in the NYC area. Chicago had Rondo and Balkan and more. There were many more, and also "ethnic" artists made post-WWII 78s for labels with a larger scope like Imperial, Mercury, King, Continental, etc.
If anyone is interested in learning more about this, try to track down the American Folklife Center/Library of Congress publication from the early 1980s, Ethnic Recordings in America. There's are terrific essays on such matters by Dick Spottswood and Pekka Gronow, including a check list of such small ethnic labels.
Jim Leary