The People's Recorder

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.

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.

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: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

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