This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles

Ed Cray, author of “Ramblin’ Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie,” kicks off the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Cray is a professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

Jeff Place talks about the rich musical archive of Woody Guthrie. He spoke at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Place is archivist at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Ron Briley spoke about Woody Guthrie’s column for the “People’s Daily World” on a panel titled “Woody Guthrie in Los Angeles: A Musical/Political Evolution” at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Briley is a history teacher and assistant headmaster at Sandia Prepatory School in Albuquerque, N.M. He is working on a book about Guthrie’s politics.

Peter La Chapelle talk about rare Guthrie recordings was featured on a panel titled “Woody Guthrie in Los Angeles: A Musical/Political Evolution” at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. La Chapelle is associate professor of history and chair of the humanities department at Nevada State College. He is author of “Proud to Be and Okie: Cultural Politics, Country Music, and Migration to Southern California” (2007).

Philip Goff spoke on a panel titled “L.A. and Woody Guthrie” at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Goff is professor of religious studies and American studies and director of the Center for the Study of Relgion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis.

Dan Cady and Doug Flamming combined a scholarly presentation with a music performance at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Cady is assistant professor of history at California State University, Fresno; Flamming, is professor of history at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Bryant Simon spoke on a panel titled “Beyond Woody” at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Simon is professor of history at Temple University.

Rick Wartzman spoke on a panel titled “Beyond Woody” at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Wartzman is executive director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Gruadate University and author of “Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck’s ‘Grapes of Wrath’” (2008).

Josh Kun’s talk, “California Border Blues: Guthrie, L.A., and Tijuana,” was featured on a panel titled “Beyond Woody” at the conference “This Great and Crowded City: Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles,” held at the University of Southern California on April 14, 2012, in celebration of the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Kun is professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC.