Annemarie Anderson is the Director for the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture. Her oral history, documentary, and academic work focuses on foodways and the intersection of southern environment, identity, and culture. She grew up in the Wiregrass region of the Florida Panhandle. Annemarie obtained an MFA in Documentary Expression from the University of Mississippi (2022). Her thesis project, THIS GARDEN, documented a community of oyster farmers and fisherfolk in Spring Creek, Florida. She also holds a MA in history, with a specialization in oral history, from the University of Florida (2017) as well as a BA in history and a BA in English from the University of Florida (2016). From 2018 to 2022, Annemarie was oral historian for the Southern Foodways Alliance.  

Joey Brackner (Retired), manager of the Council's Folklife Program and Director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, worked for the Council on the Arts from 1985-2021. He managed a project grants programs, which support efforts by Alabama organizations to present the state's folk traditions as well as an Apprenticeship grants program supporting master folk artists who are teaching students their art forms. Brackner co-produced "Unbroken Tradition" a film documentary on Alabama folk potter, Jerry Brown with Appalshop. He is a native of Fairfield, Alabama. He received a B. A. in Anthropology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1977 and a M. A. in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981. We recognize the many contributions Joey has made to the arts in Alabama over the years and wish him a happy and rewarding retirement!   

Deborah Boykin (Retired) was a folklorist with the Alabama Center for the Traditional Culture. Before coming to the Center in 2007, she was Archivist and Cultural Planner for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, where she developed educational programs, curated exhibits, coordinated research, and wrote articles about Choctaw culture and folklife. From 1990-1997, she directed the Folk Arts Program at the Mississippi Arts Commission where she administered grants programs, coordinated fieldwork and research; documented and presented traditional artists; and wrote articles about Mississippi traditional arts. She received a B.A. in folklore from the University of Alabama and has completed coursework towards her M.A. in political science from Mississippi State University. Deb retired in the summer of 2021, but will continue to produce the radio program on behalf of the Council.

Jackie Ely, Administrative Assistant, joined the Center staff upon its creation in 1990. She served as assistant to the National Endowment for the Arts' Regional Representative from 1984-1990. Prior to that, she worked with the Department of Physics at Indiana University and as administrative assistant with the Alabama State Council on the Arts from 1979-1981.

Anne Kimzey, Folklife Specialist, joined the Center staff in 1990 after serving as a contract folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts since May 1989. Prior to that, she served as folklife specialist, consultant, and fieldworker with a number of institutions in North Carolina and South Carolina, including the McCormick Arts Council, the North Carolina Arts Council and the McKissick Museum. She received her B.A. in journalism and has completed coursework toward her M.A. in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.