On this day in Labor History the year was 1967.
That was the day that the “Dust-bowl Troubadour,” Woody Guthrie, died.
Over the course of his life, Woody Guthrie wrote almost 3,000 songs.
He was one of the thousands of people who took the road during the Great Depression, swept into wandering by the winds that churned the Dust Bowl.
In an interview with NPR, fellow folk music legend Pete Seeger described Guthrie’s influence, “We all read about music being part of people’s lives, but I hadn’t seen it in action until I met him. The words that came out of his mouth and the music he made all flowed together with the life that he had led and I was greatly attracted to it and kind of tagged along with him for several months. Woody showed me how to hitchhike and how to ride freight trains, how to sing in saloons.”
A 2013 article in Paste magazine summarized Guthrie’s legacy writing, “No artist…has ever expressed a deeper will to fight against oppression and the rights of “the little guy” than Woody Guthrie.”
Iconic author John Steinbeck wrote this vivid description, “Harsh-voiced and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings. But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of a people to endure and fight against oppression. I think we call this the American spirit.”
December 21 - Red Scare Deportations Begin
December 20 - THE UNION IS DISSOLVED!!!
December 19 - Solidarity Gets the Goods!
December 18 - No More Beer
December 17 - Unraveling Anti-Japanese Hysteria
December 16 - No Justice, No Bagels!
December 15 - Troops Put Down the Mother’s March
December 14 - Another Hard Fought Victory
December 13 - The Beginning of the End of Apartheid
December 12 - We Disaffiliate!
December 11 - Right to Work is a Lie!
December 10 - August Spies is Born
December 9 - The Cordiner Doctrine
December 8 - The American Federation of Labor is Founded
December 7 - Strong Arming Goldminers
December 6 - Breaking Through the Racial Divide
December 5 - Striking in Solidarity
December 4 - Organizing to End Slavery
December 3 - Learning & Labor at Oberlin
December 2 - 21st Century Corporate Greed
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