Recovering American radicalism: Woody Guthrie through text and performance
Submitting Institution
University of Central LancashireUnit of Assessment
English Language and LiteratureSummary Impact Type
CulturalResearch Subject Area(s)
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Summary of the impact
The primary object has been to reify the buried American radical
tradition through text- and performance-based focus on the US songwriter
Woody Guthrie. Kaufman seeks to establish and broadcast Guthrie's role in
the development of a radical sphere that has been largely airbrushed out
of post-McCarthyite American history and culture. The research is not to
be disseminated solely through the book Woody Guthrie, American Radical
(2011) and scholarly essays but also through a series of public
performances foregrounding Guthrie's political activism. Impact has been
at least twofold: (1) on cultural and historical awareness, establishing
through attention to Guthrie a (re)awakened sense of radical American
culture and history; (2) economic, in terms of revenues brought to
charities, organisations and venues hosting Kaufman's performances.
Underpinning research
For the book and journal articles: Kaufman (Professor of American
Literature and Culture) was the sole researcher for the first political
biography of Woody Guthrie. The bulk of the research (2008-10) was
archival, taking place at the Woody Guthrie Archives in New York, the
Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress in Washington, and two
private collections - the Barry Ollman collection in Denver and the Ronald
D. Cohen collection in Gary, Indiana. Through examination of songs,
letters, newspaper columns and essays - many of which had never been
published - Kaufman charted the development of Guthrie's radical ethos and
political activism from his arrival in California from the Dust Bowl in
1937, through his immersion into the Popular Front in both California and
New York, the writing of his Columbia River anthems, his wartime CIO
agitation and his Merchant Marine/US Army experience. Guthrie's radical
post-war initiatives were examined in relation to two significant areas:
the dismantling of Jim Crow segregation and the anti-communist backlash.
Kaufman explored Guthrie's anti-racism through his musical engagement with
lynching, miscarriages of justice and the oppression of African American
veterans, while Guthrie's reactions to the Cold War were examined in the
context of the anti-communist purge of American labour unions and the
red-baiting of radical musicians, impacting upon initiatives in which
Guthrie participated including the People's Songs movement, the Henry
Wallace presidential campaign of 1948 and the riots marring Paul Robeson's
Peekskill concert of 1949 (Kaufman was the first scholar to establish
Guthrie's physical presence at Peekskill). While Guthrie's descent into
Huntington's Disease substantially removed him from the public sphere
after 1952, he continued to wrestle creatively with the phenomena of Jim
Crow, McCarthyism and the Cold War through a large body of unpublished
songs and writings. Kaufman engaged with these late writings as Guthrie's
final, often belligerent expressions of radical conviction before his work
was taken up and perpetuated by the next generation of protest singers who
came to be known as 'Woody's Children' (Baez, Paxton, Dylan, Ochs et al).
For the performance pieces: Kaufman has developed two `live
musical documentaries' for public presentation. The first, Woody
Guthrie: Hard Times and Hard Travelin', sets Guthrie's songs (among
others) in the context of the American 1930s - the Dust Bowl, the
Depression, the New Deal and the state of popular music itself, charting
through musical performance, historical narrative and projected visual
images the development of Guthrie's political awareness, culminating in
the writing of `This Land is Your Land' (1940). The second, Woody
Guthrie: The Long Road to Peekskill (formerly `All You Jim Crow
Fascists!' Woody Guthrie's Freedom Songs), focuses solely on a
lesser known aspect of Guthrie's work: his engagement with race and racial
oppression. Most of the songs in this show were never recorded, but they
are the legacy of Guthrie's own personal transformation from a casual
Oklahoma racist in his youth to the committed civil rights activist who
held the line against American fascism during the Peekskill riots of 1949.
The extensive research for both pieces required the uncovering and
learning of song renditions, identifying visual images, and locating
primary and secondary narrative materials.
References to the research
Key outputs
Monograph
Will Kaufman, Woody Guthrie, American Radical (Chicago and
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2011). Italian translation by Seba
Pezzani (Rome: Arcana, 2012).
Journal article
Will Kaufman, `Woody Guthrie's Union War', Hungarian Journal of
English and American Studies 16, nos. 1-2 (2010): 109-124.
Book chapters
Will Kaufman, `Woody Guthrie and the Cultural Front', in John S.
Partington, ed., The Life, Music and Thought of Woody Guthrie: A
Critical Appraisal (Farnham, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011):
35-49.
Will Kaufman, `Woody Guthrie at the Crossroads', in Neil Wynn and Jill
Terry, eds., Transatlantic Roots Music: Folk, Blues and National
Identities (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012).
Public performances
Over 175 since January 2008 throughout the UK, Ireland, continental
Europe and the United States, including performances at Glastonbury, the
Bath Music Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, a coast-to-coast US tour
in 2011 and film/radio coverage (NPR, PBS, C-Span). See www.willkaufman.com
for filmed performances, programme descriptions, links to US media
appearances (Democracy Now!, C-Span's Book-TV and National
Public Radio) and - on the tab "Gigs and Contact" - a complete list of
performances in the census period.
Key grants
BMI-Woody Guthrie Fellowship (2008, $2500) and AHRC Fellowship (2009,
£34,000) for research at Woody Guthrie Archives and public dissemination
through US performances.
Details of the impact
The book's potential impact on the reading public - both outside
and inside of academe - is asserted by the pre-eminent US folk music
scholar, Ronald D. Cohen, who calls it `a fresh, challenging look at Woody
Guthrie's political life and musical contributions'. Music historian Clark
D. Halker deems it `a much needed and extremely valuable book on Woody
Guthrie', arguing that `examining Guthrie in this broader historical and
cultural framework yields new insights into both Guthrie and radicalism'.
Kirkus Reviews calls it `an overdue rediscovery of folk music's
great agitator', whilst Utopian Studies calls it `a stunning
accomplishment and the first sustained monograph on Guthrie's political
involvements, opinions, and impacts'. For the American Music Review
it is `unquestionably the most significant scholarly work to emerge around
the [Guthrie] Centennial'. The publication led to an hour long interview
on the US news programme Democracy Now!, a broadcast on C-Span's'
Book-TV show, extensive interviews on US National Public Radio,
positive notices in the New York Times and the Guardian,
an appearance in a forthcoming French documentary, Mais ou est donc
passé Woody and a consultancy with Douglas Brinkley and Johnny Depp
for their publication of Guthrie's lost novel, House of Earth (in
which they refer to Kaufman as one of "two great Guthrie scholars"). The
book was translated into Italian in 2012, with major notices and
interviews in the three major Italian broadsheets, La Republicca,
La Stampa and Il Tiempo. In personal correspondence, two of
the English-speaking world's greatest folk musicians describe the book's
impact upon them. Ralph McTell: `The book is a true revelation and threw a
different light on Woody for me'; Andy Irvine: `It really opened my eyes
to Woody as the fierce radical he was!' And a `vox pop' from Goodreads:
`So much of labor history is little known in this country and this book is
important in filling in some of those gaps in knowledge'.
A selection of responses to Kaufman's performances attests to
their impact in terms of historical and cultural awareness: `[It was]
invaluable for those of us whose teachers inexplicably skipped the chapter
on early 20th century American history. He has a relaxed style; with well
rehearsed one-liners and a deep knowledge of the subject ... but although
I learned a great deal, I never felt that I was being lectured at. A lot
of the time, he feels more like a story-teller than an academic speaker' (http://www.andrewrilstone.com/2010/04/will-kaufman-jazzfutureinns-bristol-
24.html). From Ralph McTell's blog, 24 April 2010: `On Friday
evening I attended the Bodmin Folk Club and listened spellbound to the
wonderful Will Kaufman's one man show on the life of one of my musical and
spiritual heroes, Woody Guthrie. I cannot recommend this performance too
highly... In Will Kaufman's show you will see and hear in graphic and
affectionate detail why this writer has inspired so many guitar singer
songwriters. I was deeply moved by the whole performance. Try to catch
Will sometime'. (http://www.ralphmctell.co.uk/journal_apr.php).
From a young audience member in Connecticut, after a performance tied in
with the NEH `Big Read' initiative focused on The Grapes of Wrath
(15 October 2010): `The combination of the slides, songs, and stories was
so interesting and entertaining at the same time. Sometimes it was quite
sad and other times he made us laugh, but I felt like I was transported to
another time and place and it made me want to revisit the novel once
again' (http://www.nea.gov/bigreadblog/?cat=8).
From an audience member, July 2013: `What a way to kick off a series of
gigs at La Dolce Vita. `Exploring the thirties in USA is like exploring
the world as it is today. But as WG himself said: if you've got a song,
you've got a way of changing things. This was not just a moving musical
documentary but an education in resistance.' Spin-off and return
invitations are common - hence externally funded presentations in 2013 at
the Woody Guthrie Center in Oklahoma, a return to the Shetland WordPlay
Festival, and a return to Westchester, New York, for a commemoration of
the 1949 Peekskill Riots, sharing the bill exclusively with Pete Seeger.
Kaufman's performances have also generated real economic impact,
as he regularly plays fundraising benefits for the likes of the People's
History Museum, the Woody Guthrie Foundation, the Working Class Movement
Library, the American Labor Museum, Windows for Peace, AsylumLink, the
TUC, the Fire Brigades Union, the Los Angeles Carwashero's Union, the
Brighton Unemployment Centre and many other charities and organisations.
(Indicative evidence: email from Windows for Peace organiser, 21 February
2013: `Tickets are going well. We have well over 100 booking so far - and
they are still coming in'; Facebook notice from the Sheffield Committee to
Defend Asylum Seekers, 14 October 2012: `We had 70 people filling Cafe
Harland for an informational and inspiring night, courtesy of Will
Kaufman. Still got ticket money coming in but the scores on the doors are
£423 taken'; email from Freedom From Torture organiser, 7 October 2013:
`All I want say is summed up in one comment from a punter. They said the
work the charity is involved in really came home to them when they
listened to you singing and saw those extraordinary photos. We raised £600
and as I hoped celebrated a great charity. Thank you for being such a
vital and inspiring part of that'.
Kaufman's reputation for high impact among his peers is reflected in his
inclusion as a case study for the British Association for American Studies
publication, American Studies in the UK: Impact and Public Engagement
(2013) and an invitation to the University of Derby to address their
Impact conference (2013). High-profile performers such as Pete Seeger, Tom
Paxton, Ralph McTell and Ry Cooder have publically attested to the impact
of Kaufman's performances (see endorsements on www.willkaufman.com).
Sources to corroborate the impact
Feedback survey on public performance of Woody Guthrie: Hard Times
and Hard Travelin', UCLan, 6 March 2013 - available on request from
UCLan. British Association for American Studies, American Studies in
the UK: Impact and Public Engagement (2013) (see p. 6): http://www.baas.ac.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2010/03/impact%20brochure_28web29.pdf
Guardian profile, 22 August 2011: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/aug/22/woody-
guthrie-politics-
biography-kaufman
Democracy Now! appearance, 4 July 2012:
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/4/woody_guthrie_at_100_pete_seeger
- syndicated over 1,000 television, radio, cable and internet stations
worldwide. 2.7K Facebook `likes', 397 tweets, 577 shares as of 13
September 2013.
Blog review by Shahrar Ali of the London Young Greens, following June
2013 benefit performance:
http://shahrarali.net/younggreens-kaufman-woodyguthrie/
Performance review, Leicester Secularist, November 2012 (see p.
5):
http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/newsletter/secularist_201211_45.pdf
Performance review and interview, C-Ville Weekly
(Charlottesville, Virginia), 16 August 2011:
http://www.c-
ville.com/Revamping_Woody_Author_Kaufman_wants_to_renovate_Guthries_legacy/#.USTtVDIg
Gc0
Interview in Salt Lake City Weekly, 7 July 2011:
http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-137-14399- will-kaufman.html
The Guardian on benefit performance for the Working Class Movement
Library, 7 May 2012:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/may/07/salford-museums-
workingcalssmovementlibrary-woodyguthrie-islaingtonmill
Review essay on Italian translation of Woody Guthrie, American
Radical: La Republicca (Magazine La Domenica), 1
July 2012 (see pp. 34-35):
http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/domenica/2012/01072012.pdf