Songwriter and folksinger Woody Guthrie died on this day in 1967. Guthrie grew up an "Okie" during the Great Depression and wrote a series of Dust Bowl Ballads crystallizing that experience. An avowed socialist and labor-union activist, he created the modern protest song and thought of himself as a voice of the voiceless. He believed songs should be weapons of psychological liberation and scrawled "This Machine Kills Fascists" across his guitar. Guthrie often ended shows by saying, "Take it easy, but take it," recommending a certain cool self-possession in the face of economic oppression. Many Americans consider Guthrie’s "This Land Is Your Land" to be the real national anthem. American activist and photographer Sid Grossman captured this photograph of Woody Guthrie in the late 1940s.
Woody Guthrie
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Artist
- Sid Grossman, 25 Jun 1913 - 31 Dec 1955
- Sitter
- Woody Guthrie, 14 Jul 1912 - 3 Oct 1967
- Date
- c. 1946-48
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image/Sheet: 33.4 x 25.9cm (13 1/8 x 10 3/16")
- Mat: 71.1 x 55.9cm (28 x 22")
- Type
- Photograph
