A History of Folk Music in Two Parts

Folk music in America is a rich tradition firmly rooted in song and music, but also the people who sang and performed those songs, which is why it is also referred to as “people’s music.” Join professor Doug Morris of West Chester University as he leads a two-part series on the history and people behind the folk music tradition.

Part 1 will cover the years from roughly 1840 to 1940, and will include: field songs, dance songs, freedom songs, railroad songs, protest songs, union songs (e.g., from Joe Hill, and the Industrial Workers of the World, Florence Reese, etc.), Dust Bowl songs (Woody Guthrie), etc. Audience participation will be encouraged - singing, insights, questions, dialogue, etc.! 

Part 2 will pick up with Woody Guthrie, and include commentary about and songs by Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Malvina Reynolds, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Richie Havens, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Utah Phillips, and others. Audience participation will be encouraged. Pete Seeger said "some music can help us escape our troubles; some music can help us understand our troubles, and some music can help us do something about our troubles." In the "short history of people's music," we will attempt to share music that taps into escape, understanding, and transformation. And we will talk about and experience what Pete called "the folk process."  

Doug Morris (Ph.D., Penn State) teaches in the world of critical pedagogy at West Chester University, is a former jazz guitarist, is a singer, composer, and performer of "people's songs," and has written about Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, and others in the tradition of "people's music."