Lee Hays papers
odd: label: Shared Stewardship of Collections
content: The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
name: label: Creator
content: Hays, Lee, 1914-1981
label: Names
content: Almanac Singers
label: Names
content: Baby Sitters (Musical group)
label: Names
content: United States. Congress
label: Names
content: Weavers (Musical group)
label: Names
content: Gilbert, Ronnie
label: Names
content: Guthrie, Woody, 1912-1967
label: Names
content: Hays, Lee, 1914-1981
label: Names
content: Houston, Cisco
label: Names
content: Lampell, Millard, 1919-1997
label: Names
content: Leventhal, Harold
label: Names
content: Seeger, Pete, 1919-2014
topic: label: Topic
content: Political ballads and songs -- United States
label: Topic
content: Folk music -- United States
label: Topic
content: Topical songs -- United States
label: Topic
content: Popular music -- 20th century -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acquired the "Lee Hays Archives" in 1992 as a donation from Harold C. Leventhal and Doris Kaplan, who acquired the collection upon Lee Hays' death in 1981. The donation included materials produced by Lee Hays, as well as materials of interest to him that were found in his possession.
creator: label: Creator
content: Hays, Lee, 1914-1981
setName: label: See more items in
content: Lee Hays papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Lee Hays papers measures 7.85 cubic feet and dates from 1923 to 1981. The collection includes original writings, correspondence, and miscellaneous projects by Lee Hays; business records, interviews and features related to Lee Hays, including photographs; clippings saved by Lee Hays; and audiorecordings made by Lee Hays.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Lee Hays (1914-1981) was an influential American singer, songwriter, author, and activist. His legacy, both literary and musical, emphasizes the dynamic relationship between traditional culture and contemporary events and issues. As is clear from his essay "The Folk Song Bridge", Hays conceived of "folk music" as a living, breathing "process". Born in Arkansas in 1914 to a Methodist preacher, Hays' first experiences with music revolved around the church. His political awakening came later, when he returned to Arkansas from Ohio in 1934. Under the wing of mentors such as Claude Williams and Zilphia Horton (maiden name: Zilphia Johnson), Hays began to fight for the cause of sharecroppers and union workers. His musical ability and passion for social justice came together as he used music to represent the voice of labor, replacing the religious motifs of traditional and gospel songs with pro-union themes.

Upon moving to the North in 1940, Hays met Pete Seeger, another musician of the Folk Revival. Hays and Seeger shared the common goal of spreading political topical songs, and their collaborations with Woody Guthrie and Millard Lampell led to the creation of the Almanac Singers the same year. Later, the four band members, along with other musicians such as Burl Ives and Sis Cunningham, established the People's Songs organization and publication to create and distribute labor songs. However, interpersonal conflicts with members, including Pete Seeger, led to Hays' pressured resignation from both of these endeavors. He moved in with his mentor, Walter Lowenfels, and began to focus more on his writing. Though Hays was a prolific writer whose work spanned articles, essays, short stories, poetry, and songs, he is rarely recognized for his literary achievement. His writing often centered on the social and political themes for which he is best known—labor rights, racism, poverty and inequality—and used vernacular culture and narrative to address those problems.

Seeger and Hays eventually made amends, and in 1948 they formed The Weavers with Fred Hellerman and Ronnie Gilbert, bringing music of the Folk Revival to a national audience. However, as the Red Scare impacted the American political climate into the 1950s, the Weavers were blacklisted and ultimately had to disband. Though he was under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and had no steady income, Hays continued to write both fiction and non-fiction during the three year blacklisting. In 1955, the Weavers finally reunited for a highly successful revival under manager Harold C. Leventhal, but as years passed, the group split up again, and Hays began to focus on other projects. It was at this time that he produced the bulk of his memoirs, began a project on Cisco Houston, and recorded folk music for children with his group The Baby Sitters. In 1980, the Weavers reunited for a concert in Carnegie Hall and Hays' last performance with them was in 1981. Hays died in 1981 as a result of diabetic cardiovascular disease.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6.95 Cubic feet (Papers)
label: Extent
content: 0.9 Cubic feet (Audiorecordings)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1923-1981
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.HAYS
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sheet music
label: Type
content: Notes
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Scripts (documents)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The Lee Hays papers, are divided into seven series: 1) Correspondence, 2) Business, 3) Projects and Writings, 4) Collected Texts, 5) Interviews, 6) Features on Lee Hays and 7) Audio Recordings. 

The Correspondence Series is divided into two subseries: 1) Personal, and 2) Business.
 
The Projects and Writings series is divided into six subseries: 1) Songs, 2) Non-Fiction, 3) Fiction, 4) Musical Productions, 5) Radio Scripts, and 6) Cisco Houston Project. 

When possible, folders are arranged within series and subseries in alphabetical order by file title, and within folders in chronological order with undated items at the top.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: An original, basic processing and preliminary inventory of the Lee Hays Collection was done by Lori Elaine Taylor following its donation in 1992. In 2008, the collection was analyzed and re-organized to group like materials together in series and subseries in chronological order by Amulya Mandava. No new items have been added to the collection. 

In 2014, the collection was processed a final time by Elizabeth Lalley and Greg Adams to prepare it for digitization. This consisted of rethinking organization; moving folders and re-structuring sub-series; and re-forming series 6 into "Collected Texts" (series 6 was formerly known as "Clippings").    

The first draft of the EAD finding aid was encoded by Brittany Dunton, December 2011, with continued work in Summer 2014 by Cecilia Peterson, Greg Adams, Elizabeth Lalley, Nichole Procopenko, and Jenny Furnas.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sheet music
label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Scripts (documents)
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Lee Hays papers, which date from 1923-1981, contain personal and business correspondence; typescripts of Lee Hays' fiction, non-fiction, scripts and poetry; miscellaneous project and idea materials; business documents; and audiorecordings made by Lee Hays. The collection measures 7.85 cubic feet.