Woody Guthrie Archives to be moved to a new home in Tulsa
Woody Guthrie
The George Kaiser Family Foundation has purchased the complete Woody Guthrie Archives with plans to create a downtown Tulsa space to display the collection, which is currently in housed in the New York home of Nora Guthrie, the legendary Oklahoma-born songwriter’s daughter.
The Tulsa World’s Wayne Greene reports that the Woody Guthrie Center, 116 E Brady Ave., should be open by the end of 2012. The timing is significant since music lovers around the world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the late songwriting legend’s birth in the coming year.
Born July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Guthrie was a prolific singer-songwriter with a gift for connecting to listeners through his “Dust Bowl Ballads,” children’s tunes and protest songs. Before he died Oct. 3, 1967, of Huntington’s disease, he had penned thousands of songs, letters and stories and created hundreds of paintings, drawings and cartoons, and many of those are included in the Woody Guthrie Archives bound for Tulsa.
The planned Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa will feature public displays from the archives and research space for scholars.
Although he died at the relatively young age of 55, Guthrie’s music has lived on to inspire generations of musicians. He was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Stars as bright and varied as Bruce Springsteen, Ani DiFranco and Wilco have listed Guthrie among their musical influences. A full calendar of worldwide events is set for 2012 during the centennial of his birth, which is fitting since he is arguably the most famous Oklahoman around the globe.
-BAM
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