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Woodrow Wilson Guthrie ( / ˈɡʌθri /; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and composer who was one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as "This ...
- Early Life
- Burst of Creativity
- Dust Bowl Ballads
- Back West
- New York and War
- Illness and Legacy
- Sources
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma. He was the third of five children, and both his parents were interested in music. The town of Okemah was only about ten years old, recently settled by transplants who brought musical traditions and instruments with them. As a child, Guthrie heard church music, songs from the Appala...
His arrival in the big city in February 1940 sparked a burst of creativity. Staying at the Hanover House, a small hotel near Times Square, he wrote down, on February 23, 1940, the lyrics for what would become his most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land." The song had been in his head as he'd traveled across the country. The song "God Bless Americ...
In the spring of 1940, while based in New York, Guthrie traveled to the Victor Records studio in Camden, New Jersey. He recorded a collection of songs he had written about the Dust Bowl and the "Okies" of the Great Depression who had left the devastated farmlands of the Midwest for a grueling trip to California. The resulting album (folios of 78-rp...
Despite his success, Guthrie was restless in New York City. In a new car he'd been able to purchase, he drove his family back to Los Angeles, where he discovered work was scarce. He took a job for the federal government, for a New Deal agencyin the Pacific Northwest, the Bonneville Power Administration. Guthrie was paid $266 to interview workers on...
Based in New York as the city began to mobilize for war following the Pearl Harbor attack, Guthrie began writing songs supporting the American war effort and denouncing fascism. Photographs of him taken during this period often show him playing a guitar with the sign on it: "This Machine Kills Fascists." During the war years he wrote a memoir, Boun...
Guthrie remarried and had more children. But his life took a dark turn when he began to be afflicted with the onset of Huntington's chorea, the hereditary disease which had killed his mother. As the disease attacks brain cells, the effects are profound. Guthrie slowly lost his ability to control his muscles, and had to be hospitalized. As a new gen...
"Guthrie, Woody." UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, edited by Laura B. Tyle, vol. 5, UXL, 2003, pp. 838-841. Gale Virtual Reference Library."Guthrie, Woody." Great Depression and the New Deal Reference Library, edited by Allison McNeill, et al., vol. 2: Biographies, UXL, 2003, pp. 88-94. Gale Virtual Reference Library."Guthrie, Woody 1912–1967." Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, edited by Mary Ruby, vol. 256, Gale, 2014, pp. 170-174. Gale Virtual Reference Library.People also ask
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Oct 3, 2023 · Woody Guthrie wrote more than 1,000 songs, including "So Long (It's Been Good to Know Yuh)" and "Union Maid." After serving in WWII, he continued to perform for farmer and worker groups. "This ...
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The two men became fast and loyal friends. (Seeger even accompanied Guthrie back to Texas to meet the other members of the Guthrie family.) Guthrie’s friend and fellow singer, Pete Seeger.
- James R. Coffey
Honored by SHOF with Pioneer Award in 2012. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma, the second-born son to Charles and Nora Guthrie. Woody was both a precocious and unconventional boy from the start. A keen observer of the world around him, during his early years in Oklahoma, Woody experienced the first in a ...
The Great Dust Bowl Years 1931–1937 Pampa, Texas. At age 19, Woody headed for Texas. He met Mary Jennings, the younger sister of a friend and musician, Matt Jennings. They lived in the panhandle town of Pampa. Following a reasonable courtship, Woody and Mary were married in 1933 and had three children, Gwen, Sue and Bill.
Apr 23, 2001 · Born Woodrow Wilson Guthrie on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma, he learned harmonica as a child and by age 16 began his life as an itinerant musician. By the early 1940s, he was associated with other folkies of the era including Cisco Houston, Leadbelly, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and co-founded the Almanac Singers with Pete Seeger, Lee ...
