Woody Guthrie 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: Guthrie, Woody, 1912-1967
label: Names
content: Guthrie, Woody, 1912-1967
topic: label: Topic
content: Music -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Folk music
label: Topic
content: Popular music -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Vocal music
label: Topic
content: Music -- 18th century
label: Topic
content: Folk music -- United States
creator: label: Creator
content: Guthrie, Woody, 1912-1967
setName: label: See more items in
content: Woody Guthrie papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Original song text, music, drawings, correspondence, and other writings by Woody Guthrie; news clippings, articles, correspondence, and business records related to Woody Guthrie. Date span: 1927-1985. Bulk dates: Guthrie song text, writings, and drawings, 1940-1948; correspondence by and to Woody Guthrie, 1944-1951; correspondence regarding Woody Guthrie, 1956-1977.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Woodrow (Woody) Wilson Guthrie (1912-1967) was one of the most important folk composers in American history. Born in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie's name is associated with the common people and those displaced by the Great Dust Storms of the 1930's. He was a prolific songwriter, and his song "This Land is Your Land" is considered by many to be his best known. During the height of his short recording career Guthrie recorded with many of the best-known folk singers and players in the New York area. A one time member of the Almanac Singers with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Bess Hawes and others, Woody also frequently performed with Lead Belly, Burl Ives, Cisco Houston and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Guthrie's earliest recordings were done for RCA and came out as a set entitled Dust Bowl Ballads, later reissued by Folkways.

It was Guthrie's association with Moses Asch of Folkways Records which yielded the bulk of Guthrie's recorded legacy. Guthrie was given a stipend by Asch to come by the studio when he felt like recording. A one day session in March 1944, yielded 75 recorded songs alone. His songs were recorded on glass discs which now reside in the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Much of this material was released by Asch on various Asch, Disc and Folkways recordings, including his classic children's material.

Although known for his music, Guthrie was also an artist. Among the materials that came with the Folkways Records Collection are watercolors and pen and ink drawings. He also was a writer of note, his most famous work being the novel "Bound for Glory". Historians have begun to consider Guthrie an important literary figure of the 20th century. The Woody Guthrie Papers, including typed song lyrics, correspondence, drawings, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous items, were left with Moses Asch, and came to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections as part of the Moses and Frances Asch Collection. Guthrie died of Huntington's Chorea in 1967 after a long hospitalization.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.93 Cubic feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1912-1977
label: Date
content: bulk 1940-1951
custodhist: label: Provenance
content: The Smithsonian Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives acquired the Woody Guthrie Papers in 1987 with the purchase of the Moses and Frances Asch (Folkways) Collection. The Asch Collection holds the business papers and original recordings of the Folkways record label. Within these materials Guthrie left behind hundreds of documents, including original typescript and manuscript writings, drawings, correspondence, and clippings, which comprises the Woody Guthrie Papers.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.GUTH
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Business letters
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Business records
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Arranged in boxes and map files by type of material. The major groupings are song texts, drawings, correspondence, and clippings.
processinfo: label: Processing Information note
content: Prepared by Anne S. Abaeo, Amy Roberson, and Stephanie Smith, 2004, based on the original inventory by Jeff Place and Lori Elaine Taylor.

Encoded by Brittany Dunton, December 2011.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Business letters
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
relatedmaterial: label: Related Archival Materials note
content: The Woody Guthrie Archives, Mt. Kisco, NY

Woody Guthrie manuscript collection, Washington, D.C.

This collection is part of the Moses and Frances Asch Collection.