Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie, composer of “This Land is Your Land” and known around the world as “The Dustbowl Balladeer,” was born in Okemah, Oklahoma on July 14, 1912. His parents, Charley and Nora Belle Guthrie, raised their five children there—Clara, Roy, Woody, George and Mary Jo—until family misfortunes caused them to relocate. Woody’s childhood experiences in Okemah influenced his creativity and shaped his sense of purpose, and his autobiography, “Bound for Glory,” depicts his early years there. Over his lifetime he wrote more than 3,000 songs, and his lyrics exposed the hardships faced by thousands of families forced to migrate after the dust storms of the mid-1930s, as well as the struggles of the Great Depression, workers rights, civil rights, and the promise of American democracy. His songs became folk standards of the nation, known and performed in many languages around the world, and classics including “Pastures of Plenty,” “Tom Joad,” “I Ain’t Got No Home,” “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You,” “Vigilante Man,” “The Great Dust Storm,” “Dust Bowl Refugee,” “Deportee,” and “Pretty Boy Floyd” told of people’s hardships as well as their hopes. Considered by many to be the father of American folk music, Guthrie brought rural roots music to urban audiences and popularized a new approach to songwriting in which social injustice, historic events, and political issues became foundations for musical creativity and expression. His influence reached generations of musicians in every genre, including Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, John Lennon, The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, and Jackson Browne.
