Woody Guthrie
July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967
Woody Guthrie was arguably America’s most important folk singer and songwriter. Over a career that spanned a quarter century, Guthrie penned 100s of songs, many lending a voice to the common man. He also wrote many children’s songs. He wrote about the plight of the migrant worker, stories he learned first-hand as he traveled among them throughout the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Many such songs are archived in the Library of Congress, and one in particular, “This Land Is Your Land,” is sung in elementary schools across the US. In the late ’40s, Guthrie’s health began to deteriorate while his mental state seemed to come into question. At the time, some thought it might be due to schizophrenia and alcoholism. As it turned out, he was diagnosed in 1952 with a neurological disorder called Huntington’s disease. He spent several of his final years in psychiatric hospitals. With his health and mind failing during the folk revival of he early ’60s, he eld court with some of the day’s up-and-coming troubadors who admired him, most famously, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Woody Guthrie died of complications from the disease at the age of 55.
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