Public & Educational Programs

Woody Guthrie Publications is proud to share educational programs, films, exhibits, and theatrical productions which are all available to the public.

Nora Guthrie

HOLY GROUND

Woody Guthrie's Yiddish Connection

*Presented by Nora Guthrie

In this program, Nora Guthrie discusses the artistic implications of Woody's relationship with his Jewish mother in law, Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt. This multimedia program includes family photographs, music excerpts from the Klezmatics 2 disc project Wonder Wheel and Happy Joyous Hanukkah, writings and artwork by Woody Guthrie that illuminate their personal and creative relationship.

Read the full story of Woody's Holy Ground program

MY NAME IS NEW YORK Cover

MY NAME IS NEW YORK

Ramblin' Around Woody Guthrie's Town

*Presented by Nora Guthrie / Anna Canoni

Although Woody Guthrie hails from Okemah, OK, his travels took him right across the country: From California to the New York Island! My Name Is New York - explores the lofts, apartments, and couches where Guthrie lived and wrote some of his most well-loved songs.

This multimedia presentation uses archival photographs, historic audio, and rare film footage to recreate Guthrie's life in 1940s through 1960's New York City, providing a glimpse into the many places Guthrie called home.

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THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: The Woody Guthrie Story

WOODY GUTHRIE: SONGS AND ART, WORDS AND WISDOM

All You Can Write Is What You See

*Presented by Anna Canoni

In this special multimedia program Anna Canoni, Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter, will examine Woody's life and living legacy through his songs and prose. Over the decades, hundreds of Woody’s 3,000 songs have become folk song standards and staples in the canon of American music. He wrote as an observer of the world, documenting stories and experiences of others, a musical journalist. Songs like “The Great Dust Storm”, “Do Re Mi”, “Dust Bowl Refugee”, “Dying Miner”, “1913 Massacre”, “Ludlow Massacre”, “Deportee”, “The Blinding of Isaac Woodard”, “Harriet Tubman’s Ballad”, “Ilsa Koch”, and “My Thirty Thousand” are just some of the ballads where Woody documents the lives, experiences, and tragedies he witnesses or reads about. As Woody writes at the bottom of his iconic song, “This Land Is Your Land”, “All you can write is what you see.” In this program, we delve into what Woody saw, what Woody experienced and therefore what he wrote about.

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THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: The Woody Guthrie Story

SECRETS FROM THE WOODY GUTHRIE ARCHIVE

An Inside Look

*Presented by Anna Canoni

Delve into the Woody & Marjorie Guthrie family archive with their granddaughter Anna Canoni as your tour guide. Discover where Woody’s most iconic quotes come from, view hidden film footage and rare audio, along with rarely seen images of Woody’s creative works.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: The Woody Guthrie Story

SHE CAME ALONG TO ME

Finding Our Way

*Presented by Nora Guthrie / Anna Canoni

Presenting the story of Woody & Marjorie Guthrie’s life with Huntington’s disease (HD) and fight to find a cure. This special multimedia program documents Woody’s illness with HD and their loving, creative solutions in living a full life with this fatal neurodegenerative illness. In 1967, just before Woody passed away, Marjorie founded the Committee to Combat Huntington’s Disease (later renamed the Huntington’s Disease Society of America). Marjorie lead the fight against HD for the remaining 16 years of her life and brought together patients, doctors, and legislators to make a difference in the lives of this rare disease, bringing it out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

Woody and Pete

WHAT PETE TAUGHT WOODY

An Intimate portrait of the friendship and working relationship between Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie

*Presented by Nora Guthrie

2019 marked the centennial of Pete Seeger’s birth! To honor Seeger’s 100th birthday, Nora Guthrie (Woody Guthrie’s daughter) created this special multimedia presentation featuring rare and intimate interviews with Seeger, as he recalls his working relationship with Guthrie. The program will also highlight archival materials, photographs, and music – providing insight into their significant friendship, which ultimately played a huge role in the Folk Music Revival of the 50s and 60s.

This program is a fundraiser for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the non-profit organization founded by Pete & Toshi Seeger.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: The Woody Guthrie Story

THIS LAND WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME

The Woody Guthrie Story

*Presented by Anna Canoni

This biographical program details Woody's life from his roots in Oklahoma, his westward migration during the Dust Bowl, his move to New York City, all the way through his illness with Huntington's disease. Juxtaposing Woody's lyrics, artwork, and prose with historic and personal family photographs, Anna provides insight into who he was. Woody wrote, "All you can write is what you see"

Films About Woody Guthrie

All Star Tribute Concert DVD

Woody Guthrie All Star Tribute Concert 1970

Concert film

Film produced and directed by: Jim Brown / 2019
Original concert produced by Harold Leventhal
Original concert film produced by Frederic Underhill and David Myers

The Woody Guthrie All-Star Tribute Concert 1970 at the Hollywood Bowl celebrates the work of America's greatest folk singer! This rare and vintage historic tribute concert has never been seen before. It features Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Country Joe McDonald, Odetta, Richie Havens, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and others in their prime. This concert was narrated by actors Peter Fonda and Will Geer.

This star-studded event was a fundraiser for the California Chapter of The Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease now known as the Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF) as Woody died of Huntington's disease in 1967.

In addition to this rare concert the DVD includes approx 10 mins of bonus material which will include additional songs and rare 1970 rehearsal footage.

Time: 62 min.
For screening permissions contact: The Hereditary Disease Foundation

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1913 Massacre Film Cover

1913 MASSACRE

Documentary
Produced and Directed by: Ken Ross & Louis V. Galdieri / 2011

Inspired by a Woody Guthrie Song – A Story of Greed and the Ruin It Brought to an American Town.

1913 Massacre follows singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie to the town of Calumet, a once-thriving mining town on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula still haunted by the tragic events that inspired Woody Guthrie’s ballad, ’1913 Massacre.’

On December 24, 1913, the striking copper miners of Calumet were gathered with their wives and children for a holiday party at the Italian Hall. After the festivities had begun, someone — to this day, no one knows who — yelled Fire!

Despite efforts to keep the Hall under control, panic took hold of the crowd. The miners, their wives and children made a mad rush for the stairs. In the ensuing chaos, seventy-four people were crushed and suffocated to death on the stairway. Fifty-nine of the dead were children. There was no fire.

In the version of events that found its way into Woody Guthrie’s song, the “copper-boss thug-men” had plotted to yell Fire! and were holding the door of Italian Hall shut, so that the miners and their families could not escape.

The town itself is still divided over exactly what happened. And no one can explain why they tore down the Italian Hall in 1984.

1913 Massacre captures the last living witnesses of the 1913 tragedy and reconstructs Calumet’s past from individual memories, family legends and songs, tracing the legacy of the tragedy to the present day, when the town –out of work, out of money, out of luck — still struggles to come to terms with this painful episode from its past.

Time: 65 min.

For screening permissions contact:

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This Machine Kills Fascists Documentary

THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS

Documentary
Director: Stephen Gammond / 2005

Narrated by Billy Bragg, this film includes the definitive history of the life & times of Woody Guthrie, with historical and rare documentary photos and footage, excerpts from over 40 Guthrie compositions and contemporary interviews with friends, family and musicians, including his son Arlo, his daughter Nora, his sister Mary Jo, close friends Pete Seeger and Jimmy Longhi, manager Harold Leventhal, biographer Ed Cray, and Guthrie scholars such as Guy Logsdon, Loralee Cooley, Henrietta Yurchenco, Phil Buehler and Jorge Arevalo.

Time: 160 min.

For screening permissions contact:

Snapper Music
Johnny Wilks
UK + 44-20-7563-5500
Man in the Sand DVD

MAN IN THE SAND

Documentary
Billy Bragg & Wilco / 1999

Woody Guthrie's recorded output represents a mere 10% of the songs he wrote. The rest he carried with him on his travels; words he scribbled down in numerous notebooks and tunes humming in his head. When he died in 1967, those tunes were lost forever. Thirty years later his daughter, Nora, went looking for somebody to write new music for these "lost" lyrics. She found Billy Bragg. Man in the Sand is the story of how together they brought Woody's words back to life and created the acclaimed album Mermaid Avenue. Union Productions – filmed in 1999

“Beautiful to listen to and beautiful to look at.” Time Out

Union Productions
Time: 90 min.

For screening permissions contact:

Juliet Wills | Sarah Wills
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A Vision Shared Documentary

A VISION SHARED

Documentary
Director: Jim Brown / 1988
Various artists: Bruce Springsteen, U2, John Mellencamp, Emmy Lou Harris and others

This incredible collection of artists and songs features powerful new versions of Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly's most important and influential music. In interviews and performances musicians of today pay tribute to these two legendary folk heroes through classic songs such as, Deportee, Goodnight Irene, Union Maid, Vigilante Man, and others. Performances by John Cougar Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, U2, and Bob Dylan, to name a few.

Sony Music Entertainment

Time: 72 min.

For screening permissions contact:

Jim Brown Productions
(212) 505-0138
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Hard Travelin Video Cover

HARD TRAVELIN'

Documentary
Director: Jim Brown / 1984

Starring: Arlo Guthrie Woody Guthrie wrote and sang more than 1,000 songs that charged a unique mixture of blues and country music with a social consciousness that cam straight from the heart. His distinguished career inspired Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and a host of other folk luminaries who pay tribute to him here. This revealing program traces Guthrie's life through the eyes of his son Arlo Guthrie. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie's life was truly Hard Travelin', but he lived it to the fullest and his songs remain a gift to the world.

MGM / UA
Time: 74 min.

For screening permissions contact:

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Roll on Columbia DVD

ROLL ON COLUMBIA

Documentary
Directors: Michael Majdic & Denise Matthews / 2000

In early May of 1941, an unemployed Woody Guthrie and his wife, Mary, packed their three children into a battered Pontiac and left southern California for Portland, Oregon. All he had waiting for him in the Northwest was the vague possibility of writing songs for a documentary film about the dams being built on the Columbia River.

When Guthrie arrived with his guitar and family, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) took pity and gave him a thirty-day contract as a temporary employee, paid at the rate of $266.66 per month. Guthrie was expected to write a song a day--which he nearly did, producing 26 songs in 30 days, including American folk classics Roll on Columbia, Jackhammer Blues, Pastures of Plenty, and Grand Coulee Dam.

University of Oregon
Time: 56 min.

For screening permissions contact:

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Bound for Glory Film Cover

BOUND FOR GLORY

Feature Film
Director: Hal Ashby / 1976
Starring: David Carradine & Ronny Cox

Winner of 2 Academy Awards, Woody's story of his book set against the Great Depression. Academy Award nomination for best film. Rated by movie critics as "4 Stars."

Academy Award - Cinematography, Original Song Score and/or Adaptation
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award - Cinematography
National Board of Review Award - Actor: David Carradine
National Society of Film Critics Award - Cinematography MGM UA

Time: 149 min.

For screening permissions contact:

Latanya Taylor
(310) 449-3348
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Woody Guthrie Exhibits

Exhibitions curated by the Woody Guthrie Foundation are made available as a public service. Exhibit fees provide support to the Foundation in the areas of new research and public programs.

For booking information on all exhibits contact:

Anna Canoni
(914) 241-3844
Woody Guthrie at 100 Exhibit

WOODY AT 100!

This 17 panel traveling exhibit was created in 2012 for Woody Guthrie’s centennial. It follows the narrative of Woody Guthrie’s life-story as well as the creative legacy he left behind and the many contemporary artists he has inspired.

Each colorful panel includes a vast collection of high quality reproductions of photos, Guthrie’s original lyrics, artworks, cartoons, illustrations, and writings. Curated by members of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archive – Jorge Arevalo, Tiffany Colannino, Michael Kleff and Guthrie’s daughter Nora Guthrie – the panels are constructed of light weight laminated paper making it convenient to package and inexpensive to ship.

17 Panels
Dimensions: 33.5” width x 76.8” height
*Available in English, French and German languages.

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STROKES OF ELECTRICITY

STROKES OF ELECTRICITY

The ArtWorks of Woody Guthrie

This is an exhibition of selected visual works by renowned American folk musician and activist Woody Guthrie. Curated and designed by Steven Brower and Nora Guthrie, fifty-two high-quality reproductions of political cartoons, pen and ink illustrations, watercolors, children's art, and oil paintings represent various stages and developments in Guthrie’s life as a visual artist. With images and text drawn from the eponymous publication, “Woody Guthrie Artworks, The Journals, Drawings, and Sketchbooks of an American Original” (Rizzoli 2005), the exhibit unveils a previously unexplored aspect of this American icon.

56 wall-hung art panels, 2 canvas prints, 4 biographical wall-hung panels, 5 text panels, 1 credits text panel, 1 oversized photo of Guthrie Dimensions: Running Feet: 100 ft. / Square Feet: 800-1000 sq. feet

HARD TRAVELIN': Woody Guthrie's Lyrics & Photographs

HARD TRAVELIN': Woody Guthrie's Lyrics & Photographs

This exhibit tells Woody's story through his lyrics and photographs. Included in this exhibit are 12-18 framed pieces; 6-9 photographs of Woody Guthrie dated from 1939-1954 and 6-9 lyrics from his collection of songwritings. This exhibit can be curated to suit a variety of themes and topics.

Musical & Theatrical Performances

WOODY GUTHRIE'S AMERICAN SONG Cover

WOODY GUTHRIE'S AMERICAN SONG

Adapted by Peter Glazer

An exuberant musical celebration of America, Woody Guthrie's American Song tells the life of the rambling folk singer through his words and music. After its debut in 1989, the musical has traveled all over America to rave reviews. The New York Times said it "manages to find both the high beauty and the earthly humor of Guthrie's love affair with America." (12/9/1998). The musical follows Guthrie as he travels from the Dust Bowl to California and east to New York City. It includes over two dozen songs, including This Land Is Your Land, So Long It's Been Good To Know Yuh, Pastures of Plenty, Hard Travelin', and Bound for Glory.

For Booking Information contact:

510-643-4342

*This production is available to license for local theaters to produce.

WOODY SEZ: The Words, Music and Spirit of Woody Guthrie

WOODY SEZ: The Words, Music and Spirit of Woody Guthrie

David Lutken with Darcie Deaville, Helen Russell & Andy Teirstein

A celebration of the music and words of America 's greatest ballad-maker. Woody's songs and history are combined with articles he wrote for the newspaper The People's World, to create a portrait of a real American hero who fought for the underdog. Broadway veteran David Lutken is supported by three multi-instrumentalist actors who bring Guthrie's music to life with twin fiddles, viola, guitars, bass, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, dobro and beautiful folk harmonies.

For booking information contact:

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PASTURES OF PLENTY: A Celebration in Music and Dance

PASTURES OF PLENTY: A Celebration in Music and Dance

The Vanaver Caravan

Hitch a ride with Woody across the landscape of America’s music and dance traditions. His songs are used as the basis of the journey. We feel the rhythms and the moods of Woody’s people in their dances: Southern Appalachian clog dancing, Western style squares and Virginia reels, New England contra dancing, Harlem’s lindy hop and New York’s modern, interpretive styles. This is a wonderful and innovative way of introducing Woody’s music to audiences of all ages. Workshops in all the instrumental and dance styles and school residencies are also available.

For booking information or press kit contact:

Livia and Bill Vanaver / Vanaver Caravan
(845) 256-9300
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