For many, the Fall season connotes a time of getting back to business. For the Woody Guthrie Archives however, its business as usual--and often unique business at that. As ongoing research continues and new projects get underway, the pace at the Archives has picked up. Like Woody's music, the Archives is here for you when you need us.

- Jorge Arévalo / Head Archivist

Then and Now: Woody, Arlo, Joady, and Nora Guthrie at Greystone Park Hospital,
from the exhibit "Wardy Forty: The Resonance of Ruins."
Color photo of Greystone today and digital collage by Phil Buehler, 2002
B&W photo of Woody and children by Marjorie Guthrie, 1956

Archives Projects
For the first time ever, we launched the Woody Guthrie Educational Curriculum, an early elementary online teacher's guide for Music, Art, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts. During an internship at the Woody Guthrie Archives last summer, Ms. Kubasak, a teacher at the Baker Demonstration School (at National Louis University, Evanston campus, Evanston, IL), contributed her teaching talents, her passion for folk music, and love of Woody Guthrie's work, combining them with archival research to develop these wonderful and unique lesson plans. We hope educators will find the curriculum useful, and helpful in passing down Woody's wisdom to future generations in their classrooms. Kudos to Theresa for a job well done!

We are also encouraged by the increased interest in further developing teaching material. For example, educators David Fishkin and Ellen Groves recently visited the Archives to research political aspects of Woody's work for a possible High School level curriculum. We feel that Woody Guthrie's music, art and literary works would be a natural for Junior and High School students.

Artist Phil Buehler's success with his powerful artwork--inspired in part by his archives research--continues. His multimedia installation, Wardy Forty: The Resonance of Ruins, presents a look at Woody's bout with Huntington's Disease and the impact it had on his life and his family. We commend Phil for this accomplishment. We are now working with Phil to curate an expanded exhibition at The Puffin Cultural Forum. The exhibit will run from January 11 through February 16, 2003 (check our calendar for details).

Woody Guthrie is being honored at the Country Music Hall of Fame in January 2003. As part of the programs related to this event, we are curating several exhibitions, which will be presented in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. To complement this honor, Woody's artwork and photographs will be on display at three different venues : "Bound for Glory: Woody Guthrie's self-illustrated Life Story" at Bongo Java Roasting Company (107 S.11th St., Nashville, TN 37206), "This is the Hand: Woody's Vision of Labor," at Bongo Java (2007 Belmont Blvd., Nashville, TN 37212) and "The Faces of Woody Guthrie: Photographs from the Archives" at Fido (1812 21st Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37212). Go to our News and Events page for more information.

Recent Researchers and Visitors to the Archives
Rosten Woo researched various abodes in NYC that Woody inhabited. Working for Place Matters, Rosten is attempting to show that buildings should be appreciated and preserved not only for their architectural integrity but for cultural heritage as well.

Arthur Zackczkiewicz came in to look at letters written to Woody by students from a 1963 class at Honey Hollow Elementary School. Arthur is working on a personal memoir and the letters came from his own elementary school teacher's class.

Peter Frumkin, a filmmaker from Boston, began research in the Archives for a new documentary he is writing on the life of Woody Guthrie.

Ryan Walsh, a freelance reporter for the Dedham Times was looking for material related to the Sacco and Vanzetti trials for a future story.

Dale Simms was interested in archival management at the WGA.

Peter Cole, a professor at Western Illinois University, came in to research songs Woody wrote for the Bonneville Power Administration for an article on working class ideas of environmentalism.

Lawrence Frank explored the Archives' collection of Woody's postcards to learn more about his own collection.

Journalist Dan Gilgoff and photo researcher Sheryl Mendez from US News and World Report did research for an article on music history.

Peter Glazer, playwright (Woody Guthrie's American Song) and a professor at UC Berkeley, looked at Woody's writings and thoughts regarding the Spanish Civil War for the Lincoln Brigade Archives.

From Ireland, Cormac Looney researched the American dust bowl migration from approximately 1932 to 1940 for a prospective thesis topic.

Henry Foner and Mark Hurwitt are working on curriculum for a new college course on political cartoons -- of course Woody Guthrie's material was a natural draw for this topic!

Musicians working with archival material for recording projects include, all the way from Flagstaff, Arizona, Blackfire, and Boston's own Drop Kick Murphys.

Ellis Paul, who worked with archival material, released his new album, "The Speed of Trees." God's Promise is one of Woody's many unsung songs, for which Ellis wrote the music.

Applications and inquiries should be sent to: