The People's Recorder

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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