Woody, Pete, searching the mail, and finding blues

It's five days until the election.

I got an email today from the National Archives. They announced a new collection of films. I went to their site. They do have a ton of neat, if arcane, stuff that the average citizen can access. 

The first video I looked at was from a factory, and I thought of perhaps using a clip from it in one of Wattle & Daub’s songs. 

Just out of curiosity I searched for Woody Guthrie. He was tagged in another of the collection of films that the email referenced. I wish it had sound. Oddly enough, this clip also had Pete Seeger playing banjo at a square dance. And in the middle of the clip was the blues duo of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee. They were much younger than when they appeared on the BBC in 1974.

The Archives also contain criminal cases. In my search for Woody, one file from August, 1949 was the case of “United States of America v. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie.” You can download the entire court proceedings here. In short, Woody was charged with three counts of using the Postal Service for mailing a handwritten letter that was considered to be “obscene, lewd, and lascivious.” 

In other words, Woody, who was known for being something of a horndog, got busted for writing a dirty letter. 

I kinda wish the file included a copy of the letter. Still, it does beg the question of how the government knew that he sent such a letter in the first place. I suppose we must remember that this was the time of post World War 2 and Joe McCarthy and suspicion of guys like Woody and Pete Seeger or anybody who questions the status quo. Seems sometimes that some people would like to go back to those days.

Speaking of Pete, I ran across this quote from him today:

“I think one of the biggest tragedies in America is that large numbers of people believe elections don't matter…because if you're not voting, you're not fulfilling the hopes of your own grandparents and great-grandparents who struggled and gave their lives so that we could have the right to vote. Go push that lever down––and let people know you're alive!”

This election is proof of that urgency. Pete wants you to vote. Don’t let your ancestors down.