Dramatizing the Life of Woody Guthrie and His Genetic Disorder

Dramatizingthe Life of Woody Guthrie and His Genetic Disorder, Huntington'sDisease

John F. Knight KatherineAnn Lucas Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/44/2/90/39733/4447415.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

H IDDENAWAY in a biology classroom,one of my in a semi-circle to provide a better atmosphere for story- advanced biology students and I dramatized the life of telling. We dressed in country/western garb to emphasize Woody Guthrie and described his deadly genetic illness, a folk atmosphere. Kathy Lucas, an advanced biology Huntington'sdisease (fig. 1). The purpose of this dramati- student, played the role of Woody Guthrie's wife, Mar- zation was to emphasize the effects of his genetic disorder jorie, who had come to visit the class as a representa- for members of an advanced biology class involved in tive of the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease. the study of population genetics so they could under- I acted as host biology teacher and resident folk singer. stand the illness more clearly. In preparation for the ac- A flip of a switch was all that was needed to take the tivitywe wrote to the Committee to Combat Huntington's class back to the dustbowl days. "Hard Times," sung by Disease, read a book called Woody Guthrie:A Life (Klein Woody, summed up his thoughts and ideas about prob- 1980), and listened to songs from the "Woody Guthrie lems of settlers in the Texas panhandle during the 1930s. Libraryof Congress Recordings." This was enough to fire the interest and imagination of On the day of the activity, we placed a pedigree of the everyone in the room as to who Woody Guthrie was, and Guthrie clan on the board so the students could see the the details of Huntington's disease. necessary genealogical data. The book {Klein 1980) and many pamphlets obtained from the Committee to Com- bat Huntington's Disease were displayed. A tape with songs by Woody was used to help create the setting and mood. A guitar and a harmonica, along with student singing, helped give the classroom a hootenanny effect (fig. 2). When the students came in they found their desks

John F. Knight is a biology teacher at Nathan Hale High School, West Allis, Wisconsin 53227. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Uni- versity of Wisconsin and has taught biology and science ..... since 1961. He is the editor and publisher of Pioneer's Heritage,* a true story of pioneer life on the Oklahoma plains, and is a member of the National Association of Biology Teachers, the Paternal Order of Eagles, the National Education Association, the Wisconsin Education 'Association,and the West Allis Teachers Association. His other interests include canoeing, fishing, genealogy, using computers in biology, and guitar playing and folk music. Katherine Ann Lucas is a 1981 graduate of Nathan Hale High School, West Allis, Wisconsin, and a student at Marquette School of Nursing. She was a science intern for the 1980-81 school year and was a foreign exchange student to Spain in 1979. She plays in the American FIGURE 1. The storytellers begin the dramatization of the Woody Croatian Silver Strings, an ethnic orchestra, and is also interested in Guthrie story. The pedigree of the Guthrie family can be seen in the camping, reading, and music. background. (Photograph by J. Pickett)

90 THE AMERICAN BIOLOGYTEACHER, VOLUME44, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1982 FIGURE2. The advanced biology class in- tentlylistens to one of WoodyGuthrie's songs. (Photographby J. Pickett) Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/44/2/90/39733/4447415.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

| ,; r F_ ' ..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. .

: ' i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:

FIGURE3. Singing'This LandIs YourLand" develops student enthusiasmand helps es- tablishWoody's identity. (Photographby J. Pickett)

We described Woody's early life in interesting detail tion and what they could do to help fight Huntington's using information from the book (Klein 1980). Songs disease. sung and written by Woody were also played throughout The song "Lonesome Valley" closed the story, hinting the story to relay a deeper message to the students about of Woody's possible loneliness when he discovered that Woody and his feelings. he may have inherited the disease from his mother. The As the dramatization continued, Marjorie (Kathy words from "Lonesome Valley" tend to show that many Lucas) described in detail her life with Woody and his people go through periods of time when there is only slow deterioration due to Huntington's disease, which confusion and doubt about oneself. Confusion and doubt ended with his death in 1967. A climax was reached certainly described Woody's situation and probably the when everyone took part in singing Woody's famous feelings of hundreds of others affected by Huntington's song, 'This Land is Your Land." The class enjoyed the disease. singalong and guitar playing and then the story con - When Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Okla- tinued (fig. 3). MarjorieGuthrie (Kathy Lucas) explained homa, July 14, 1912, the science of genetics was still in the nature of Huntington's disease to the studerits. She its infancy. At the time of his death 57 years later. the also informed them of where to write for more informa- basic nature of genetic disorders was an area of active

WOODY GUTHRIE 91 IL_ GEORGE

Z $ NOR~~~~~NOMA t ~~~~SHERMAN

-) * female with HD U-male with H D o - normal female - normal male - represents individuals whose phenotype is unknown at this time + - individuals who died at an early age - sex unknown

FIGURE4. A pedigree showing the inheritance of Huntington's disease through six generations of the Sherman-Guthriefamilies. (Modifiedfrom data supplied by the Committee to Combat Huntington'sDisease) research. Even though Huntington's disease had been face both the affected individuals and their families. described by Dr. George Huntington in the 1800s, the As mentioned earlier, Woody inherited the fatal gene for disease was stillpoorly understood in 1967 (Klein 1980). Huntington's disease from his mother. She had spent Today, it is known that the disease commonly has its her later years in a mental institutionwithout understand- onset between the ages of 35 and 45. Symptoms be- ing the nature of her affliction. Even though Woody ex- come increasinglysevere over a ten-to-twenty year span. hibited periods of erratic behavior, it was easy for him First, psychological symptoms appear; some individuals to deny any relationship between his symptoms and his become listless, while others become very irrationaland mother's illness. As the disease progressed, several quick to anger. Memory loss is common. Severe depres- attempts were made to diagnose Woody's problems. At sions and emotional disturbances may occur. Earlyphys- first it was thought that he was an alcoholic. This proved ical symptoms include jerks and spasms of the face or to be false. Finally,in 1952, his condition was diagnosed entire body. Speech and swallowing become difficult. as Huntington'schorea (disease). The fate of a Huntington's disease victim is death, usually We presented the following scientificdetails concerning as a result of infection, heart failure, or choking (DHEW Huntington's disease to the students in an informal 1979). dialogue. This is a devastating list of symptoms, and for a folk Huntington's disease is inherited via the dominant singer like Woody, the disease must have been extremely pattern. Individualswho have received a dominant gene hard to endure. His songs mentioned previously and for Huntington's from one of their parents will have the others such as "Oklahoma Hills" and "This Train is disease. A pedigree depicting six generations of the Bound for Glory" have been heard or sung by biologists Guthrie and related Sherman family is shown in figure 4. and nonbiologists alike. His story, which we dramatized Woody and the others affected have one normal (reces- for the biology students, pointed out the problems which sive) gene along with the dominant gene for Huntington's

92 THE AMERICAN BIOLOGYTEACHER, VOLUME44, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 1982 disease and thus have the disease. Those not having the "Ifeel this is an excellent way to learn because the class disease have inherited two recessive (normal) genes. participatesand becomes interested instead of listening Children of a parent with Huntington's have a 50/50 to lectures." chance of inheriting the disorder. Two of Woody's "They took Huntington's disease out of the textbooks daughters, Gwen and Sue, lost the genetic gamble and and presented it in a unique manner that changed the inherited Huntington's. Woody's other children and pedigree chart from a cluster of meaningless letters grandchildrernface the fate of having to wait until they to actual people whose lives are dramaticallyaffected reach the normal age of onset, 35 to 45, to determine if by this disease." they are affected. As a follow-up activity, students organized a bake sale It should be obvious that have Huntington's may and donated the proceeds to the Committee to Combat and effects on the severe emotional psychological dis- Huntington's Disease. They earmarked their donation for eased individualand his or her At the time family. present continued research into the many unsolved problems there is no cure Treatment for Huntington's disease. may associated with the disease. the include use of the drugs Hadol and Prolixin, which Traditionally,genetics education has been the domain serve to block the action of the brainchemical dopamine. of the Punnett square and the fruit fly. We suggest that Because disease is a Huntington's neurological dis- dramatic storytelling may serve to show the human side

order, one might expect some type of to the Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/44/2/90/39733/4447415.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 damage of genetics and hereditary disorders and can inspire your brain. Recent research shown has that atrophy of both biology classes. white and gray matter occurs in brains of Huntington's disease victims. The following quote serves to show the importance of furtherresearch in this area. Increasedstudies of brainand genetic materialmay unravel the mysteryof Huntington'sdisease, at the same time yield- References ing clues about a wide range of other inheritedneurologic and psychiatricdisorders. (Chase, Wexler, and Barbeau CHASE, T.M., WEXLER,N.S., and BARBEAU, A. 1979. Hunt- 1979) ington's disease. Advances in Neurology, Vol. 23. New York: In evaluating the effectiveness of our Huntington's Raven Press. GUTHRIE CHILDRENS TRUST FUND. 1964. Woody disease presentation we feel the objectives listed below Guthrie: Library of Congress recordings, Electra Records. were accomplished. New York. * Development of student awareness concerning the KLEIN, J. 1980. Woody Guthrie: A life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. problems experienced by victims of genetic disease, NATIONAL FOUNDATION/MARCH OF DIMES. Genetic and their families. counseling. White Plains, N.Y. * Development of an understanding of Huntington's NATIONAL HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE ASSOCIATION. Huntington's disease. New York, N.Y. disease and its inheritance pattern. . The Huntington's disease patient: Practical hints for * Increased student recognition that a great deal of the medical professional. New York, N.Y. additional research is needed in the area of genetic SHOULSTON, I. 1978. Clinical care of the patient and family with Huntington's disease. New York: Committee to Com- disorders. bat Huntington's Disease, Inc. Typical responses from the students were: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE.NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. 1979. "I found the unique presentation stimulating and Huntington's disease-Hope through research. 80-49. inspirational." Bethesda, Md.

WOODY GUTHRIE 93