It seems quite probable that Alan Lomax was capable of being a bit insensitive.

Another incident which occurred in England was when Lomax recorded a video in "The Ship" at Blaxhall, Suffolk in 1953. The locals were promised that they would see the video before it was made generally available (they weren't that reluctant but were not entirely happy about the possibility of being made fools of as far as I know).

This was never done and no-one was subsequently allowed to record performances from "The Ship" for 20 years (until 1973). Unfortunately, this led to one of England's, certainly Suffolk's, most famous "singing pubs" remaining unrecorded until well after its original heyday.

In general, Alan Lomax's influence was probably very positive but there are some places where it may have been better if he hadn't trodden.

:-(
Ian