Radical Guthrie
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Central Lancashire
Department Name: Sch of Journalism and Digital Comms
Abstract
The book project begins with an examination of Guthrie's immersion into the milieu of the political left in California in 1937. Upon his arrival in Los Angeles he encountered a fellowship of communists and non-communist leftists through whose patronage he became a broadcaster and journalist. With the experience of the Dust Bowl behind him and the legacy of Oklahoma's Debsian socialism still with him, Guthrie set out to explore the conditions of the squalid migrant camps and jails in the San Joaquin Valley; the impact of this experience on Guthrie's political development is explored through his songs, letters, newspaper columns and essays, in which he came to utilise the imagery of the 'refugee' from European fascism to articulate the oppression of the migrants in California. The signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact in 1939 marked a great crisis for the anti-fascist Left; thus, the project examines this crisis and its part in causing Guthrie's break with his anti-Stalinist patrons and his consequent relocation to New York in 1940.
Guthrie's early New York period is examined via the urban critiques of his 'Woody Sez' columns for the 'People's World' and the 'Daily Worker', his first encounter with Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger (kick-starting, in Lomax's estimation, the 'American folk renaissance'), and his recording of the Library of Congress sessions for Lomax and the Dust Bowl Ballads for RCA. These early recording projects are examined as Guthrie's public negotiations of anti-capitalist conviction in the context of Popular Front Americanism. The Lomax-Guthrie-Seeger project, 'Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People', is explored as a radical music manifesto in the service of CIO labour activism, and Guthrie's Columbia River songs are interrogated as expressions of his ambivalence over the New Deal and the war build-up. Guthrie's conversion to pro-war activist is examined in light of the breaking of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, his work with the Almanac Singers, his wartime CIO activism and - following Pearl Harbor - his Merchant Marine and US Army experience.
Guthrie's radical post-war initiatives are examined in relation to two significant areas: the dismantling of Jim Crow segregation and the anti-communist backlash. Guthrie's anti-racism is explored through his musical engagement with lynching, racist miscarriages of justice and the oppression of African American veterans. His responses to the Cold War are explored in the context of the anti-communist purge of American labour unions and the red-baiting of radical musicians, impacting upon initiatives in which Guthrie participated including the People's Songs movement, the Henry Wallace presidential campaign and Paul Robeson's Peekskill concert.
While Guthrie's descent into Huntington's Disease substantially removed him from the public sphere after 1952, he continued to engage creatively with the phenomena of Jim Crow, McCarthyism and the Cold War through a large body of unpublished songs and writings. The writings from this period are examined as Guthrie's final, often belligerent expressions of radical conviction before his work was taken up and perpetuated by the next generation of protest singers who came to be known as 'Woody's Children' (Baez, Paxton, Dylan, Ochs et al.). Finally, Guthrie's impact on succeeding generations of protest musicians is explored as the most recent legacy of his radical activism.
The research for the book project feeds into the continued updating of my two performance programmes, 'Woody Guthrie: Hard Times and Hard Travellin'', which is based on Guthrie's flight from the Dust Bowl and his politicization in California, and 'All You Jim Crow Fascists! Woody Guthrie's Freedom Songs', which focuses on his anti-racist activism. The current research also informs the development of a third performance programme, 'Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People', based on the songs of the Lomax-Guthrie-Seegar project examined in Chapter Two of the book.
Guthrie's early New York period is examined via the urban critiques of his 'Woody Sez' columns for the 'People's World' and the 'Daily Worker', his first encounter with Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger (kick-starting, in Lomax's estimation, the 'American folk renaissance'), and his recording of the Library of Congress sessions for Lomax and the Dust Bowl Ballads for RCA. These early recording projects are examined as Guthrie's public negotiations of anti-capitalist conviction in the context of Popular Front Americanism. The Lomax-Guthrie-Seeger project, 'Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People', is explored as a radical music manifesto in the service of CIO labour activism, and Guthrie's Columbia River songs are interrogated as expressions of his ambivalence over the New Deal and the war build-up. Guthrie's conversion to pro-war activist is examined in light of the breaking of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, his work with the Almanac Singers, his wartime CIO activism and - following Pearl Harbor - his Merchant Marine and US Army experience.
Guthrie's radical post-war initiatives are examined in relation to two significant areas: the dismantling of Jim Crow segregation and the anti-communist backlash. Guthrie's anti-racism is explored through his musical engagement with lynching, racist miscarriages of justice and the oppression of African American veterans. His responses to the Cold War are explored in the context of the anti-communist purge of American labour unions and the red-baiting of radical musicians, impacting upon initiatives in which Guthrie participated including the People's Songs movement, the Henry Wallace presidential campaign and Paul Robeson's Peekskill concert.
While Guthrie's descent into Huntington's Disease substantially removed him from the public sphere after 1952, he continued to engage creatively with the phenomena of Jim Crow, McCarthyism and the Cold War through a large body of unpublished songs and writings. The writings from this period are examined as Guthrie's final, often belligerent expressions of radical conviction before his work was taken up and perpetuated by the next generation of protest singers who came to be known as 'Woody's Children' (Baez, Paxton, Dylan, Ochs et al.). Finally, Guthrie's impact on succeeding generations of protest musicians is explored as the most recent legacy of his radical activism.
The research for the book project feeds into the continued updating of my two performance programmes, 'Woody Guthrie: Hard Times and Hard Travellin'', which is based on Guthrie's flight from the Dust Bowl and his politicization in California, and 'All You Jim Crow Fascists! Woody Guthrie's Freedom Songs', which focuses on his anti-racist activism. The current research also informs the development of a third performance programme, 'Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People', based on the songs of the Lomax-Guthrie-Seegar project examined in Chapter Two of the book.
Planned Impact
In producing the first study of Woody Guthrie's political radicalism, I will be producing a major resource for documentary makers, journalists, authors of CD notes and curators of public exhibitions covering Guthrie's life and output. The quality of life and intellectual development of lay readers will also be enhanced through the book's impact on their cultural, historical and political awareness.
My live presentations on Guthrie will continue to feature in public events such as literary festivals, music festivals and public symposia. While such activities generate economic benefit for the organizers, I am particularly interested in the enhancement of the quality of life that such events provide for members of the public. My presentations in folk clubs and other music venues are particularly important in exciting and satisfying the historical interest of members of the non-academic public. I am frequently and enthusiastically thanked by audience members for providing something more than a concert; there is a hunger in the public for historical information to be transmitted in an entertaining and emotionally captivating manner. (Please see www.myspace.com/willkaufman for video clips, audio clips and other information about my Guthrie presentations.)
My Guthrie work has spun off, and will continue to spin off, into other areas of cultural expression, through such engagements as the Chichester Festival Theatre/English Touring Theatre production of 'The Grapes of Wrath', for which I was hired as consultant and programme writer. My work with the Somerset charity, TakeArt, whose aim is to bring artists and performers into the rural areas away from the larger cultural centres, will be extended to similar initiatives in other counties through the National Rural Touring Forum of which I am a member.
I shall continue using my Guthrie presentations to raise money for good causes such as refugee centres, trade unions, community radio and other community-based activities.
I shall continue to engage with the media as both a Guthrie expert and a performer of Guthrie's music.
Please see the Impact Plan for elaboration of these points.
My live presentations on Guthrie will continue to feature in public events such as literary festivals, music festivals and public symposia. While such activities generate economic benefit for the organizers, I am particularly interested in the enhancement of the quality of life that such events provide for members of the public. My presentations in folk clubs and other music venues are particularly important in exciting and satisfying the historical interest of members of the non-academic public. I am frequently and enthusiastically thanked by audience members for providing something more than a concert; there is a hunger in the public for historical information to be transmitted in an entertaining and emotionally captivating manner. (Please see www.myspace.com/willkaufman for video clips, audio clips and other information about my Guthrie presentations.)
My Guthrie work has spun off, and will continue to spin off, into other areas of cultural expression, through such engagements as the Chichester Festival Theatre/English Touring Theatre production of 'The Grapes of Wrath', for which I was hired as consultant and programme writer. My work with the Somerset charity, TakeArt, whose aim is to bring artists and performers into the rural areas away from the larger cultural centres, will be extended to similar initiatives in other counties through the National Rural Touring Forum of which I am a member.
I shall continue using my Guthrie presentations to raise money for good causes such as refugee centres, trade unions, community radio and other community-based activities.
I shall continue to engage with the media as both a Guthrie expert and a performer of Guthrie's music.
Please see the Impact Plan for elaboration of these points.
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| Will Kaufman (Principal Investigator) |