The People's Recorder

Episodes Summary: A beautiful and powerful art exhibition is touring the country right now, called Pictures of Belonging, which explores three artists of Japanese descent - Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo.  The exhibition puts these artists and their work in their rightful place in the history of American art.  For this bonus episode, producer and lead writer David Taylor visits the exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and shares his insights about Miné Okubo, who was featured in Episode 9: Is This Land Your Land?  She was a painter who was working with Diego Rivera on murals for the WPA when she was detained and sent to an incarceration camp during World War 2.  She used her artwork to bear witness to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during the war.  Links and Resources:Pictures of Belonging: Japanese American National MuseumPictures of Belonging: Smithsonian American Art MuseumCitizen 13660 - a short film from the National Park ServiceSincerely, Miné Okubo - a short biography from the Japanese American National MuseumFurther Reading: Citizen 13360 by Miné OkuboMiné Okubo: Following Her Own Road by Greg Robinson Peaceful Painter: Memoirs of an Issei Woman Artist by Hisako HibiThe Other American Moderns: Matsura, Ishigaki, Nora, Hayakawa by ShiPu WangCredits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditor: Amy YoungFeaturing music from Pond5Produced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The People’s Recorder was funded in part with a grant from Wisconsin Humanities. But did you know that Wisconsin Humanities also has their own podcast, Human Powered? Hosted by Adam Carr and Dasha Kelly Hamilton, Human Powered focuses on the power of the humanities in Wisconsin's prisons. We wanted to share an episode from that terrific show with you today.  People in prisons are cut off from their families, their communities, and in some cases their own feelings. Making art in prison can be a way to affirm your humanity in a place that is often dehumanizing. So, when organizers of an exhibit of prison art put out a call for submissions, they were flooded with responses from incarcerated artists working without support, formal programs or materials. This episode tells the story of that exhibit. Guests: Joshua GreslJohn TysonSarah DemerathDebra Brehmer​Learn more about Human Powered at www.wisconsinhumanities.org/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:In the 1930s, the notion of making an incubator for creativity in a region devastated by the Great Depression got tested in Nebraska. This episode looks at what happened there when the Writers’ Project came to town, through a group of creatives from contrasting backgrounds, including a hobo, a nurse and a hardware store poet – all under the watchful eye of a university professor and a celebrated novelist. Starting from chaos, they ignited a surprising alchemy and made the Lincoln office one of the most productive Writers’ Project hubs in the country. The Season 1 finale listens in as Americans face war clouds on the horizon, and a national radio show asks, “Can we count on youth to uphold the American Way?”Speakers: Stephen Cloyd, librarian and historianMarilyn Holt, historianJames Reidel, biographer and poetDouglas Brinkley, historianLinks and Resources: Rudolph Umland and the Federal Writers' ProjectThe Nebraska Federal Writers' Project - Lincoln City LibrariesMari Sandoz and the Writers' ProjectWeldon Kees reads his poem, "1926"WPA Guide to Nebraska (free PDF)Prairie SchoonerReading List: Vanished Act: The Life and Art of Weldon Kees, by James ReidelNebraska During the New Deal, by Marilyn Irvin HoltSoul of a People by David A. TaylorThe Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, by Timothy EganThe Collected Poems of Weldon Kees, edited by Donald JusticeCrazy Horse, by Mari SandozCreditsHost: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserAssistant Editor: Amy YoungStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Jared Buggage, Sam Hanks, JoJo Drake Kalin, Antonio Macias, James Mirabello, Mariko Miyazaki, Kate Rafter and Sarah SmackFeaturing music and archival from: Aaron CoplandAlexandria Symphony OrchestraJoseph VitarelliBradford EllisMike SayreCeiri TorjussenPond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationNew York Public Radio Archives CollectionNebraska Public MediaFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesHumanities Nebraska Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:The Franklin Delano Library and Museum is an amazing place which just celebrated its 75th anniversary.  President Roosevelt had the idea to build the library on his family property in Hyde Park, New York, using private funds.  And then he donated the library and its historical collections, including all of his personal and official papers, to the US Government.  This started the precedent of Presidential Libraries that we continue today.  Last month, we sat down with the FDR Library and its director Bill Harris and had a great discussion about the Federal Writers' Project, its impact then, and why it still matters today.  Please join our host Chris Haley, writer-producers David Taylor and James Mirabello and historian Sara Rutkowski for a few highlights from that conversation.You can see the full discussion on the FDR Library’s YouTube channel here.  Links and Resources: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library and Museum"Rewriting America: New Essays on the Federal Writers' Project" with Sara RutkowskiCredits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditor: Amy YoungFeaturing music from Pond5Featuring: Chris Haley, Bill Harris, David A. Taylor, Sara Rutkowski and James MirabelloProduced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month, we're doing something a little different.  There are some amazing podcasts out there that give us a view of America through a distinctive lens. One of our favorites is Sidedoor: A podcast from the Smithsonian.  Every episode, host Lizzie Peabody sneaks listeners through Smithsonian's side door to search for stories that can't be found anywhere else.We're excited to share one of those stories. “King’s Speech” is about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the evolution of his iconic I Have a Dream speech.  It’s fascinating to chart the history of his speech and to hear how Dr. King was influenced by poet Langston Hughes, who worked with the Federal Theatre Project in the 1930s and co-wrote a play with one of the writers featured in the People's Recorder, Zora Neale Hurston.Guests: Kevin Young, Director of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and CultureW. Jason Miller, Author of Origins of the Dream: Hughes's Poetry and King's RhetoricEnjoy the episode!  To hear more, search for Sidedoor wherever you get your podcasts or go to www.si.edu/sidedoor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:This episode features two more stories of outsiders remaking themselves and California history. Eluard McDaniel left the Jim Crow South for California as a boy, and remade himself as an activist and writer on the West Coast. His account of his life brought him national attention when it appeared in American Stuff, a book of creative works by members of the Federal Writers’ Project and Federal Art Project selected by Henry Alsberg.Miné Okubo was a rising artist with the Federal Art Project who drew on her art and her life story to depict a hidden history of injustice during World War II in her book Citizen 13660. Even decades later, a culture of silence surrounded that experience – until her book won an American Book Award and became testimony that sought redress for Japanese Americans incarcerated during the war.Speakers:David Bradley, novelistSeiko Buckingham, niece of Miné OkuboJeanie Tanaka, niece of Miné OkuboDavid Kipen, journalist and authorLinks and Resources:"American Stuff" anthology by members of the Federal Writers' Project and prints by the Federal Art Project'Citizen 13660" short film by the National Park Service"Sincerely, Miné Okubo" short film from the Japanese American National Museum"Pictures of Belonging" 2024 art exhibitionEluard McDaniel entry, Abraham Lincoln Brigade ArchivesReading List:Citizen 13660, by Miné OkuboMiné Okubo: Following Her Own Road, by Greg RobinsonThe Dream and the Deal, by Jerre Mangione“Bumming in California” by Eluard McDaniel, in On the Fly: Hobo Literature and Songs, 1879 – 1941, PM PressThe Chaneysville Incident: A Novel, by David BradleyDear California, by David KipenBlack California, edited by Aparajita NandaCalifornia in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the Golden State with introduction, by David KipenCredits: Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserAssistant Editor: Amy YoungStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Jared Buggage, Mariko Miyazaki, Kate Rafter and Amy YoungFeaturing music and archival from: Pete SeegerJoseph VitarelliBradford EllisPond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe Ronald Reagan Presidential LibraryManny Harriman Video Oral History Collection, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, NYU Special Collections.For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesCalifornia Humanities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:California has always attracted outsiders, from the Gold Rush in the 1800s to young actors and filmmakers drawn to Hollywood. California was especially a place of migration during the Great Depression, when tens of thousands came searching for jobs and new beginnings. This is the first of two episodes about writers displaced by the Depression who took different paths to remaking themselves in California and documenting America. Future composer Harry Partch was more comfortable as a migrant than in straight mainstream society. Tillie Olsen found her way from Nebraska to become a reporter-activist who faced long odds to becoming a writer as a woman in the 1930s. With their work on the Federal Writers’ Project, Olsen and Partch helped create an expansive picture of California, people in migration, and the day-to-day reality that included deep labor unrest. Tensions that roiled across America boiled over in the California Writers’ Project, signaling the struggles to come in the national office. Speakers:David Bradley, novelistMary Gordon, novelistAndrew Granade, musicologist and biographerDavid Kipen, journalist and authorLinks and Resources:California and the Dust Bowl - Oakland Museum of CaliforniaCalifornia Gold: Story Map of 1930s California Folk Music "What Kind of Worker is a Writer" (about Tillie Olsen) by Maggie Doherty in The New Yorker"I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen"U.S. Highball," composed by Harry Partch, performed in 2018Harry Partch: The OutsiderReading List:California in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the Golden State with introduction, by David KipenHarry Partch, Hobo Composer, by S. Andrew GranadeTell Me a Riddle, by Tillie OlsenThe Chaneysville Incident: A Novel, by David BradleyPayback: A Novel, by Mary GordonCredits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserAssistant Editor: Amy Young Story Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Karen Simon, Tim Lorenz, Steve Klingbiel, Sarah Supsiri, and Ethan OserFeaturing music and archival from: Joseph VitarelliBradford EllisPond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationBBCFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesCalifornia Humanities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:In the 1930s when America was deep in the disaster of the Dust Bowl, Wisconsin professor and wildlife expert Aldo Leopold brought a new way of thinking about how people engage with nature. Studying the dynamics of soil erosion and people’s behavior, he made suggestions for change that led him to the White House to meet the President.Leopold faced a personal crisis too, while writing his way toward a new understanding of our relationship with nature. When the Federal Writers’ Project recruited him to write for the WPA Guide to Wisconsin, the picture he described in the guide’s section on Conservation marked a path toward the modern environmental movement. In this episode, Leopold’s biographer, Curt Meine, connects the dots to Earth Day and a new generation of environmentalists.Speakers:Curt Meine, biographerDouglas Brinkley, historianTim Hundt, journalistLinks and Resources: Aldo Leopold film on PBSGaylord Nelson announces the first Earth Day Human Powered Podcast, episode on The Driftless region Reading List: WPA Guide to WisconsinA Sand County Almanac by Aldo LeopoldAldo Leopold: His Life and Work by Curt MeineYou Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, edited by Ada Limón Credits: Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Tim Lorenz and Susanne DesoutterFeaturing music and archival from: Joseph VitarelliBradford EllisPond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationWisconsin HumanitiesAlso featuring the song “Wisconsin” performed by Madilyn Bailey.  Written by Madilyn Bailey, Martijn Tienus, John Sinclair and Clifford Golio, and produced by Clifford Golio and Joseph Barba.  Find the full song here and visit her Spotify artist page to hear more.    For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from:National Endowment for the HumanitiesWisconsin Humanities Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:Gerald Hill is an Oneida lawyer and the former President of the Indigenous Language Institute. This bonus features a conversation with Hill, who provides the voice for Oneida community leader Oscar Archiquette in our episode about the WPA Oneida Language Project in Wisconsin. For that episode, Hill read a handful of Archiquette’s quotes about his life and work on the WPA. After each reading, he gave valuable historical and cultural context for those quotes, which we are excited to share with you. Before you listen to this conversation, we strongly recommend you listen to Episode 6: Native Historians Do Stand-Up, which is about Oscar Archiquette and the WPA Oneida Language Project, and how that work still inspires tribal historians today. Links and Resources: Oneida Nation Cultural Heritage WebpageOneida Books RediscoveredFurther Reading:Oneida Lives edited by Herbert LewisSoul of a People by David A. TaylorCredits:Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditors: Amelia Jarecke and James MirabelloFeaturing music from The Oneida Singers and Pond5Produced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Wisconsin Humanities. For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:In 1977, Charlie Hill became the first Native comedian to perform on a national TV broadcast – a groundbreaking performance in television and cultural history.  “It was a huge moment,” said Seminole filmmaker Sterlin Harjo, “When Charlie Hill went on national television and simply spoke like a human being... He changed the public perception about what a Native person is.” Charlie Hill’s comedic approach to the Oneida story is part of a long lineage of storytellers and historians defying stereotypes that includes Oscar Archiquette, a young Oneida working construction when the Federal Writers’ Project came to Wisconsin in the 1935. Archiquette joined a local unit of the Writers’ Project that sought to preserve the Oneida language and histories by interviewing elders and transcribing their stories. That work – and its blend of activism, culture and disarming humor – inspired later Oneida historians such as Loretta Metoxen and Gordon McLester and continues to inspire tribal historians today.  Speakers:Michelle Danforth Anderson, Oneida documentarianGordon McLester, Oneida historianLoretta Metoxen, Oneida historianBetty McLester, Oneida elderGerald Hill, Oneida elderJennifer Webster, Council MemberLinks and Resources: Oneida Nation Cultural Heritage WebpageCharlie Hill's performance on the Richard Pryor Show, 1977Oneida Notebooks Rediscovered, 1999Human-Powered Podcast, Episode 5, "The Power of Indigenous KnowledgeFurther Reading: We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans in Comedy by Kliph NesteroffOneida Lives edited by Herbert LewisSoul of a People: The WPA Writers’ Uncover Depression America by David A. Taylor“Indian Humor” chapter in Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria Jr.Credits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor and James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Scott Nelson Elm, Gerald Hill, Ethan Oser and Marjorie StevensSpecial Thanks: Christopher PowlessFeaturing music and archival material from: The Oneida SingersJoseph VitarelliBradford EllisPond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationNPRMSNBCFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from:National Endowment for the HumanitiesWisconsin Humanities Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary: The Federal Writers’ Project interviews, collected in the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, have inspired generations with their personal experiences of American life. The Writers’ Project pioneered oral history and the idea of documenting history from the grassroots up.In this bonus, following the episode on the Writers’ Project interviews in Florida, we hear excerpts from oral histories recorded with the nonprofit group StoryCorps. In two conversations, four Floridians talked about their experiences early in the Covid pandemic when frontline workers, often people of color, were particularly vulnerable.StoryCorps, launched in 2003 with original WPA writer Studs Terkel on hand, is one of many oral history initiatives directly inspired by the Writers’ Project interviews.Links and Resources:American Folklife Center, Library of CongressStorycorpsTips for a great oral history interview Credits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditors: James Mirabello, Amy Young and Ethan OserWriter: David A. TaylorFeaturing music and archival material from:Pond5Interview excerpts shared with permission from StoryCorps. The StoryCorps interviews were recorded and produced by StoryCorps and originally aired on April 17th and May 15th, 2020 on NPR’s Morning Edition. Those broadcasts were made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesVirginia HumanitiesFlorida HumanitiesWisconsin HumanitiesCalifornia HumanitiesHumanities Nebraska Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:While working on the WPA Florida guidebook, the Federal Writers’ Project team – including Zora Neale Hurston and Stetson Kennedy – documented a wide range of life from prison camps to soup kitchens to hair salons, in recordings that reveal a living culture and enduring traditions.  Hurston and Kennedy traveled the state, recording people’s stories and songs. That included a visit to a remote turpentine work site where they encountered a forced labor camp and the brutal conditions in a form of slavery that continued well into the 20th century. Project interviewers in Florida also searched for survivors of pre-Civil War slavery and gathered hundreds of interviews. Nationally, thousands of “ex-slave interviews” are treasures for understanding that lived experience. But the Project’s written interviews should be read with caution. Historians remind us that those manuscripts are complicated and often reinforced racial bias and stereotypes.  Historian Tameka Hobbs helps put this work in context and brings it alive.Speakers:Peggy Bulger, folkloristMaryemma Graham, literary historianTameka Hobbs, historianStetson Kennedy, author and Project alumJames McBride, novelistErnest Toole, folk musicianFlo Turcotte, historianLinks and Resources: "Turpentine Camp, Cross City" typescript essay by Zora Neale Hurston"Viola Muse Digital Edition" Digital Archive of Muse's Writers' Project workZora Neale Hurston Collection at the University of FloridaLibrary of Congress webcast: 75th Anniversary of "These Are Our Lives" a collection of Writers' Project life historiesDrop on Down in FloridaErnest Toole Spotify Artist Page Further Reading: WPA Guide to FloridaGo Gator and Muddy the Water by Zora Neale Hurston, edited by Pamela BordelonDust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale HurstonTo Walk About in Freedom, by Carole EmbertonThese Are Our Lives, life histories from the Federal Writers’ ProjectConchtown USA: Bahamian Fisherfolk in Riviera Beach, Florida, by Charles C. FosterCredits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor and James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Jared BuggageFeaturing music and archival material from: Joseph VitarelliBradford EllisPond5Library of CongressFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from:National Endowment for the HumanitiesFlorida HumanitiesStetson Kennedy Foundation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary: As host Chris Haley said, Zora Neale Hurston was a homegrown Florida treasure, known for her wit, charm, and a true gift for collecting folklore.  As part of her work with the Writers’ Project, she made over a dozen recordings with audio equipment borrowed from the Library of Congress.She knew about the equipment from earlier field recordings she had made with folklorist Alan Lomax.  So, when she had the chance to use it for the Writers’ Project, Hurston “checked it out” from the Library. We do use short excerpts in our last episode, but the full recordings really are a lot of fun to listen to.  After you listen to these, we encourage you to go to the Library of Congress to listen to more!  Links and Resources:Preserving Songs and Culture: Zora Neale Hurston and the Federal Writers' ProjectOriginal Recording: Georgia SkinOriginal Recording: Dat Old Black GalOriginal Recording: Let the Deal Go DownOriginal Recording: Mule on the MountOriginal Recording: Uncle BudCredits:Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditors: James Mirabello and Ethan OserWriter: James MirabelloFeaturing music and archival material from:Pond5Library of Congress For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesVirginia HumanitiesFlorida HumanitiesWisconsin HumanitiesCalifornia HumanitiesHumanities Nebraska Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:In the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston was already a nationally known novelist, anthropologist and member of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance. Yet she saw her publishing income dry up during the Great Depression even with the publication of her best-known novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. When she took a job with the Writers’ Project in Florida, her first assignment was to write for the WPA Guide to Florida. In the hands of truth-seekers like Hurston and a young white co-worker, Stetson Kennedy, the Florida WPA guidebook would reflect a wide range of Florida life, “warts and all,” including a report of violent voter suppression in the 1920s—until editors started to push back. This episode follows that conflict. Hurston also moved the Writers’ Project to record the songs and folktales of Florida culture. We hear from historians and bestselling novelist James McBride about how that work still resonates today.Speakers:Douglas Brinkley, historian Peggy Bulger, folkloristTameka Hobbs, historianStetson Kennedy, author and Project alum James McBride, authorFlo Turcotte, historianLinks and Resources:Florida Memory Zora Neale Hurston PageZora Neale Hurston Collection at University of FloridaFlorida Memory WPA PageFlorida Memory Stetson Kennedy InterviewNPR: Writer Finds Zora Neale Hurston’s FloridaFurther Reading:WPA Guide to Florida Go Gator and Muddy the Water by Zora Neale Hurston, edited by Pamela BordelonPalmetto Country by Stetson KennedyTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale HurstonThe Good Lord Bird by James McBrideStetson Kennedy: Applied Folklore and Cultural Advocacy by Peggy BulgerDemocracy Abroad, Lynching at Home: Facial Violence in Florida by Tameka HobbsCredits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor and James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserAssistant Editor: Amy A. YoungStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Amesha McElveen and Skip CoblynFeaturing music and archival material from: Joseph VitarelliBradford EllisPond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesFlorida HumanitiesStetson Kennedy Foundation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary: As detailed in episodes 2 and 3, Roscoe Lewis’ unit on the Federal Writers’ Project conducted interviews with the survivors of slavery in Virginia. One member of the unit, a former teacher named Susie RC Byrd, interviewed dozens of formerly enslaved persons in Petersburg in a series of weekly meetings. Lewis and Byrd also arranged to borrow equipment from the University of Virginia to record songs performed at one of these meetings.  We are sharing two of those recordings with you today, “Stomp Down” and “Gonna Shout.”  Please note, the audio quality is poor, but what is amazing is that these are the actual voices of those who survived slavery.  It’s easy to think that slavery was something that happened a long time ago, but hearing these voices, you’ll feel that slavery was not in the distant past.  The soloist in “Stomp Down” is Sister Charlotte Taylor and the soloist in “Gonna Shout” is Reverend Ishrael Massie.  Links and Resources: "Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories" at the Library of Congress"Ex-Slave Narratives" at the Library of VirginiaAmerican Folklife CenterCredits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditors: James Mirabello and Ethan OserWriter: James MirabelloFeaturing music and archival material from: Pond5American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesVirginia Humanities Florida Humanities Wisconsin Humanities California Humanities Humanities Nebraska Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:This episode looks at communities that have suffered neglect from official history, and the example of African American landmarks and burial grounds in Virginia. Some families and communities have pushed to reclaim their place and spaces, often using tools employed earlier by the Federal Writers’ Project. Project workers often consulted landmarks and cemetery headstones to present a fuller picture of local history.  In southern states, the Writers’ Project encountered the Lost Cause, the effort emerging after the Civil War that aimed to rewrite the war’s meaning and origins in slavery. The myth shaped the environment for white writers of the WPA Guide to Virginia, and it continues to hold influence even today. Yet the field research underlying the WPA guide – the details the federal writers uncovered in records, interviews and landmarks – as well as another Project publication, The Negro in Virginia, provide a way to untangle the Lost Cause myth. We probe that history with poet Kiki Petrosino as she researches her family’s Virginia history, and with historians at the Library of Virginia, the Alexandria Black History Museum and the University of Richmond.Speakers:Audrey Davis, historianJulian Hayter, historianGregg Kimball, historianKiki Petrosino, poetAlton Darden, Helping Hand Cemetery trusteeMaurice Darden, Helping Hand Cemetery trusteeDolores Peterson, Helping Hand Cemetery trusteeLinks and Resources:Helping Hand Cemetery Club"Unmarked" documentaryPhoto Essay about East End Cemetery by Kiki Petrosino and Brian PalmerEncyclopedia Virginia entry on the Lost CauseAlexandria Black History MuseumLibrary of VirginiaFurther Reading: The Negro in Virginia by the Federal Writers’ Project White Blood by Kiki PetrosinoRewriting America: New Essays on the Federal Writers’ Project, edited by Sara RutkowskiHow the Word is Passed by Clint SmithThe Dream is Lost by Julian HayterAmerican City, Southern Place by Gregg Kimball Credits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditors: Ethan Oser and Julie ChalhoubStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Skip Coblyn, James Mirabello, Jared Buggage, Jerry Ray and Danielle Nance Featuring music and archival material from: Pond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationNPRWUSA9ABC NewsNews2ShareFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesVirginia Humanities Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:Get to know The People's Recorder host Chris Haley a little bit better. Chris is Director of Research, Education and Outreach, and the Study of the Legacy of Slavery at the Maryland State Archives. He's also an actor, a poet, and a filmmaker.  In this special bonus episode, he speaks with Spark Media's Bright Djampa about growing up as his Uncle Alex's iconic book "Roots" became a phenomenon, his own love of history and genealogy, and the importance of the work done by those on the Federal Writers' Project. Links and Resources: Unmarked film. co-directed by Chris HaleyChris Haley's website Legacy of Slavery in Maryland, Maryland State Archives National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Remembering Roots, History.comCredits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloInterviewer: Bright DjampaEditors: Amelia Jarecke and Ethan OserFeaturing music from Pond5For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesFlorida HumanitiesVirginia HumanitiesWisconsin HumanitiesCalifornia HumanitiesHumanities Nebraska Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:In the depths of the Great Depression, the U.S government hired out-of-work writers and laid-off reporters and sent them out to record the stories of all kinds of Americans. Dubbed the Federal Writers’ Project, historians have called the program a giant "listening project." In this introductory episode, host Chris Haley sets the stage, laying out 1930s America, the New Deal, and the cultural forces that both supported and opposed the Writers’ Project.  We meet the agency’s national director Henry Alsberg and a handful of its writers across the country, including Zora Neale Hurston, Studs Terkel and Ralph Ellison. We also dig into the key questions that are still debated in public forums today: What history gets told?  And who gets to tell it?  Speakers:Scott Borchert, authorDavid Bradley, novelistDouglas Brinkley, historianTameka Hobbs, historianDavid Kipen, authorDena Epstein, daughter of federal writer Hilda PolacheckStuds Terkel, oral historianLinks and Resources:American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers’ ProjectBorn to Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ ProjectAuthor Scott Borchert on the Federal Writers’ Project and the WPA guidebooks Article on Library of Congress symposium on The Millions Further Reading:Soul of a People by David A. TaylorRepublic of Detours by Scott Borchert Barracoon by Zora Neale HurstonCalifornia in the 1930s by David KipenHard Times by Studs TerkelFirst-Person America by Ann Banks Henry Alsberg by Susan DeMasiLong Past Slavery by Catherine A. StewartCredits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditors: Steve Klingbiel and Ethan OserStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Karen Simon, Robert Mirabello, Gary Hogan and Vince BrownFeaturing music and archival material from:Pond5Library of Congress National Archives New York Public LibrarySwing Time (RKO, 1936)Smithsonian FolkwaysFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesFlorida Humanities Virginia HumanitiesWisconsin HumanitiesCalifornia HumanitiesHumanities Nebraska Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Summary:The Federal Writers’ Project set out to create a series of books that held up a mirror to America, and chronicled communities that had long been ignored. Howard University professor Sterling Brown led the agency’s effort to document African American history in a series of books. In Virginia, chemistry professor Roscoe Lewis led a small team to produce the first book in that national series, titled The Negro in Virginia.  Lewis recruited a dozen Black writers and researchers across the state for a pioneering effort that recorded interviews with nearly 300 formerly enslaved people. They navigated a backlash from state editors and local officials. Against all odds, their book on Black life became a national Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and a milestone on the path to the Civil Rights movement.Speakers:Audrey Davis, historianJulian Hayter, historianGregg Kimball, historianKiki Petrosino, poetLinks and Resources:Photo essay about East End Cemetery by Kiki Petrosino and Brian Palmer in VQR“Unmarked” documentaryVirginia Humanities Q&A with David A. TaylorWashington Post article on Roscoe Lewis and The Negro in VirginiaAlexandria Black History MuseumReading List:The Negro in Virginia (Library of Virginia)White Blood by Kiki PetrosinoLong Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers’ Project by Catherine A. StewartTo Walk About in Freedom by Carole EmbertonThe Dream is Lost by Julian Hayter Credits:Host: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditors: Ethan Oser and Julie ChalhoubStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Skip Coblyn, Sherry Carter-Brownell, Robert Mirabello, James Mirabello and Danielle NanceFeaturing music and archival material from:Pond5Library of Congress National Archives For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Virginia Humanities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us on an unvarnished tour of America. The People’s Recorder is a podcast about the 1930s Federal Writers’ Project: what it achieved, where it fell short, and what it means for Americans today. Each episode features stories of individual writers, new places, and the project's impact on people's lives. Along the way we hear from historians, novelists, and others who shed light on that experience and unexpected connections to American society today.The People’s Recorder is produced by Spark Media with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.