| Finding
aid to WOODY GUTHRIE MANUSCRIPTS
1935-1958
(1940-1958, bulk)
4.6 linear feet (11 boxes)
Scope and Content: Books,
articles, poems, essays, notes, aphorisms and liner notes covering
the activities and interests of Woody Guthrie. The manuscripts
include autobiographical material; political writings; musings on
love, sex, relationships and family; material on Guthrie's Merchant
Marine service during World War II; and writings about music. Published
versions of manuscripts are not included.
Arrangement note: Manuscripts are arranged chronologically
(Manuscripts-1); undated items are arranged alphabetically
(Manuscripts-2).
Guthrie's completed and unfinished books constitute the major exceptions
to strict chronological arrangement. Segments of each book
have been grouped together, even if written over a lengthy period
of time. Those books are:
I Want To Be Right (Box
1, Folders 4-9)
Bound for Glory and its
earlier version, Boomchasers
(Box 1, Folder 15 through
Box 3, Folder 18)
Silver Mine (originally
part of Bound for Glory and precursor of
Seeds of Man) [Box
3, Folders 19-21]
House of Earth (Box 4,
Folders 39-42)
Seeds of Man and its
earlier versions, Study Butte and Foolish Gold
(Box 4, Folder 61 through
Box 6, Folder 24)
Ship Story (Box 10, Folders
1-40).
CONTAINER LIST
MANUSCRIPTS-1 (arranged chronologically)
BOX 1
01 Alonzo M. Zilch's own collection
April 1935
of original songs
and ballads
02 eight items
1940; 1940[?]
03.1 The Railroad Cricket
January 30, 1941
The Singing Cricket
February 2, 1941
Dialogue -- Sue and Teeny
March 3, 1941
03.2 "Every single human being...";
1941[?]
"Today is lonesome and sad..."
Folders 04-09 : I Want To Be Right
04 Chapters 1,2; unnumbered chapter
March 11, 1941
05 pp. 16-70
c. 1941-43
06 pp. 71-121
c. 1941-43
07 pp. 122-170
c. 1941-43
08 Sarah Butcher section (Version 1)
c. 1941-43
09 Sarah Butcher section (Version 2)
c. 1941-43
10 Jump The Frog Spring
1941
The Place Thats Known
as Tara July 10,
1941
Almanacs Almanac:
With the NMU Boys
1941
in Cleveland
11 Hard Hitting songs for Hard Hit People
c. 1941
12 Union Show Troup
c. 1941
13 Woody Says (four items)
c. 1941
14.1 Anybody
March 13, 1942
The Wide Awakes
March 16, 1942
14.2 Motor Idling
April 17, 1942
14.3 five items
July, Oct.1942;1942[?]
Box 1, Folder 15 through Box 3, Folder 18
Boomchasers, Bound for Glory
15-22 Boomchasers
15 Boom Chasers - A synopsis of the Book
1940[?]
16 Boomchasers - portions of Ch. 1; Ch. 2
c. 1942
17 Boom Chasers - Chapter 1 (pp. 1-18)
c. 1942
18 Boom Chasers - Chapter 1 (pp. 1-25)
c. 1942
19 Extry Selects (pp. 35-42)
c. 1942
20 The London House (pp. 29-75, 124)
c. 1942
21 The Boomchasers - Ch. 1: Soldiers In
c. 1942
The Dust, pp. 2-13
22 The Boomchasers - notes and assorted pages
c. 1942
Box 1, Folder 23- Box 2, Folder 05
Bound for Glory (carbon
1)
c. 1942
23 Chapter I
24 Chapter 2
25 Chapter 3
26 Cyclone and London House
27 Oil Comes to Okemah
28 Big Jim
29 Ganghouse War
30 Oklahoma City
31 Return to Okemah
32 Sick in the Ganghouse
33 Pampa
34 Trouble Busting
BOX 2
01 Off to California
02 Dam Job
03 Skid Row
04 Stormy Night
05 Soldiers In The Dust
Folders 06-24: Bound for
Glory (carbon 2)
c. 1942
06 Chapter 1
07 Chapter 2, pp. 1-6
08 remainder of Chapter 2
09 Chapter 2, various pages
10 Chapter 3
11 Cyclone and London House
12 Oil Comes to Okemah
13 Big Jim
14 Ganghouse War
15 Oklahoma City
16 Return to Okemah
17 Sick in the Ganghouse
18 Pampa
19 Trouble Busting
20 Off to California
21 Dam Job
22 Skid Row
23 Stormy Night
24 Soldiers In The Dust
25 Bound for Glory - It's A Long Ways
c. 1942
Back To The U.S.A.
26 Bound for Glory - Assorted pages
c. 1942
27 Bound for Glory - notes and assorted pages
c. 1942
BOX 3
01 Bound for Glory - Assorted pages
April 17, 1942;
c. 1942
02-18 Bound for Glory -
"Copy for the Press"
Nov. 30, 1942
02 Title page, contents
03 Chapter I - Soldiers in the Dust
04 Chapter II - Empty Snuff Cans
05 Chapter V - Mr. Cyclone
06 Chapter VI - Boomchasers
07 Chapter VII - Cain't No Gang Whip Us Now
08 Chapter VIII - Fire Extinguishers
09 Chapter IX - A Fast-Running Train Whistles
Down
10 Chapter X - The Junking Sack
11 Chapter XI - Boy in Search of Something
12 Chapter XII - Trouble Busting
13 Chapters XIII, XIV - Off to California;
The House on the Hill
14 Chapter XV - The Telegram That Never Came
15 Chapter XVI - Stormy Night
16 Chapter XVII - Extry Selects
17 Chapter XVIII - Crossroads
18 Chapter XIX - Train Bound for Glory
Note: Woody Guthrie Artwork
Series 15, #16 includes a listing of Bound
for Glory
"Chapters in Order" attached to
drawing of "Railroad Pete" (c. 1942)
Folders 19-21: Silver Mine
c. 1942
19 pp. 1-15
20 pp. 1-80
21 pp. 81-160
22 War Songs And Work Songs
c. 1942
23 World Hope
c. 1942
24 "Your words of wisdom"
June 10, 1943
BOX 4
01 five items
Nov. 3-29, 1943
02 Lifeıs Other Side - Chapter 2
1943[?]
03 seven items
c. 1943-1944
(re: Merchant Marine,
sea)
04 Words On These Waters
February 27, 1944
I Go Singing Of Bellies
March 11, 1944
Gunners Card Game
March 21, 1944
05 re "Songs by Leadbelly"
April 16, 1944
06 re Merchant Marine, D-Day
June 17, 1944
re Merchant Marine
living, working
June 18, 1944
conditions
Barn Loft
June 21, 1944[?]
re folk music, WWII,
politics
July 18, 1944
Postage Stamp
July 19, 1944
07 Folk Music
July 25, 1944
08 Songs For Victory: music for political
action August 8,
1944
09 Singing Troopship
August 30, 1944
10 Train Smoke
September 26, 1944
11 I've Got to Write A Wild Axe Handle Blues
October 1944
12 I Went By Myself; Pictures
October 1944
13 Cathy and Dinny
November 27, 1944
14 WNEW - 1st Program
December 3, 1944
15 15 Write It Right
December 14, 1944
16 eight items
1944
17 Asch Recordings - liner notes[?]
1944[?]
18 Britain's Hardwall
c. 1944
19 Folksay Album #1
c. 1944
20 Folksay: Asch Album Number 432
c. 1944
21 re the sea
c. 1944
22.1 three items
c. 1944
22.2 Ten Songs
c. 1944-45
[Ship Story -- see Box 10, Folders 1-40
c. 1944-47]
23.1 six items
1945; c. 1945
23.2 Cavalcade of American Song; WWII
(c. 1942-45)
"The main thing is fun."
24 seven items
March 13-17, 1946
25 Peoples Songs and Its People
March 19, 1946
26 On Ballad Singers
March 20, 1946
27 six items
March 25-31, 1946
28 fifteen items
April - May, 1946
29 Cathy Puts Sandman To Sleep
June 1946
30 Stackabones
June 1946
(with related correspondence)
July-August 1946
31 Songs, People, Papers ...
September 1, 1946
32 five items
Sept - Nov., 1946
33 Child Sitting
Dec. 14, 1946
34 Me and Ingrid
Dec, 30, 1946
35 Big Papers Dig Own Graves
1946
36 Hoodis
1946
37 I Married A Dancer
1946
38.1 My People
1946
38.2 love story re dancer
c. 1946
Folders 39-42: House of Earth
39 scene from novel
October 3, 1946
40 Chapter One - Termites
January 10, 1947
41 original folder containing
January 10, 1947
Chapter One - Termites
42 House of Earth - final[?] version
c. 1947
(item received from the Irving Lerner Estate)
43 The Reckless Observer
January 1, 1947
loveless [.....]
January 6, 1947
44 The Bowery and Me
January 14, 1947
45 George Thomson's "Marxism and Poetry"
c. January 1947
46 Singing High Balladree
January 23, 1947
47 Passports And Me
January 25, 1947
48 Rozzy The Sea Girl
January 26, 1947
49 My Best Songs
February 6, 1947
50 seven items
Feb. 8- March 3, 1947
51 Midnite Special
March 4, 1947
52 eight items
March 5-14, 1947
53 More Than Places; All of You
March 31, 1947
54 Seaman's Fone Call
March 21, 1947
55 thirty items
May - June 23, 1947
56.1 Three Ballads by Abraham Lincoln
June 24, 1947
56.2 re: Cathy Guthrie, Phelps-Dodge strike
June 29, 1947
56.3 Mike Quin
August 17, 1947
Here's A Tale A Feller Told Me (see also
August 31, 1947
Manuscripts 2, Box 1, Folder 14, Item 1)
57 "You can never judge honest labour
people
December 27, 1947
by how pretty or by how ugly they look."
58 And More Talk
1947
59 Cathy Ann Guthrie
1947
60 three items
1947
Box 4, Folder 61 through Box 6, Folder 23
Foolish Gold, Study Butte, Seeds of Man
61 Foolish Gold
c. 1947-48
BOX 5
01-26 Study Butte/Seeds of Man:
typescript (with
editor's markings)
c. 1947-48, 1953
01 Drip Gas, pp. 1-64
02 Squawling Fiddle, pp. 47-131
03 Last Supper, pp. 132-211
04 Rocky Run, pp. 212-308
05 Windy Road, pp. 309-323
06 Ranch Of The Sun, pp. 324-412
07 Old Man Rio, pp. 450-457
08 Wine Bucket Girl, pp. 458-473
09 The Study Butte, pp. 474-485
10 Mud & Sticks, pp. 486-493
11 Wine Bucket Girl, pp. 458-473
(carbon copy)
12 The Study Butte, pp. 474-485
(carbon copy)
13 Mud & Sticks, pp. 486-500
(carbon copy)
14 Leather Books, pp. 501-516
15 High Rocks, pp, 517-536
16 Moon Walking, pp. 537-556
17 Salty Peter, pp. 557-594
18 Big New Boss, pp. 595-637
19 Foolish Gold, pp. 638-675
20 Tight Blanket, pp. 676-699
21 Long Haul, pp. 700-726
22 Big Visit, pp. 727-748
23 Thorny Days, pp. 749-770
24 Thirsty Nights, pp. 771-801
25 Solid Meat, pp. 802-825
26 Laffing Nuggets, pp. 826-843
Box 5, Folder 27 - Box 6, Folder 02
Study Butte/Seeds of Man:
photocopy, with editor's markings
1953
27 Chapter 1 - Drip Gas, p. 1; pp. 1-64
BOX 6
01 Chapter 2 - Detour (1 of 2), pp. 65 - 134
02 Chapter 2 - Detour (2 of 2), pp. 134A-182
03-24 Study Butte/Seeds of Man:
carbon copy
c. 1947-48, 1953
03 Drip Gas, pp. 1-43
04 Squawling Fiddle, pp. 43-131
05 Last Supper, pp. 133-208
06 Rocky Run, pp. 212-308
07 Windy Road, pp. 309-324
08 Ranch Of The Sun, pp. 325-448
09 Old Man Rio, pp. 449-456
(see Box 5, Folders 11-13 for pp. 458-493)
10 Mud & Sticks, pp. 494-500
11 Leather Books, pp. 501-516
12 High Rocks, pp, 517-536
13 Moon Walking, pp. 537-556
14 Salt Peter, pp. 557-594
15 Big New Boss, pp. 595-637
16 Foolish Gold, pp. 638-675
17 Tight Blanket, pp. 676-699
18 Long Haul, pp. 700-726
19 Big Visit, pp. 727-748
20 Thorny Days, pp. 749-770
21 Thirsty Nights, pp. 771-801
22 Solid Meat, pp. 802-825
23 Laffing Nuggets, pp. 826-843
24 Study Butte, pp. 1-3
c. 1947-48, 1953
The following items in Box 3 of Woody Guthrie's outgoing correspondence
(Correspondence-1) are written on the backs of pages from Study
Butte:
Folder
Recipient and date
Study Butte chapter and pages
03
Mazia, May 6, 1952
Rocky Run, pp. 244-247
03
Mazia, May 6, 1952
Rocky Run, pp. 233-234
04 (last item) Mazia, 1952[?]
Last Supper, pp. 209-211
24
Seegers, c. 1952-53
Squawling Fiddle, p. 120
BOX 7
01 "If all of the good things Cathy done..."
January 15, 1948
Busting Bubbles
January 17, 1948
02 Comics That Ain't Funny
January 17, 1948
03 It's Not Because
January 19, 1948
Ranian's Finbow
[and]
January 25, 1948
Baldness
January 24, 1948
Nite of Love
January 26, 1948
Pot of Life
January 29, 1948
[oversize box The Seed of Man January 28,1948]
03.1 Love Letters
February 25, 1948
04 High Balladry
February 1948
05 About Marjorie Mazia (Guthrie)
c. February 1948
(2 versions)
06 How To Make Up A Balladsong
March 8, 1948
And Get Away With
It
07 twenty-one items
March 15-26, 1948
08 forty-two items
Mar. 30 - May 31, 1948
09 three items
June 1-7, 1948
10 Us Kids
June 8, 1948
(with related correspondence)
(July 13, 1948)
11 fifteen items
June 9-17, 1948
12 eleven items
July 7-24, 1948
13 Songs To Grow On
July, August 1948
14 Ditzy Greenblatt pieces
July, August 1948
(four pieces by "Ditzy Greenblatt")
15 eighteen items
August-October 1948
16 six items
1948
17 My Ideas About the Use of Peoples
January 9, 11, 1949
Songs in the Progressive Party Movement
to Elect Henry Wallace and Glen Taylor
18 My Ideas About the Use of Peoples
January 9, 11, 1949
Songs in the Progressive Party Movement
to Elect Henry Wallace and Glen Taylor
(ms. submitted to Peoples Songs, with
editors' note)
[item sent by Pete Seeger to Harold Leventhal, 1990]
19 fourteen items
Jan. 11 - May 9, 1949
20 Presidents For Peaceful Peace
May 11, 1949
21 Dirty Dishes
May 16, 1949
22 The Maddox Brothers & Rose
May 20, 1949
23.1 twenty-seven items
May 24 - June 1949
23.2 Ethnic Folkway Library -- record reviews
May - June 1949
24 The People Of The United States vs.
July 6, 1949
Woodrow Wilson (Woody) Guthrie in
regard to: Obscene Letters mailed to:
Mary Ruth Crissman, Orland, California --
A Statement Of The Facts
25 re "old hurried notes"
July 19, 1949
26 To Emma Lazarus
July 22, 1949
[oversize box
My Man; Out of Work July 31, 1949]
27 Lock Jaw
July 31, 1949
New London Lady
August 12, 1949
28 Cowboy Ranch
September 19, 1949
(with cover letter)
(November 24, 1949)
29 Little Thoughts About Atoms
September 1949
30 Day Lost
1949
"These are all
things I don't know..."
1949
31 four items
1950
32 three items
1951
33 five items
February - March 1952
34 Funny Money
c. April 14, 1952
35 Damp Eyes
April 17, 1952
36 Seeds of Man
April 17, 1952
37 Some More Alcohol
April 26, 1952
38 Alcohol And Me And All of You
April 1952
Around Okemah
39 Kings County Hospital writings
July 1952
Box 7, Folder 40 - Box 8, Folder 06
Brooklyn State Hospital manuscripts
40-41
July - August 1952
42
August 1952
43
August 1952
BOX 8
01-02
Aug. - Sept. 1952
03
Aug. - Sept. 1952
04 "Dear Woody, Dear Marjorie:
September 1952
Dear Tony:"
(pp. 1-124)
05 "Dear Woody, Dear Marjorie:
September 1952
Dear Tony:"
(pp. 125-248)
06 "Earth spins below us ..."
1952
07 Tweedle Atcheson & Tweedle Eden
November 1952
08 Why I Dont & Never Can Like Old
February 1953
NYC Anymore
09 Florida manuscripts (thirteen items)
March - June 1953
10 Topanga Canyon manuscripts (five items)
August - October 1953
11 Arlo's Whale
1953
Documentary: French Canadian
1953
Folders 12-31: Scripts (1954)
12 Buffalo Skinners
January 1954
13 Ranger's Command
January 1954
14 Harriet Tubman
mid-March 1954
15 Furguson Brothers Killing
March 1954
16 Skybally
1954
Folders 17-30: scripts received from Will
Geer
17 Bottom Doller
January 23, 1954
18 Big Super
January 1954
19 Billy The Kid
January 1954
20 Gypsy Davy
January 1954
21 My Whore
February 12, 1954
22 Tom Joad
February 14, 1954
23 Mathew Kimes
February 1954
24 Whaley Tail
February 1954
25 1913 Massacre
c. April 10, 1954
26 Ludlow Massacre
mid-April 1954
27 Axeploited
April 1954
28 Pretty Boy Floyd
1954
29 Public Debt
1954
30 Worst Gun Battle
1954
31 Songs of Struggle and Protest, pp. 1-117
September 1954
32 Songs of Struggle and Protest,
September 1954
pp. 118-229, 261-267
(see also Manuscripts-2, Box 1, Folder 28)
33 "I think I listen my hardest and
October 1954
listen my loudest ..."
34 No Help Known
November 1954
35 Seeds of Man
December 11, 1954
36 My Bible
December 31, 1954
BOX 9
01 Howlin Hallyloo
January 1,1955
"What makes my bubbles[?]..."
January 1, 1955
A Very Merry Christmas
January 1, 1955
Chorea & Me
1955
Godıs Voice
1955
[oversize box
All in One April,1955]
02 Brooklyn State Hospital manuscripts
n.d. [1953-55?]
03 The Forsaken Bible
September 1956
04 assorted manuscripts
1956-57
05 assorted manuscripts (1 of 2)
1958
06 assorted manuscripts
(2 of 2)
1958
BOX 10
Folders 01 - 40 Ship Story
c. 1944-47
Ship Story was located when processing of the
manuscripts was nearly completed. It is housed in
Box 10; chronologically, it follows Box 4, Folder 22.
01-12 from envelope
marked "Ship Story"
01 Cover envelope (photocopy)
02 outline
03 The Story I Will Tell, pp. 1-12
04 Chapter II -- Flash Back, pp. 44-122
05 Inserts -- Hoboken, The Willy Bee
06 Baltimore, pp. 1-40
07 Baltimore, pp. 1-13
08 New Deal, pp. 1-51
09 Baltimore, pp. 1-13
10 Old Man, pp. 1-9
11 Cactus Apples, pp. 1-30
12 Insert -- Beautyıs Self
13-32 from box marked
"Ship Story carbon copy"
13 box (photocopy)
14 insert -- Hoboken
15 You Talk Soap, pp. 1-7
16 table of contents
17 The Story I Will Tell, pp. 1-12
18 Shelter Struck, pp. 1-43
19 Flash Back, pp. 44-122
20 Seaman's Papers, pp. 123-154
21 The Willy Bee, pp. 155-207M
22 Inserts -- Hoboken, The Willy Bee
23 The Stuka, pp. 1-4
24 The Bomb, pp. 2-15
25 Newspaper, pp. 1, 3-4, 6
26 Pantry Pranks, pp. 1-6
Pranks in the Pantry,
pp. 1-11
27 Torpedoes, pp. 8-14
28 Rock of Gib, pp. 1-14
29 Eighteen Days, pp. 1-10, 37-43
Eighteen Days, pp.
1-15
Eighteen Days (unnumbered)
30 "It was a rough night."
31 You Talk Soap, pp. 1-14
32 "Pat walked out of the bunk room ..."
33-40 Ship Story
material found with other manuscripts
33 notes re "Conflicts"
34 A Day on the Mediteranian, pp. 2-4
35 "Around this ship...";
"A boy with
a tattooed heart..."
36 "Around this ship..."
37 The Story I Will Tell, pp. 11-13
(sex scene insert)
38 The Order of the Chapters
39 Tin Cans and Tin Spoons, pp. 50-52
40 Sunset, pp. 1-2
OVERSIZE
The Seed of Man: notes
January 28,1948
My Man; Out of Work
July 31, 1949
All in One
April,1955
MANUSCRIPTS-2
(undated; arranged alphabetically)
BOX 1
01 Alley Kat
02 Almanacs & Me, The
03 Arlo's Whale
04 Arvin Migratory Labor Camp (re)
05 Aunt Molly Jackson (re)
06 Australia Here I Am
07 Blest be thy man ...
08 Blues
Boston
09 Canadian Nickel, The
10 Carmen
11 Count Torreforchetti and the Bedbugs
12 Dear Australia
12.1 Dear Guys
13 Guitars And Me
14 Here's A Tale A Feller Told Me (see also
Manuscripts-1, Box
4, Folder 56.3, Item 2)
"Hitch Hiking
down the lonesome old road..."
"Hootenannys
got all the play ..."
Hot trail
"I and my wife
had a spat ..."
"I cannot help
..."
I Remember That Music
I Wanta Fag
If I Could Only Learn
to Keep My Mouth Shut
15 Jerry P. (also titled Gid)
16 Juke Box Or Junk Box
16.1 Kiss of Me, The
17 Last Man, The
18 Little New Comer
19 Looks at Dancing
20 Man That, The
"May your days..."
"Most poets
like me should admit ..."
Most Times
Muddy Wader Man
21 My Dad and the Bullcart
22 "My New Found Land" (re)
Mystic Book
National Debt
New York Trains
Notes About Music
23 Nursery School And The Saloon, The
24 Of All The Country
Old Oakie
25 People And Classes
prostitute (re)
"Race hate ..."
Redwoods
Seamen Say
Seasay
Ship Language
Snitches And Snatches
26 Society Is A Gim Goodle
27 "Sometimes I think Im a gonna lose
my mind ..."
28 Songs of Struggle and Protest (see also
Manuscripts-1, Box 8, Folders 31-32)
29 story fragments[?] -- two items re feelings,
sex, love
30 Talk
31 title sheets (three items -- six titles
-- no text)
32 To: Paul Robeson
33 To Tip Or Not; Hope; I'm Dead Set
Voice
voting (re)
Weak Snappers
Western Worlds; stormy
nest
Woody Guthrie
34 Woody Guthrie
35 Woody Guthrie Album
36 Word I Want To Say, The
World's Best
Worth Quoting
Worth Reading Twice
37 "You'll always taste as good as you
look."
|