Woody
Guthrie Time Line
1912 July 14 Born in Okemah,
Oklahoma.
1919 May Death of older sister, Clara, in
fire.
1927 Mother sent to Central State
Hospital for the Insane in Norman, Oklahoma.
1929 Joined father and extended family in
Pampa, Texas; focused on learning to play guitar and
harmonica.
1930 Death of mother.
1933 Married Mary Jennings, Pampa, Texas
(later divorced).
1935 Prepared typed songbook of original
songs, "Alonzo M. Zilch's Own Collection of Original Songs
and Ballads." April Began to compose songs about the
Dust Bowl following the Great Dust Storm.
1937 Moved to Los Angeles, California;
began performing on radio station KFVD.
1938 Summer Traveled to investigate the
living and working conditions of the migrant workers on
assignment for The Light newspaper; wrote "Dust Bowl
Refugees."
1939 Began writing "Woody Sez" column in
People's World. Met actor Will Geer and began traveling with
him to migrant camps to perform.
1940 January-February Moved to New York
City; wrote "This Land Is Your Land" in reaction to Irving
Berlin's "God Bless America." March Performed at
"Grapes of Wrath Evening," organized by Will Geer to benefit
the John Steinbeck Committee for Agricultural Workers; met
Alan and Elizabeth Lomax, director Nicholas Ray, and folk
singers Aunt Molly Jackson, Leadbelly, and Pete Seeger.
Recorded four hours of songs and stories for the Library of
Congress's Archive of American Folk Song in the Department
of the Interior recording lab. Began to write
autobiographical novel, Bound for Glory. Spring-Summer
Began to appear on CBS radio programs. Recorded Dust Bowl
Ballads for Victor Records in Camden, New Jersey (released
in July).
1941 May Commissioned by the U.S.
Department of the Interior to write songs promoting the
building of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in
Washington state; composed twenty-six songs in thirty days.
Summer Joined the Almanac Singers in New York for
cross-country summer tour; recorded Deep Sea Chanteys and
Whaling Ballads and Sod-buster Ballads with the Almanacs for
General Records. Fall Moved to Greenwich Village,
living and performing with the Almanac Singers.
December In the wake of Pearl Harbor, began writing
pro-war songs with the Almanac Singers.
1942 Spring Narrated and played music for
Folksay modern dance, choreographed by Sophie Maslow and
featuring Marjorie Mazia as a dancer. Signed contract with
E. P. Dutton publishing house for book. Began dating
Marjorie Mazia.
1943 March Bound for Glory published (New
York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.). June Joined the
Merchant Marine; shipped out on first of three voyages with
Cisco Houston and Jimmy Longhi. November Returned to
New York; moved to 3520 Mermaid Avenue, Coney Island.
1944 April Met Moses (Moe) Asch and began
to record in his studio in New York: the first recording of
"This Land Is Your Land" and well over one hundred other
songs.
1945 March Released album of recordings
made for Moe Asch through collaboration with Herbert
Harris's Stinson Trading Company. May Inducted into
the Army. November Married Marjorie in New York while
on furlough (divorced July 1953). December Discharged
from the Army.
1946 Began writing children's songs and
recording them for Moe Asch's label. Named to the board of
directors of the newly formed People's Songs collective.
1947 February Death of his and Marjorie's
daughter Cathy Ann in fire.
1950 The Weavers (Ronnie Gilbert, Lee
Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Pete Seeger) recorded Guthrie's
"So Long, It's Been Good to Know You." Music publisher Howie
Richmond offered to publish and promote more of Guthrie's
songs.
1952 September Diagnosed with
Huntington's Chorea. October Moved to Topanga Canyon,
California; met Anneke Van Kirk Marshall.
1953 December Married Anneke Van Kirk
(divorced summer 1956); returned to New York.
1954 April Pete Seeger began touring
college campuses, introducing Guthrie's songs to new
audiences.
September Checked into Brooklyn State Hospital.
1956 Launch of Guthrie Children's Trust
Fund: Pete Seeger, Harold Leventhal, and Lou Gordon served
as trustees overseeing Woody's estate, with Arlo, Joady, and
Nora (Woody and Marjorie's children) as beneficiaries.
March Benefit concert for Guthrie Children's Trust
Fund held at Pythian Hall in New York. May Voluntarily
checked out of Brooklyn State Hospital. Involuntarily
checked into Greystone Park in Morris Plains, New Jersey.
1958 Kingston Trio scored popular success
with folk ballad "Tom Dooley," signaling the beginning of an
urban folk revival.
1959 Bob and Sidsel Gleason began hosting
Guthrie in their home in East Orange, New Jersey, every
Sunday; folksingers gathered to play and pay homage.
1961 January Visited by Bob Dylan.
Spring Transferred to Brooklyn State Hospital.
1964 Release of 1940 Library of Congress
recordings as three-record set on Elektra (New York:
EKL-271/272).
1965 Publication of Born to Win, a
collection of writings (New York: Macmillan).
1966 April Commended by U.S. Department
of the Interior for Columbia River songs, presented with
Conservation Service Award, and honored by having substation
of Bonneville Power Authority named for him.
1967 Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease
(CCHD) formed by Marjorie Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie Died on October 3, 1967 (aged 55) in
New York City, New York.
