Woody Guthrie was a folk singer and songwriter born in 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma who used his music to advocate for social and economic justice. He wrote songs about working people and the struggles of migrant workers during the Dust Bowl era. Though he believed strongly in nonviolence, he supported fighting fascism in World War 2. Many 1960s folk artists like Bob Dylan were inspired by Guthrie's commitment to justice through his music. He suffered from Huntington's disease and died in 1967 at age 55, leaving a legacy of songs that gave voice to the voiceless.

1. Woody Guthrie – Nonviolence
Peace and Justice through Music
By Elizabeth Marsden

2. About Woody Guthrie
• Woody Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912 in Okemah,
Oklahoma – This year would have been his 100th birthday
• He was named after Woodrow Wilson – the Democratic
Presidential candidate
• His mother, Nora suffered from Huntington’s Disease – a
genetic defect that was passed on to Woody
• As a boy growing up in Oklahoma, Woody learned to play
the guitar by ear
• He married at age 19 and wrote songs about working
people
• Woody Guthrie achieved fame in the late 1930’s singing
folk songs on KFVD Radio in Los Angeles, CA

3. Woody Guthrie’s Birthplace –
Okemah, Oklahoma

4. Woody Guthrie’s Family
This picture shows Woody Guthrie as a child
with his Mother, Father and Brother

5. About Woody Guthrie
A young Woody Guthrie with his first wife
Mary Jennings and their three children

6. About Woody Guthrie
• In 1937, Woody moved to Los Angeles,
California; began performing on radio station
KFVD

7. “Dust Bowl Refuges”
In 1938, Woody traveled to investigate the
living and working conditions of migrant
workers on assignment for The
Lightnewspaper and wrote "Dust Bowl
Refugees.“ Some vintage footage of Woody
Guthrie performing songs about the lives of
migrant workers can be seen at the link
below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZoGOLvdMo0

8. The Ballard of Pretty Boy Floyd
In 1939, five years after the death of the
Oklahoma outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd, Woody
Guthrie wrote “The Ballard of Pretty Boy
Floyd”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4YKUJZI5Bg

9. Pretty Boy Floyd Lyrics
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.

10. About Woody Guthrie
In 1940, Woody began his autobiography –“Bound
for Glory”
It was published in 1943
“My eyes has been my camera taking
pictures of the world and my songs has
been my messages that I tried to scatter
across the back sides and along the steps
of the fire escapes and on the window
sills and through the dark halls”

11. “ This Land is Your Land”
In 1940, after tiring of hearing Irving Berlin's
“God Bless America” played on the radio,
Woody wrote his most famous song – “This
land is your land”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE

12. 1913 Massacre
In 1941, Woody wrote and recorded a song
about the deaths of immigrant copper miners
and their children in Calumet, Michigan, on
Christmas Eve in 1913. The song was first
appeared on “Struggle Number 1”, an album
of labor songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxxKWGTtjNM

13. 1913 Massacre
Seventy three people
died in the Italian Hall
massacre on
Christmas Eve – 1913
Many of the dead
were children
This photograph
shows the bodies of
some of the children
who died in the fire.

14. Woody Guthrie and the Almanac
Singers
In the summer of 1941, Woody joined the
Almanac Singers in New York for a cross-
country summer tour

15. Woody Guthrie and The Second
World War
Although Woody had dedicated his life to the
plight of working men and women and had
strong views on nonviolence, he strongly
supported the war against fascism. He had the
words “This machine kills fascists” painted
onto his guitar.
He enlisted in the Merchant Marines in 1943
He was drafted into the army in 1945 as the
Second World War was ending

16. Woody Guthrie and Nonviolence
Woody Guthrie was a paradox. He believed in
nonviolence to accomplish social justice, but had the
words "This machine kills fascists" painted on his
guitar. He was a product of his time. The Second
World War set the stage for a more enlightened
world.
His passion was social injustice and he believed in
using his music and words to achieve equality by
nonviolent means.

17. Woody Guthrie and Nonviolence
Woody Guthrie’s belief in nonviolence is
expressed in the songs he wrote and in the
very fact that he sought to achieve social and
economic equality in the United States
through music.
One his songs titled “I’ve Got to Know” sums
up his views on violence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyo_Hilxlj0

18. “I’ve Got to Know”
I've got to know, yes, I've got to know, friend;
Hungry lips ask me wherever I go!
Comrades and friends all falling around me
I've got to know, yes, I've got to know.
Why do your war boats ride on my waters?
Why do your death bombs fall from my skies?
Why do you burn my farm and my town down?
I've got to know, friend, I've got to know!
What makes your boats haul death to my people?
Nitro blockbusters, big cannons and guns?
Why doesn't your ship bring food and some clothing?
I've sure got to know, folks, I've sure got to know!

19. “I’ve Got to Know”
Why can't my two hands get a good pay job?
I can still plow, plant, I can still sow!
Why did your lawbook chase me off my good land?
I'd sure like to know, friend, I've just got to know!
What good work did you do, sir, I'd like to ask you,
To give you my money right out of my hands?
I built your big house here to hide from my people,
Why you crave to hide so, I'd love to know!
You keep me in jail and you lock me in prison,
Your hospital's jammed and your crazyhouse full,
What made your cop kill my trade union worker?
You'll hafta talk plain 'cause I sure have to know!
Why can't I get work and cash my big paycheck?
Why can't I buy things in your place and your store?
Why do you close my plant down and starve all my buddies?
I'm asking you, sir, 'cause I've sure got to know!

20. Children’s Songs
In 1946, Woody began writing and performing
children’s songs
One of the most memorable is “The Car Song”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUDtFdnn9oQ

21. Woody and Friends
• Woody Guthrie sang with many of the
legendary folk performers of the 1940’s. This
photograph shows Woody with Cisco Houston

22. Woody and Friends
Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly

23. Woody and Friends
Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives

24. Woody and Friends
Woody and Pete Seeger

25. Woody Guthrie and Social Justice
Woody Guthrie experienced the Great
Depression and the Dust Bowl. He saw first
hand the misery of the people it affected. His
youth in rural Oklahoma and Texas and his
experiences with migrant workers in California
moved him to dedicate his life and music to
the struggle for economic and social justice in
America.

26. “Dust Bowl Refuge”
I’m a dust bowl refugee,
Just a dust bowl refugee,
From that dust bowl to the peach bowl,
Now that peach fuzz is a-killin' me.
Cross the mountains to the sea,
Come the wife and kids and me.
It's a hot old dusty highway
For a dust bowl refugee.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ehYkr0NhU

27. Woody Guthrie and Social Justice
On January 28, 1948, a plane carrying 28
Mexican farm workers who being deported to
Mexico crashed near Los Gatos canyon near
Coalinga CA. Woody was touched by the
tragedy and wrote a song called "Deportee
(Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)“. In this link, the
song is sung by Woody’s son, Arlo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2eO65BqxBE

28. Woody Guthrie and Social Justice
“This Land is your Land” – forgotten verse:
“In the shadow of the steeple, I saw my people
By the relief office, I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there
asking
Is this land made for you and me?”

29. Recognition of Woody Guthrie’s
Commitment to Social Justice
A plaque from the Woody Guthrie archives at
the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
proclaims that it “recognizes the exceptional
contributions made by Woody Guthrie which
reflect a deep personal commitment to the
struggle for economic and social justice in
America”

30. Woody Guthrie – Marriages and
Tragedy
• In 1945, Woody married his second wife,
Marjorie Mazia while on furlough from the
army
• They had a daughter, Cathy Ann who died in a
fire in 1947
• In 1952, Woody was diagnosed with
Huntington’s Chorea
• He was married again in 1953 to Anneke Van
Kirk – they divorced in 1956

31. Inspired by Woody Guthrie
Many of the folk music performers of the
1960’s were inspired by Woody Guthrie –
most notably Bob Dylan

32. Woody Guthrie’s Death
• Between the years 1956 and 1967, Woody
wasted away from the degenerative disease
• In 1961, a very young Bob Dylan visited
Woody at the Brooklyn State Hospital
• Bob Dylan was inspired by Woody Guthrie and
his music
• Woody died in New York in 1967 at the age of
55

33. Woody Guthrie – 1912 - 1967
“My Peace”
My peace my peace is all I've got that I can give to you
My peace is all I ever had that's all I ever knew
I give my peace to green and black and red and white and
blue
My peace my peace is all I've got that I can give to you
My peace, my peace is all I've got and all I've ever known
My peace is worth a thousand times more than anything I
own
I pass my peace around and about 'cross hands of every hue;
I guess my peace is justa 'bout all I've got to give to you

34. Woody Guthrie Statue – Okemah,
Oklahoma