When Oral History Changed Storytelling
Every week on NPR you might hear pieces from StoryCorps. Nearly as often you might catch firsthand glimpses of history in “oral histories” without knowing… Read More »When Oral History Changed Storytelling
Margaret Walker
Young People, Passions, and a WGA Screenplay Reading
In the 1930s young people with little experience, like Margaret Walker, Nelson Algren and Richard Wright, got on their feet with jobs as WPA writers.… Read More »Young People, Passions, and a WGA Screenplay Reading
Happy Birthday, Margaret Walker
This month there are several chances to see Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story on the Smithsonian Channel. (Check here for times.) Today would… Read More »Happy Birthday, Margaret Walker
New Deal Arts After the Election
Last month I joined a group at the FDR Memorial Library in Hyde Park, NY, which hosted a discussion of the New Deal’s Enduring Legacy,… Read More »New Deal Arts After the Election
Richard Wright, 50 Years On
Fifty years ago today, Richard Wright died in Paris, just over 50 years old. From a poor sharecropping family in Mississippi, he grew up in… Read More »Richard Wright, 50 Years On
WPA Guides and Cities of the Imagination – Part 1
The WPA guides track fine-grained details of 1930s America, from the call signals of long lost radio stations to stories of tenement families. But what… Read More »WPA Guides and Cities of the Imagination – Part 1
Illinois Guide Anniversary and a Voice Against Intolerance
Seventy years ago today, the WPA guide to Illinois came out as controversy swirled around the Federal Writers’ Project. Texas congressman Martin Dies was deep… Read More »Illinois Guide Anniversary and a Voice Against Intolerance