Give Me the Banjo: Lesson Plan

Give Me the Banjo: Lesson Plan Created by: Dan McDowell, Educational Consultant Shaun Clarke, Project Manager Marc Fields, Producer/Director VIII. Pete Seeger & The Weavers / Blacklisting “Give Me the Banjo” - broadcast clip: 1:46:21 - 1:49:03 Between 1950 and 1952, Pete Seeger and his bandmates in The Weavers sold over four million records with their interpretations of folk songs like “Goodnight Irene,” “Tzena, Tzena” and “Kisses Sweeter than Wine.” It should have been a triumphant time for them. While The Weavers’ commercial success sparked mainstream interest in folk music, their political causes and past associations drew the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. The FBI’s campaign to blacklist The Weavers caused their tours and recording deals to be cancelled. Charges of sedition and contempt of Congress dogged Seeger for the rest of the decade. Nevertheless, he found new audiences in schools, camps and colleges. For years after the blacklist, the networks banned him from television, including some of the same shows that his music had inspired. But he managed to get his own public access show, and with his tireless appearances at folk festivals, civil rights demonstrations and in print, Seeger passed along his passion for rural folk music from all over the world to a new generation of musicians and fans. Discussion Questions 1. What was going on in the United State in the 1950’s during the time that Seeger and the Weavers were identified as communists? 2. How did Seeger react to the blacklisting attempts by the FBI? 3. Compare the words on Woody Guthrie’s Guitar, “This machine kills fascists” with the words on Seeger’s Banjo, “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.” What do these statements say about the two folk artists? Lesson Overview: During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, Joseph McCarthy led a series of investigations that targeted Hollywood actors and directors. However, the House Un-American Activities Committee also targeted musicians, including Pete Seeger, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Lena Horne, and Artie Shaw. For this lesson, students will recreate an interview before the HUAC with a musician. 1 Task: Write and perform two interviews involving the House Un-American Activities Committee from two different perspectives. a. The first interview should involve the HUAC questioning a musician, actor, or other Hollywood figure. b. The second interview turns the table, now have that same musician, actor, or other Hollywood figure question the Joseph McCarthy and the other members of HUAC. Process: 1. Show students the Hollywood Blacklist Overview video and have them read the The Witch Hunt in the 1950’s reading. Discuss the implications of the blacklisting in Hollywood. Was this an effective strategy? Why or why not? 2. Using Pete Seeger as an example, describe how it impacted those who were blacklisted. Show the program video clip. 3. Break students into groups of 2-3 and explain the main tasks. 4. Student groups should first determine the Hollywood figure to research. This Wikipedia article lists all those blacklisted. 5. Next, have students first examine Pete Seeger’s testimony before HUAC before they start to develop their two interviews. Remind students that these were often dramatic interviews with both sides becoming emotionally involved. 6. Students can present their final products in the any of the following manner: a. Live before the class b. In a digital video c. Using a Web 2.0 such as Xtranormal or GoAnimate Resources: The Witch Hunt in the 1950’s Hollywood Blacklist Overview (video) Bernstein, Copland, Seeger and others are named as Communists Red Channels Hollywood Blacklist Pete Seeger’s Testimony to the House Committee of Un-American Activities Evaluation: Students can be evaluated based upon the following criteria: Thoughtful and historically appropriate questions and responses for the interview. Interesting and dramatic final product 2 Standards: UCLA History Standards United States Era 9 Standard 3A: The student understands the political debates of the post-World War II era. Common Core History/Social Studies Standards RH.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem. RH.11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources. RH.11-12.10. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently. 3 .

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