Post: 1930s-3: Woody Guthrie

Woodrow "Woody" Wilson Guthrie, and Oklahoma native, rose in popularity among the dust bowl refugees living in Depression Era California. He became famous throughout the mid century for his folk songs and original compositions that leaned heavily on Scottish and Country Western music. His music remains part of American Folk culture even today and his song, "This Land is Your Land" is still very recognizable. To explore the Library of Congress holdings that pertain to Woody Guthrie, click here.

Photo found @: click here.

Post-1930s-2: Animation

The 1930's were marked by the increased popularity of animated cartoons. The History of Animation parallels the History of Film. While artists had been producing the predecessors of cartoons from the start of experimentation with moving pictures (example: the Phenakistoscope), cartoons benefited from the sound technology of the 1930s. Below you'll find an early silent cartoon by Winsor McCay, Gertie the Dinosaur (1914).


Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928) lead the genre in introducing sound to the medium. The cartoon short was very popular and it introduced the world to Mickey Mouse. In 1937 the Disney Company would produce the first animated feature length film, Snow White. Below you'll find clips from both Steamboat Willie and Snow White.

Post-1930's-1: Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

The 1930s saw many cultural innovations despite the devastation experienced during the Great Depression. George Gershwin's folk opera, Porgy and Bess, was ground breaking because it featured a full cast of classically trained African American opera singers and African American culture. While the opera itself seems problematic for various reasons in contemporary times, in the 1930s the portrayal of African Americans by African American actors/singers was revolutionary. The popularity and proliferation of minstrel shows often comprised the scope of African American representation in mainstream culture. Even as Jazz gained popularity, Jim Crow was still law and discriminatory policies often kept black performers out of many venues. Below you'll find clips from a contemporary production of Porgy and Bess. For more on the opera: click here.

Post 1910-1920-6: Louis Armstrong

Photo from: http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/collections/jazz.htm

Louis Armstrong is certainly among the greatest musicians in American History. His career began in New Orleans where, under the tutalage of Joe "King" Oliver, he was able to gain fame and eventially travel to Chicago. The video below comes from Ken Bern's documentary series, Jazz. In it his 1928 recording of Oliver's song, "West End Blues" is dicussed.

Post 1910-1920-5: The Phonograph

While the Edison Phonograph is a late 19th century piece of technology, its popularity as a luxury item continued well into the early part of the 20th century. Much of the music spoken about in previous posts would have been listened to via live performance or on a phonograph cylinder or disc. Below you'll find a video that features a collector of phonographs demonstrating their use. For more on Edison and his contribution to sound recording, click here.