THE PEOPLE'S SONG LIBRARY COLLECTION Papers, 1940-1970 30 Boxes Accession Number 452 L.C. Number MS The People's Song Library Collection was placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs in February of 1971 by Happy Traum of Sing Out, Inc., and was opened for research in June of 1971. Additional papers were processed and opened for research in March of 1984. Part one of The People's Song Library Collection is comprised of songs col- lected by the Almanac Singers from 1941 to 1943; People's Songs, Inc., from 1946 to 1949; People's Artists, Inc., from 1950 to 1957; and Sing Out, Inc., from 1958 to 1970. Part two contains clippings, correspondence and other pub- lished materials from the years 1945 to 1964 relating to folk song topics. The Almanacs was a loosely organized group of folksingers based in New York from 1941 to 1942. In 1942, a splinter group left to form the Detroit Alma- nacs, which continued to perform until February of 1943. The major collec- ting and singing interest of the Almanacs was labor songs. People's Songs, Inc., was organized in December of 1945 to collect, publish, and promote folksongs, particularly labor and protest songs, though many traditional folksongs were also collected. In addition to publishing the Bulletin of People's Songs, the group also published broadsides and song- books and sponsored hootenannies. Pete Seeger served as National Director until People's Songs was dissolved in 1949. In 1950, People's Artists, Inc., (originally a booking agency for People's Songs), was formed to continue the work of People's Songs. People's Artists published Sing Out! magazine (1950 to the present), sponsored many hoote- nannies and concerts, and founded Hootenanny Records. Irwin Silber served as Executive Director of People's Artists and Editor of Sing Out! from 1950 until the bankruptcy of People's Artists in 1956. People's Artists was also based in New York. Sing Out was incorporated in 1957 to continue the publication of Sing Out! magazine, with Irwin Sibler continuing as editor. The song-collecting empha- sis shifted somewhat away from labor songs to civil rights songs. -2- The People's Song Library Collection Important subjects are: Almanac Singers IWW American Youth for Democracy Leftist Movement of 1940's Civil Rights Lumberjacks CIO Mining Communism New Deal Cuban Revolution Pacifist Movement Election Songs of 1940's Rosenberg Trial Farmers' Union Spanish Civil War Folksong - Topical Unemployment Folksong - Traditional Union Organizing Songs Hootenannies Wallace, Henry A. Integration World War II ILGWU Among the songwriters and correspondents are: Allan, Lewis Ledbetter, Huddie "Leadbelly" Badeaux, Ed Lomax, Alan Casetta, Mario "Boots" MacColl, Ewan Copland, Aaron Ochs, Phil Cunningham, Agnes "Sis" Ogan, Sarah Dunson, Josh Partlow, Vern Dusenbery, Emma Paxton, Tom Guthrie, Woody Reynolds, Malvina Hays, Lee Robinson, Earl Hill, Joe Seeger, Peggy Hille, Waldemar Seeger, Pete Horton, Zilphia Segal, Edith Jackson, "Aunt Molly" Silber, Irwin Justus, May Terry, Sonny Lampell, Millard White, Josh Non-manuscript Material; Approximately 15 photographs and negatives, and 2 recordings relating to folk music and folk artists have been placed in the Archives Audio-Visual Collection. -3- The People's Song Library Collection Part 1 Folder Inventory Series I - Scores, Topical and Labor Songs Box 1 1-29 - Topical Songs - A-G Box 2 1-20 - Topical Songs - H-N Box 3 1-21 - Topical Songs - 0-S Box 4 1-17 - Topical Songs - T-Z 18-19 - Topical Songs - Miscellaneous Songbooks 20-21 - Topical Songs - Miscellaneous Songsheets Box 5 1-21 - Labor Songs - A-R Box 6 1-14 - Labor Songs - S-Z 15-17 - Labor Songs - Miscellaneous Songsheets 18-20 - Labor Songs - Songbooks Box 7 1-2 - American Student Union Songsheets 3 - American Youth Congress Songsheets 4-5 - American Youth for Democracy Songsheets 6 - Antigua Song 7 - Asian Songs 8-10 - Australian Songs 11 - Berkeley Free Speech Movement Songs 12 - British Songs 13 - British Labor Songbooks 14 - British Mining Songs 15-16 - British Theatre Songs 17 - British Youth Songs 18 - Canadian Songs 19 - Chicago Commons Songbook 20 - Civil War Songs 21 - Cuban Songs 22 - Election Songs (Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln) 23 - Election Songs, 1944 (Dewey, Thomas E.) 24 - Election Songs, 1946 25 - Election Songs, 1946 (American Labor Party) Box 8 1 - Election Songs, 1948 (Wallace, Henry A., Inventory) 2-9 - Election Songs, 1948 (Wallace, A-Z, from Inventory) 10-15 - Election Songs, 1948 (Wallace, A-Z) 16 - Election Songs, 1948 (Wallace, Songbooks, Songsheets) 17 - Election Songs, 1949 (ALP) 18 - Election Songs, 1950 (O'Brien, Walter A.) 19 - Election Songs, 1952 (Hallinan and Bass) 20 - Election Songs, 1954, 1956 21 - Election Songs, 1964 ("Let's Get Back Johnson Folksong Book") 22 — Election Songs, Canadian 23 - Election Songs, Recent, Special -4- The People's Song Library Collection Box 9 1 - Farmers' Alliance and Grange 2-3 - Farmers' Hard Times Songs 4 - Farmers' Labor Party 5 - Farmers' Union and Strike Songs 6 - Farmers' Union Songbooks 7 - Farmers' Union Songsheets 8 - FTA-CIO Songs 9 - Freedom 10 - French Topical Songs 11 - German Topical Songs 12 - Hard Times Songs 13 - Hollywood Strike Songs, 1946 14 - Integration 15 - ILGWU Songbooks 16 - ILGWU Songsheets 17 - IWW Songs, Correspondence 18 - Jewish Song 19 - Mining Hard Times and Striking Songs 20 - Minnesota Sings for Peace 21-22 - Mixed, Miscellaneous Songs 23 - Negro Songs 24 - Negro Songs of Protest (Larry Gellert Collection) Box 10 1-2 - New Deal 3 - Office of Price Administration 4-5 - Pacifist Movement (Pre-World War II) 6 - Peekskill Riot, 1949 7 - Philippine Topical Songs 8 - Picketline Wordsheet (People's Song Broadsides) 9 - Platnum Strike Songs, 1938 10 - Puerto Rico Songs 11 - Restaurant Signs 12 - Rosenberg Songs 13 - Russia 14 - Russian Revolution Song 15-19 - Spanish Civil War 20 - Union Square Dance Calls 21 - United Federal Workers of America Songsheets 22 - War, Soldiers 23 - World War I 24-27 - World War II - A-D Box 11 1-17 - World War II - E-Z 18 - World War II - Songbooks 19-20 - World War II - Songsheets 21 - Young Communist League 22 - Young Pioneer Songsheets 23 - Youth Festival Songs 24-25 - Youth Songs 26 - Youth Songsheets -5- The People's Song Library Collection Series II - Scores, Traditional and Popular Songs Box 12 1-28 - Traditional Songs - A-G Box 13 1-27 - Traditional Songs - H-0 Box 14 1-26 - Traditional Songs - P-Z Box 15 1 - Traditional Songs - Australia 2 - Traditional Songs - Boy Scouts Songs 3 - Traditional Songs - Campfire Songs 4 - Traditional Songs - Children's Songs 5 - Traditional Songs - Christmas Songs 6 - Traditional Songs - Christmas Songbooks 7 - TraditionalSongs - Early American Songs (Brown University Collection) 8 - Traditional Songs - English 9 - Traditional Songs - Hawaii and Pacific 10 - Traditional Songs - Irish Songbooks 11 - Traditional Songs - Mixed Songs 12 - Traditional Songs - Negro-Creole 13 - Traditional Songs - Religious Music Box 16 1-10 - Popular Songs - A-Z Series III - Scores, Songs of Songwriters and Collectors Box 17 1-6 - Allan, Lewis 7 - Almanac Singers - Inventory of Songs 8-9 - Almanac Singers – Peace 10-12 - Almanac Singers - Union 13-16 - Almanac Singers – War 17-18 - Almanac Singers – Miscellaneous 19 - Almanac Singers – Songbooks 20 - Almanac Singers - Songsheets Box 18 1 - Anderson, Eric 2 - Bexar, Frank 3 - Blair Collection 4-5 - Blitzstein, Marc 6 - Burns, Robert 7 - Casetta, Mario "Boots" 8 - Comeau, Bill 9 - Copland, Aaron 10 - Cunningham, Agnes "Sis" 11-12 - Drochetz, Joe 13-15 - Dusenbery, Emma 16 - Garland, Jim 17 - Gibson, Jackie 18 - Grossfahrt, Lieder Der, "Sweibe Straben" 19 -24 - Guthrie, Woody 25 - Guthrie, Woody - "FDH Songs" 26 - Guthrie, Woody - "Peekskill Songs" -6- The People's Song Library Collection Box 19 1 - Handcox, John 2 - Harvard Collection of Topical Songs 3-9 - Hays, Lee 10 - Highlander Folk School Songbook 11-12 - Hill, Joe 13-21 - Hille, Waldemar 22 - Huseein, Rashed Box 20 1 - Jackson, "Aunt Molly" 2 - Jefferson School of Social Science Songsheets 3 - Ledbetter, Huddie "Leadbelly" 4 - Lowenfels, Walter 5 - MacColl, Ewan and Peggy Seeger 6 - Marrs, Ernie 7 - Ogan, Sarah 8 - Partlow, Vern 9 - Patrick, Bobbie 10 - Paxton, Tom 11-15 - Relin, Lou 16 - Reynolds, Malvina 17-22 - Robinson, Earl 23-26 - Rome, Harold 27 - Seeger, Pete 28 - Tchaivkovsky for the Guitar 29 - Tucson Folksingers Songbook 30 - Unidentified Collection 31 - Whitcomb, Ian 32 - Wood, Martin Series IV - Concerts, Festivals, Folksong Clubs Box 21 1 - National Folk Festival (1937) 2 - Carnegie Hall Concert (December 23, 1938) 3 - Hootenanny Songbook (1947) 4 - Miscellaneous Hootenannies (1945-1948) 5 - Midsummer Hootenanny (August 26, 1949) 6 - Peace on Earth Hootenanny (December 24, 1949) 7 - Miscellaneous Hootenannies (1949) 8 - Walk Along Together Hootenanny (February 24, 1950) 9 - Spring Fever Hootenanny (April 21, 1950) 10 - One World Hootenanny (June 17, 1950) 11 - Miscellaneous Hootenannies (1950) 12 - Freedom Festival (September 1951) 13 - Union Hootenanny (October 6, 1951) 14 - Thanksgiving Hootenanny (November 1951) 15 - Miscellaneous Hootenannies (1951) 16 - North Star Hootenanny (February 1952) 17 - Spring Fever Hootenanny (May 4, 1952) 18 - Children's and Sing Out Hootenannies (May 24, 1952) 19 - Gus Hall Birthday Celebration (October 1952) 20 - Thanksgiving Hootenanny (1952) 21 - Christmas Hootenanny (December 24, 1952) 22 - Miscellaneous Hootenannies (1952) -7- The People's Song Library Collection Box 21 23 - Get on Board Hootenanny (February