ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER
Fall / Winter 2006

I am very pleased to report that Woody Guthrie is alive and well, and on the road again!

Recently, I have learned that many American colleges and universities are discussing Guthrie to an unprecedented extent. Perhaps it is the present political environment that has spurred growing interest in Woody Guthrie and his music and art, or maybe new technologies have opened up a “space” through which musicians, artists, and academics are brewing new songs and ideas. In any case, Woody’s representation, and its multiple interpretations, is getting out for further assessment and re-evaluation. At one institution where—in the name of full disclosure--I work, Guthrie’s role in American culture is a central focus in both graduate and undergraduate seminars. I have found that students are drawn to this topic like the proverbial “moths to a flame,” as they search for ways to understand where we are historically, culturally, and politically. It was particularly gratifying to me that in one such class more than half the students knew Woody beyond “This Land is Your Land.” There is hope! As the Woody Guthrie Archives continues its focus on education and public programs, we hope to broaden the conversation to include the ways that Guthrie is received and understood by people both in and outside the United States. The Global Woody: Language, Culture, History and Harmony, is one recent addition to the discourse; see our menu of outreach efforts under Exhibits & Programs below. So whatever language, artform, or culture you are connected to, Woody Guthrie is still singing, talking, and ramblin’ round. In this season of change, please join us on this journey. Jorge Arévalo Curator/Head Archivist

Archives Projects

Thanks to Torie Quinonez, our excellent summer intern, we were able to catalogue and re-house a great deal of unprocessed material. This extremely important project will allow researchers to better access this material and, we hope, will provide a more complete picture of Guthrie’s life.

Voices Across Time, an exciting program that seeks to disseminate a new approach to teaching history, English, social studies and other humanities by including music to be studied like any primary text, is using Guthrie’s music as a part of that effort. Developed by University of Pittsburgh professor Deane Root and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the program has received rave reviews all over the country.

Thanks to a generous grant from the BMI Foundation, the project to digitize Woody Guthrie’s song lyrics continues. So far 1,792 song lyrics have been scanned, representing about 65 percent of the Archives’ total collection.

We are currently developing a database that will allow us to better track and maintain exhibits featuring material from the Archives. Interest in these exhibits has grown significantly in the past year or so, thanks largely to the promotional efforts of Anna Canoni. For more information about our exhibits, visit our website at http://www.woodyguthrie.org/programs.htm#exhibits.

Scholarship

As a reminder, the 2006 application deadline for the BMI Woody Guthrie Fellowship is fast approaching (November 1, 2006).

The 2005 BMI-WG Fellows have been hard at work on their various projects. Seth Archer was in the Archives November 10-11, 2005, listening to Joe Klein’s interviews with Jeff and Claude Guthrie. Based on this research, he wrote an article, “Reading the Riot Acts,” which deals with Woody Guthrie’s responses to the lynching of Laura Nelson and her son in Okemah in 1911. This article will be published in the Fall 2006 issue of Southwest Review. Archer has written other articles on this same topic, which are currently being considered for publication by The Oxford American and Hudson Review.

A visual artist, Farrell Moose has completed 13 large paintings, as well as a number of preliminary sketches and drawings, which are inspired by Guthrie song lyrics he selected during his research in the Archives. Several of these paintings were exhibited at the gallery of Boston University’s School of the Arts during April. He also plans to create a limited-edition book with selected prints of his original artwork, as well as an accompanying artist’s statement. Future exhibitions of the Guthrie-inspired paintings are planned at Western Carolina University (Spring 2007) and Pfeiffer University (date TBA).

After four days of intensive archival research in January, as well as library research at the University of Minnesota, Mark Pedelty wrote an article analyzing Guthrie’s famous Columbia River song cycle, produced while under employment by the Bonneville Power Authority. Titled “Woody Guthrie and the Columbia River: Propaganda, Art and Irony,” this extensive article was submitted to Popular Music and Society in early August and has been tentatively accepted for publication.

Based on research conducted at the Archives, the New York Public Library and the New York City Municipal Archives, Ed Shannon presented a paper titled “This Song was Written in New York City: A History of This Land is Your Land” at a the 2006 North East Modern Language Association (NEMLA) conference. He plans to present a paper tentatively titled “A Mighty Hard Road: The Natural World and Woody Guthrie’s Political Evolution, 1935-1941” at next year’s NEMLA conference.

Exhibitions and Programs

Strokes of Electricity: The ArtWorks of Woody Guthrie was on display at the Okemah, Oklahoma Free Folk Festival from July 12th to 16th. The exhibit was an overwhelming success, and the organizers of the festival have asked us to return next year with another exhibit.

A special exhibit, curated by Anna Canoni, was on display at the Jacob Burns Film center in Pleasantville, New York from July 7th through August 21st to accompany the world premiere screening of Woody Guthrie: Ain’t Got No Home, Peter Frumkin’s new documentary. Due to the enthusiastic response this still-untitled exhibit drew, it will be added to our roster of traveling exhibits.

The Morgan Library will be hosting Bob Dylan’s American Journey, a traveling exhibit organized by the Experience Music Project, which includes rare and original Woody Guthrie material. This exhibit opens on September 29th, and runs through January 6th.

Along with Anna Canoni, the Archives is developing a special exhibit, titled Note of Hope, for the residents of New Jersey’s Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital and their families. Guthrie was a patient at Greystone for several years in the mid-1950’s.

We are pleased and excited to announce that our new presentation, Global Woody: Language, Culture, History and Harmony, is finally completed and available for booking. If you are interested in bringing this fascinating exploration of Guthrie’s influence on a global level to your school, organization or institution, please contact Anna Canoni, or visit our Programs & Exhibits page.

New Productions and Publications

The Klezmatics released Wonder Wheel on July 25th to overwhelmingly positive reviews. This album consists of Woody Guthrie lyrics from the Archives set to music by the Klezmatics, under the direction of Nora Guthrie. The Klezmatics also plan to release a new version of their 2004 album Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanuka, which features a selection of Guthrie’s Hanuka-related lyrics, some of which were also set to music by the band.

The Archives has provided photographs and a short biography of Guthrie to the Oklahoma Department of Libraries in support of their 2007 Centennial Summer Reading Program. A set of trading cards representing notable Oklahomans, one of whom is Woody Guthrie, will be produced, as well as an accompanying poster.

The Oklahoma Heritage Association, home of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame into which Woody Guthrie has just been inducted, is also developing a short documentary film on Guthrie that will become a part of their permanent exhibit. The film will feature a number of photographs from the Archives.

A new documentary about the life of Joe Strummer, former lead singer of The Clash, will feature material from the archives. The film, titled Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, is being produced by Nitrate Films Ltd., a London-based production company, and is directed by Julien Temple (The Great Rock & Roll Swindle (1980), The Filth and the Fury (2000)), and will be released in early 2007.

California History, the magazine of the California Historical Society, will publish an article on the Woody Sez columns written by Guthrie in the late 30’s for People’s World.

This fall, The University of California Press will publish Proud to Be an Okie: Migration, Identity, and the Cultural Politics of Country Music in Los Angeles, a new book by Peter La Chapelle, which includes research and photographs from the Archives.

Recent Researchers and Visitors to the Archives

Over the last few months, we have had visitors from near and far. Sophi Hronopoulos came all the way from Tokyo, Japan to look at original song lyrics. Sophi’s lesson plans based on two Guthrie lyrics recorded by Navajo punk band Blackfire can be viewed on our website at http://www.woodyguthrie.org/curriculum/curriculumhome.htm. Our friend John Rees, from Wales, visited to look at the unpublished songs and writings of Guthrie. Closer to home, Brooklyn-based freelance writer Amanda Petrusich stopped by to research Guthrie’s influence on current folk music for her book It Still Moves.

Special Accessions

The Archives recently received an unusual and rare gift of a wooden frame hand drum, signed by Woody Guthrie from Jim Norman. Norman’s parents John and Bess were given the drum by Guthrie in 1951. We are extremely grateful to Mr. Norman for his generosity.

Native American musician Keith Secola donated a copy of his award-winning album Native Americana: A Coupstick, which includes a version of This Land is Your Land sung in Ojibwe, his first language.

We also received a transcription of Guthrie’s original play “My Forsaken Bibel,” which he wrote in September of 1956 while a patient at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. Our good friend Jim Pollard spent a great deal of time and effort transcribing the play, for which we are truly thankful.

A number of scholars have donated copies of their theses, relating to Guthrie, to the Archives. Kelly Spurgeon sent us his Ph.D. thesis from the University of Kansas, “Woody Guthrie and John Dewey: Pedagogy of the Expressed,” and Kelley Ballantine gave us “Woody’s Road: Woody Guthrie and his Masterplot,” her B.A. thesis from the New College of Florida.

Young filmmaker Melissa Mergner sent us a copy of her film Woody Guthrie: Spokesperson for the Common Man, which won Best Individual Documentary for state of Maryland in the National History Day competition.

Internship Opportunities

We are a small, but very busy office. If you are interested in internship or volunteer opportunities at the Woody Guthrie Archives, please submit a resume, a brief proposal of the type of work you are interested in doing, and a list of three references.

We are presently interested in candidates with the following credentials:

- Experience in maintaining, developing and designing web site content.
- Interest in transcribing Woody Guthrie's original song lyrics.
- Background in cataloging archival material

Other tasks may include answering general reference calls, providing administrative support, and helping out with various archives projects.

Ideal candidates will have a background in archival or library science, museum studies, music history, or a related area. An interest in, and special knowledge of, Woody Guthrie and folk music is a plus, as are A/V skills.

Applications and inquiries should be sent to:
Archivist
Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives
250 West 57th St., Suite 1218
New York, NY 10107
wgarchive@woodyguthrie.org

Applications for Conducting Research at the Archives:
Encouraged by the range of scholarship, creativity, and inspiration that the Woody Guthrie Collection offers, the Archives welcomes researchers, scholars, artists, musicians, publishers, filmmakers, and those pursuing interests related to the life, works, and times of Woody Guthrie.

Interested researchers must complete an Application for Research Form. Successful applicants are invited to set up an appointment with the archivist on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays between 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

We encourage visitors to look at the Online Collection Finding Aids on our website before visiting the archives. At this time, due to limited staff time and to protect the delicate collection, we are unable to accommodate general interest visits. We hope that our ever-improving website will satisfy general interest.

For further information or questions, please contact the archivist.