He suggests that "these ghosts were not abstractions. As native sons and daughters they were a community. And they were once gathered in a single place: on the Anthology of American Folk Music, a work produced by a 29-year-old of no fixed address named Harry Smith."
He argues that "these specters weren't abstract ideas. As local offspring and successors, they constituted a collective. And at one time, they were congregated in the same place: on The Anthology of American Folk Music, an item authored by a 29-year-old with no fixed residence named Harry Smith."