In 1975, Wood (then known as Anna Chairetakis) began to work as a public folklore activist with first- and second-generation Italian-Americans in the United States.
In 1979, Wood produced and annotated two LP albums of Calabrian, Sicilian, and other regional Italian music recorded in New York State's Niagara region, New Jersey, and Rhode Island: In Mezz'una Strada Trovai una Pianta di Rosa.