| Finding
aid to WOODY GUTHRIE CORRESPONDENCE
1936-1991
(1936-63, bulk)
4.25 linear feet (10 boxes)
Scope and Content: Letters and postcards
written or received by Woody Guthrie. The correspondents
include family members, friends, business associates and fans.
A small amount of other correspondence held by the Archives
is also included in this record group.
The record group includes extensive correspondence between
Woody Guthrie and his second wife, Marjorie Mazia [Guthrie],
particularly for the period 1942-1945. Woody's letters
to Marjorie deal with virtually every conceivable aspect of
their relationship -- romance, sex, children, politics, daily
life, and military service, as well as financial and artistic
matters.
Correspondence between Woody Guthrie and his sister, Mary
Jo Edgmon, provides insights into Woody's youth and family.
The wide variety of Guthrie's correspondents reflects the
range of his activities, interests and influence. Correspondents
include Eddie Albert, Moe Asch, Will Geer, Alan Lomax, poet
Walter Lowenfels, Pete Seeger, and dozens of fans, including
many from the United Kingdom.
In addition to Guthrie's correspondence, the record group
contains other correspondence. The majority of this
additional material consists of correspondence from and to
Guthrie's second wife, Marjorie Mazia.
Arrangement Note: The correspondence is arranged
in four series --
Woody Guthrie: Outgoing (Correspondence-1;)
Woody Guthrie: Incoming (Correspondence-2)
Other Correspondence (Correspondence-3)
and Postcards (Correspondence-4) -- and is housed as follows
Correspondence-1 Boxes
1-3
Correspondence-2 Boxes
1-5
Correspondence-3 Box
1
Correspondence-4 Box
1
The first
two series (Woody Guthrie's correspondence) are arranged alphabetically
(by recipient and author, respectively); within the alphabetical
arrangement, the correspondence is in chronological order.
In both of these series, correspondence to and from unknown
individuals is arranged chronologically, and may be found
immediately following the alphabetical folders.
The Incoming Correspondence series (Correspondence-2) includes
a large amount of fan mail, written in 1959 and 1960.
Due to the volume of this material, individual correspondent
folders were created for only some of the writers. The
remaining fan mail (Box 4, Folders 5-25) is arranged chronologically
(by year) and then by residence of author (e.g., North America,
United Kingdom, and Republic of Ireland).
Additionally, Correspondence-2 includes two groups of letters
that contain both incoming and outgoing correspondence.
The first, consisting of correspondence (and newspaper notices)
concerning the death of Woody's daughter, Cathy Ann Guthrie,
in 1947, is arranged alphabetically (Box 5, Folders 1-8).
This correspondence includes a letter from novelist Howard
Fast. The second, photocopies of Almanac Singers papers
(received from Pete Seeger) is arranged chronologically (Box
5, Folder 10).
Correspondence-3 (other correspondence) consists of Marjorie
Mazia's outgoing correspondence, arranged alphabetically by
recipient; Marjorie Mazia's incoming correspondence (arranged
alphabetically by author); and
correspondence written and received by people other than Guthrie
and Mazia (arranged alphabetically by author).
Correspondence-4 contains postcards from the other three series,
including postcards from Woody Guthrie to Marjorie Mazia sent
over a ten year period (1942-52); Marjorie's postcards to
Woody; and booking engagement notices and requests.
|
CONTAINER
LIST |
| Correspondence-1:
Woody Guthrie - Outgoing |
| BOX
1 |
01 |
Addeo,
Al |
1956 |
02 |
Albertson
family |
1948 |
03 |
Almanac
Singers |
1941;
n.d. |
04 |
Ambellan,
Elizabeth and Harold
(see
also Correspondence-3, Box 1, Folder 10.1) |
1941,
1945 |
05 |
Anderson,
Margaret (Common Ground) |
1942 |
06 |
Asch,
Moe and Ditsler, Marian |
1943[?]-46 |
07 |
Asch,
Moe and Ditsler, Marian |
n.d.
(WW II) |
08 |
Asch,
Moe and Ditsler, Marian |
1947-48 |
09 |
Asch,
Moe and Ditsler, Marian |
1949-55 |
10 |
Boeder,
B. |
1956 |
11 |
Clark,
Tom |
1949 |
12 |
Columbia
Recording Company
Common
Ground (see Anderson, Margaret)
Ditsler,
Marian (see Asch, Moe) |
c.
1949 |
13 |
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce Publishing Co. |
1948 |
14 |
Edgmon,
Mary Jo
(see
also Box 3, Folders 38-39) |
c.1939-1956 |
15 |
Emrich,
Duncan (Library of Congress)
Faulk,
Hally (see Stephenson, Hally) |
1946-1950 |
16 |
Foreman,
John |
1956 |
17 |
Garland,
Jim |
1940
[1969] |
18 |
Geer,
Will and Herta |
1941-1955 |
19 |
Geldon,
Earl R. (Goldenberg, Earl) |
1940 |
20 |
Gibson,
Jackie |
1945,
n.d. |
21 |
Gold,
Mike
Goldenberg,
Earl (see Geldon, Earl R.) |
1953 |
22 |
Goldstein,
Isabelle |
1947 |
23 |
Gordon,
Max |
1941 |
24 |
Greenblatt,
Aliza Waitzman |
1942-51 |
25 |
Guthrie,
Ann
Guthrie,
Anneke (see Van Kirk, Anneke) |
1936 |
26 |
Guthrie,
C.E. |
1943-49 |
27 |
Guthrie,
Gwen |
1945 |
28 |
Guthrie,
Lee Roy
Guthrie,
Marjorie (see Mazia, Marjorie) |
1939[?] |
29 |
Guthrie,
Mary Ann
Guthrie,
Mary Jo (see Edgmon, Mary Jo)
Guthrie,
Roy (see Guthrie, Lee Roy)
Harper
& Brothers (see Saxton, Eugene)
Harris,
Bob and Herbert (see Union Square Music Shop) |
1937 |
30 |
Harrison,
Eddie (N.M.U. Pilot) |
1944 |
31 |
Hays,
Lee international
bookshop, london, u.k.
(see
Lindsay, Ken) |
1941 |
32 |
Kennedy,
Stetson and Elizabeth |
1945-52 |
33 |
Kerr,
Mr. |
1941 |
34 |
Lampell,
Millard |
1941 |
35 |
Lee,
Madeline (West Tremont Civil Defense Volunteer Office) |
1942 |
36 |
Lerner,
Irving |
1946 |
37 |
Leventhal,
Harold library of congress
(see
Emrich, Duncan; Lomax, Alan) |
1956 |
38 |
Lindsay,
Ken (International Bookshop, London, U.K.) |
1952 |
39 |
Lomax,
Alan |
1940-42 |
40 |
Loring,
Michael |
1948 |
41 |
Lyon,
Pete |
1942 |
42 |
Marks,
E.B. (Marks Publishing Co.) |
1954 |
43 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1942
(April-July) |
44 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1942
(September-end) |
45 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1943
(January) |
46 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1943
(February-March) |
47 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1943
(April-August) |
48 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1943
(September-end) |
49 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1944
(January-March) |
50 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1944
(May-July) |
51 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1944
(September-end); c. 1944 |
| BOX
2 |
| 1 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(May) |
| 2 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(June) |
| 3 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(July 1-15) |
| 4 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(July 16-30) |
| 5 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(July 31-Aug. 9) |
| 6 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(August 10-17) |
| 7 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(August 18-31) |
| 8 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(September) |
| 9 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(October) |
| 10 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(November) |
| 11 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1945
(December) |
| 12 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1947 |
| BOX
3 |
| 01 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1948 |
| 01.1 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
c.
late 1940s - early
1950s |
| 02 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1951 |
| 03 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1952
(April-Sept.) |
| 04 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1952
(October-end) |
| 05 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1953 |
| 06 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1954 |
| 07 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1955 |
| 08 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956
(April) |
| 09 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956 (July-Sept.) |
| 10 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956 (Oct.-Nov.) |
| 11 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956
(December) |
| 12 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956;
1956[?] |
| 13 |
Mazia,
Marjorie
[Correspondence-4
contains Mazia postcards, 1942-52] |
n.d. |
| 14 |
McLean,
James "Whitey" |
1947 |
| 15 |
Moore,
F. |
1950 |
| 16 |
Moore,
Floyd |
1944 |
| 17 |
Moore[?],
Gladys
N.M.U.
Pilot (see Harrison, Eddie) |
n.d. |
| 18 |
Peoples
Songs; Peoples Artists
RCA
Mfg. Co., Inc. (see Wetherald, R.P.)
|
1946,
1948 |
| 19 |
Robbin,
Ed |
1957[?] |
| 20 |
Robinson,
Earl |
1949 |
| 21 |
Saxton,
Eugene (Harper & Brothers) |
1942 |
| 22 |
Scott,
Tom |
1946 |
| 23 |
Seeger,
Pete and Toshi |
1941-47 |
| 24 |
Seeger,
Pete and Toshi |
1948-56 |
| 25 |
Shapiro,
Annie |
1948 |
| 26 |
Stephenson,
Hally |
1956 |
| 27 |
Truman,
Harry |
1949 |
| 28 |
Union
Square Music Shop (Harris, Bob and
Herbert)
[see also Box 3, Folder 42] |
1950,
1956 |
| 29 |
Van
Kirk, Anneke |
1953-56 |
| 30 |
Wetherald,
R.P. (RCA Mfg. Co., Inc.)
West
Tremont Civil Defense Volunteer Office
(see Lee, Madeline)
Wood,
Hally (see Stephenson, Hally)
|
c.
1942 |
| 31 |
Wood,
Smokey |
1945 |
| 32 |
Worker,
The -- Magazine Section |
1947 |
| 33 |
Unknown ("Calimity Jane") |
1944 |
| 34 |
Unknown |
1944 |
| 35 |
Unknown
(family member?) |
1944 |
| 36 |
Unknown |
1945 |
| 37 |
Unknown |
1945 |
| 38 |
Unknown
(family member Edgmon,
Mary Jo?]) |
1949 |
| 39 |
Unknown
("Ticket Snatchers" [Edgmon,
Mary Jo?]) |
1949 |
| 40 |
Unknown
("Al and Fanny") |
1952 |
| 41 |
Unknown |
1953 |
| 42 |
Unknown
("Bob") [Harris?] |
1948-54 |
| 43 |
Unknown |
1955 |
| 44 |
Unknown
("Dear Cousin") |
n.d. |
Note:
Additional outgoing correspondence may be found in Incoming
Correspondence, Box 5 (correspondence related to death of
Cathy Guthrie, and correspondence from Almanac Singers papers.) |
| Correspondence-2:
Woody Guthrie - Incoming |
| BOX
1 |
| 01 |
Adams,
Camilla Siero |
1960 |
| 02 |
Albert,
Eddie |
1947 |
| 03 |
Ambellan,
Elizabeth american veterans committee (see Smith, Ruth) |
1947 |
| 04 |
Appleman,
Barbejune |
1959 |
| 05 |
Appleman,
Barbejune
[Correspondence-4
contains Appleman postcards, 1959-60] |
1960 |
| 06 |
Asch,
Moe and Ditsler, Maria |
1950,
1957 |
| 07 |
Basore,
Joyce E. |
1966 |
| 08 |
Baxter,
Pat |
1959 |
| 09 |
Baxter,
Pat |
1960 |
| 10 |
Behan,
Dominic |
1959 |
| 11 |
Boeder,
B. |
1956 |
| 12 |
Bransten,
Louise R. (Women for Wallace)
Broadcast
Music Inc. (see Korall, Burt) |
1948 |
| 13 |
Brody,
Juliana |
1959 |
| 14 |
Brody,
Juliana |
1960;
n.d. |
| 15.1 |
Brubaker,
Clayton |
n.d. |
| 15.2 |
Burke,
Frank (KFVD) |
1942 |
| 16 |
Camper,
Shirley (Shaw Publications, Inc.)
Carawan,
Guy (see Highlander Folk School) |
1953 |
| 17 |
Clifton,
Bill |
1952 |
| 18 |
Collins,
C. Leslie
Columbia
Broadcasting System, Inc.
(see
Taylor, Davidson) |
1960 |
| 19 |
Common
Ground |
1941 |
| 20 |
Crook,
Dave
Daily
People's World (see Williams, Carl) |
1952-53 |
| 21 |
Davis,
G.K.
Ditsler,
Marian (see Asch, Moe) |
1941 |
| 22 |
Doerflinger,
William M
(E.P.
Dutton & Co., Inc.) |
1942-1947 |
| 23 |
Edgmon,
Mary Jo |
1952-57 |
| 24 |
Edgmon,
Mary Jo |
1959-60 |
| 25 |
Elliott
Community Center, P.S. 67 (Bklyn, NY) |
1947 |
| 26 |
Elliott,
Jack and June |
1959-60 |
| 27 |
Emrich,
Duncan (Library of Congress)
E.P.
Dutton & Co., Inc. (see Doerflinger, William M.) |
1946-50 |
| 28 |
Epstein,
Ed
Essex
Music Limited (see Platz, David) |
1953 |
| 29 |
Faulk,
Cynthia Tannehill
Faulk,
Hally (see Stephenson, Hally) |
1960 |
| 30 |
Finn,
Jonathan |
1944 |
| 31 |
Fleming,
Al and Nan |
1952 |
| 32 |
Folkway
Records |
1959 |
| 33 |
Fritsch,
Gunther V. |
1941 |
| 34 |
Gerlach,
Fred |
1953 |
| 35 |
Gladstone,
Gerald |
1952 |
| 36 |
Gleason,
Sidsel and Bo |
n.d. |
| 37 |
Greenway,
John |
1946 |
| 38 |
Grossman,
Jack
Guthrie,
Ann (see Guthrie, Lee Roy and Ann)
Guthrie,
Anneke (see Van Kirk, Anneke)
Guthrie,
Arlo (see Mazia, Marjorie) |
1947 |
| 39 |
Guthrie,
Bill |
1960 |
| 40 |
Guthrie,
C.E. |
1943 |
| 41 |
Guthrie,
George and Emily |
1954-60 |
| 42 |
Guthrie,
Gwen |
1945-63 |
| 43 |
Guthrie,
Jeff D.
Guthrie,
Joady (see Mazia, Marjorie) |
1942-60 |
| 44 |
Guthrie,
Lee Roy and Ann
Guthrie,
Marjorie (see Mazia, Marjorie)
Guthrie,
Mary (see Jennings, Mary) |
1952-60 |
| 45 |
Guthrie,
Mary Ann
Guthrie,
Mary jo (see Edgmon, Mary Jo)
Guthrie,
Nora (see Mazia, Marjorie)
Guthrie,
Roy (see Guthrie, Lee Roy) |
1959 |
| 46 |
Hallstrom,
J.L. (Radio Corporation of America) |
1948 |
| 47 |
Harris,
Bob (Union Square Music Shop, Inc.) |
1952 |
| 48 |
Hawes,
Bess and Butch |
1956-60 |
| 49 |
Hays,
Lee |
1954 |
| 50 |
Hellstrom,
Gerry |
1956 |
| 51 |
Highlander
Folk School |
1960 |
| 52 |
Hoffman,
Mart |
1957 |
| 53 |
Honey
Hollow Elementary School (Hauppauge, NY)
International
Bookshop, London, U.K. (see Lindsay, Ken) |
1963 |
| BOX
2 |
| 01 |
Irvine,
Andy |
1959 |
| 02 |
Irvine,
Andy |
1960
(Jan.-Mar.) |
| 03 |
Irvine,
Andy |
1960
(Apr.-June) |
| 04 |
Jackson,
Molly |
n.d. |
| 05 |
Jennings,
Mary |
1947 |
| 06 |
Jennings,
Matt
KFVD
(see Burke, Frank) |
1960 |
| 07 |
Kameron,
Pete |
1953 |
| 08 |
Kates,
Sheila |
1956 |
| 09 |
Kennedy,
Stetson |
1951,
1953 |
| 10 |
Kilberg, Lionel |
1956 |
| 11 |
Korall,
Burt (Broadcast Music, Inc.) |
1961 |
| 12 |
Kurz,
Pete |
1953 |
| 13 |
Leventhal, Harold
Library
Of Congress (see Emrich Duncan; Lomax, Alan) |
1956,
1959 |
| 14 |
Lindsay,
Ken (International Bookshop, London, U.K.) |
1952-53 |
| 15 |
Lomax,
Alan |
1940 |
| 16 |
Lomax,
Alan |
1941 |
| 17 |
Lomax,
Alan
Lomax,
Bess (see Hawes, Bess) |
1942,
1960 |
| 18 |
Longhi,
Vincent T. |
1953 |
| 19 |
Lowenfels,
Walter |
1951,
1960 |
| 20 |
Lutzky, Irwin |
1959-60 |
| 21 |
Lyman, Mel
Maccoll,
Ewan (see Seeger, Peggy) |
1960 |
| 22 |
Marrs,
Ernie |
1959-60 |
| 23 |
Mayo,
Margot |
1957 |
| 24 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1942
(January 4-14) |
| 25 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1942
(January 18) |
| 26 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1942
(Jan. 19-Nov.) |
| 27 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1942
(December) |
| 28 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1942
(undated) |
| 29 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1943
(Jan.-Feb.) |
| 30 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1943
(March) |
| 31 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1943
(August-end) |
| 32 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1944 |
| 33 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1946 |
| 34 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1947 |
| 35 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1952 |
| 36 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1953;
c.1953 |
| 37 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1951-53
(undated) |
| 38 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1954 |
BOX
3 |
| 01 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956
(July-August) |
| 02 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956
(Oct.-Dec.) |
| 03 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1957
(Jan.-June) |
| 04 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1957
(July-Aug.) |
| 05 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1957
(Sept.-Oct.) |
| 06 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1958 |
| 07 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1956-58
(undated) |
| 08 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1959 |
| 09 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
1960 |
| 10 |
Mazia,
Marjorie |
c.1959-6 |
| 11 |
Mazia,
Marjorie (envelopes)
[Correspondence-4
contains Mazia postcards, 1942-52] |
n.d. |
| 12 |
McLean,
James "Whitey" |
1947 |
| 13 |
McWilliams,
Carey |
1941 |
| 14 |
Mellor,
Rich |
1951 |
| 15 |
Moore,
Nora
NY
City Municipal Broadcasting System (see Siegel, Seymour N.) |
1963 |
| 16 |
Patchen,
Miriam
People's
Artists Inc. (see Silber, Irwin)
[Correspondence-4
contains People's Artists postcards, 1947]
People's
World (see Williams, Carl) |
c.1959-60 |
| 17 |
Pettingill,
Hank |
1952 |
| 18 |
Platz,
David (essex music limited)
RCA
Mfg. Co., Inc. (see Weatherald, R.P.)
Radio
Corporation of America (see Hallstrom, J.L.)
|
1963 |
| 19 |
Ramsay,
Andrew |
1951,
1959 |
| 20 |
Richmond,
Howard S. |
1956 |
| 21 |
Riley,
Harold |
1959-60 |
| 22 |
Robinson,
Tiny |
c.
1952 |
| 23 |
Schneider,
Joan |
1952 |
| 24 |
Schneiderman,
Louise |
1952 |
| 25 |
Schwartz,
Iris (Spanish Refugee Appeal) |
1947 |
| 26 |
Seeger,
Peggy and MacColl, Ewan |
1959 |
| 27 |
Seeger,
Pete |
1952-64 |
| 28 |
Seeger,
Pete (item separated because of preservation considerations) |
| |