Archie Green
Encyclopedia
Archie Green was a folklorist specializing in laborlore (defined as the special folklore of workers) and American folk music
. Devoted to understanding vernacular culture
, he gathered and commented upon the speech, stories, songs, emblems, rituals, art, artifacts, memorials, and landmarks which constitute laborlore. He is credited with winning Congressional support for passage of the American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-201), which established the American Folklife Center
in the Library of Congress
.
in 1922. He grew up in southern California, began college at UCLA, and transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, from which he received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1939. He joined the Civilian Conservation Corps
and spent his year of service in a camp on the Klamath River
as a road builder and firefighter. He then worked in the San Francisco
shipyard
s and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II
. He was a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
for over sixty-seven years and was a Journeyman Shipwright. His pro-labor orientation owed much to his upbringing. His parents were Jewish-Ukrainian immigrants from Chernigov, where his father had participated in the uprising against the Russian czar in 1905. When that revolution failed, they escaped to Canada. In the U.S., Green's father, a socialist, supported Eugene Debs, the campaign of Upton Sinclair
for governor of California in 1934, and became a supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal
. While living in Los Angeles, Green regularly heard political speeches in Pershing Square. Describing himself as an “anarcho-syndicalist with strong libertarian leanings,” or a “left-libertarian,” Green combined a sensitivity for working people, an abiding concern for democratic processes, and a pragmatic willingness to lobby for reforms. He spent his career not only collecting material from laborers, but encouraging workers themselves to document and preserve their own lore.
In 1942 Green purchased the album Work Songs of the U.S.A. performed by folk singer Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter. His love of music and especially the song "Old Man" sparked his interest in folkloristics, but it was to be nearly two decades before he returned to formal academia.
in 1968. He combined his support for labor and love of country music in the research that became his first book, Only a Miner. In the same period he recorded "Girl of Constant Sorrow," an LP of songs sung by Sarah Ogan Gunning, the sister of coalminer, songwriter, and labor leader Jim Garland
. Green joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in 1960, where he held a joint appointment in the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations and the English Department until 1972. Working as a senior staff associate at the AFL-CIO
Labor Studies Center in the early 1970s, he initiated programs presenting workers' traditions at the Smithsonian Institution
's Festival of American Folklife on the National Mall, and from 1969 to 1976 he left academia to live in Washington, D.C., where he led the successful legislative campaign to enact the American Folklife Preservation Act. He became known for his work on occupational folklore and on early hillbilly music recordings. In 1975 he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin
. He was awarded the Bingham Humanities Professorship at the University of Louisville
in 1977, and was a Woodrow Wilson Center fellow in Washington, DC, in 1978. His articles have appeared in Appalachian Journal, Journal of American Folklore, Labor's Heritage, Musical Quarterly, and other periodicals and anthologies. He retired from the University of Texas at Austin in June 1982, and established an archive for his collected materials in the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
.
Also notable was the 2007 publication of The Big Red Songbook
, featuring the lyrics to the 190 songs included in the various editions of the Industrial Workers of the World
's Little Red Songbook
s from 1909 to 1973. Green inherited the project from John Neuhaus, a machinist and Wobbly who devoted years to collecting a nearly complete set of the IWW songbooks and determining what music the songs had been set to. When Neuhaus died of cancer in 1958, he gave his unique collection of songbooks, sheet music and other materials to Green, who vowed to carry on Neuhaus's vision of a complete edition of IWW songs. Green deposited Neuhaus's original materials in the folklife archive at the University of North Carolina.
At home in San Francisco, Green served as secretary of the nonprofit Fund for Labor Culture & History. Founded in July 2000, the Fund has worked with the National Trust for Historic Preservation
to identify labor landmarks in San Francisco and install commemorative plaques, supported the publication of books on roots music
, labor songs and historic labor landmarks, prepared guides to films on skilled union craftsmen, and helped the United Mine Workers
restore the Ludlow Monument
in Colorado. Green also brought together unionists, activists, scholars, and artists in "Laborlore Conversations," a series of conferences on working class culture. Green was unable to attend the fourth of these conferences in August 2007, where he was honored with the Living Legend Award from the Librarian of Congress.
at his home in San Francisco, California
on March 22, 2009.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Devoted to understanding vernacular culture
Vernacular culture
Vernacular culture is a term used in the modern study of geography and cultural studies. It refers to cultural forms made and organised by ordinary, indigenous people for their own pleasure, in modern societies...
, he gathered and commented upon the speech, stories, songs, emblems, rituals, art, artifacts, memorials, and landmarks which constitute laborlore. He is credited with winning Congressional support for passage of the American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-201), which established the American Folklife Center
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife" . The center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the Library in 1928 as a repository for American folk music...
in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
Early life and work
Born Aaron Green in Winnipeg, Manitoba he moved with his parents to Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1922. He grew up in southern California, began college at UCLA, and transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, from which he received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1939. He joined the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
and spent his year of service in a camp on the Klamath River
Klamath River
The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...
as a road builder and firefighter. He then worked in the San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America is one of the largest building trades union in the United States. One of the unions that formed the American Federation of Labor in 1886, it left the AFL-CIO in 2001.-Early years:...
for over sixty-seven years and was a Journeyman Shipwright. His pro-labor orientation owed much to his upbringing. His parents were Jewish-Ukrainian immigrants from Chernigov, where his father had participated in the uprising against the Russian czar in 1905. When that revolution failed, they escaped to Canada. In the U.S., Green's father, a socialist, supported Eugene Debs, the campaign of Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
for governor of California in 1934, and became a supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. While living in Los Angeles, Green regularly heard political speeches in Pershing Square. Describing himself as an “anarcho-syndicalist with strong libertarian leanings,” or a “left-libertarian,” Green combined a sensitivity for working people, an abiding concern for democratic processes, and a pragmatic willingness to lobby for reforms. He spent his career not only collecting material from laborers, but encouraging workers themselves to document and preserve their own lore.
In 1942 Green purchased the album Work Songs of the U.S.A. performed by folk singer Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter. His love of music and especially the song "Old Man" sparked his interest in folkloristics, but it was to be nearly two decades before he returned to formal academia.
Academic career
Green enrolled in graduate school in 1958, earning an M.L.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 1960 and a Ph.D. in folklore from the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1968. He combined his support for labor and love of country music in the research that became his first book, Only a Miner. In the same period he recorded "Girl of Constant Sorrow," an LP of songs sung by Sarah Ogan Gunning, the sister of coalminer, songwriter, and labor leader Jim Garland
Jim Garland
Jim Garland was a songwriter from the coal mining country of eastern Kentucky, where he was involved with the National Miners Union during the violent conflicts of the early 1930s. He came to New York City in 1931 with his older half-sister Aunt Molly Jackson where he participated in the...
. Green joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 1960, where he held a joint appointment in the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations and the English Department until 1972. Working as a senior staff associate at the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
Labor Studies Center in the early 1970s, he initiated programs presenting workers' traditions at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
's Festival of American Folklife on the National Mall, and from 1969 to 1976 he left academia to live in Washington, D.C., where he led the successful legislative campaign to enact the American Folklife Preservation Act. He became known for his work on occupational folklore and on early hillbilly music recordings. In 1975 he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. He was awarded the Bingham Humanities Professorship at the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
in 1977, and was a Woodrow Wilson Center fellow in Washington, DC, in 1978. His articles have appeared in Appalachian Journal, Journal of American Folklore, Labor's Heritage, Musical Quarterly, and other periodicals and anthologies. He retired from the University of Texas at Austin in June 1982, and established an archive for his collected materials in the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
.
Later work
In retirement from teaching, Green continued to write and publish the results of years of research. He completed books on the tinsmiths' art, using examples from northern California (Tin Men, 2002); a monograph on millwrights in northern California over the twentieth century (2003); and a collection of essays on the Sailor's Union of the Pacific (2006).Also notable was the 2007 publication of The Big Red Songbook
The Big Red Songbook
The Big Red Songbook is a collection of Wobbly songs compiled by folklorist Archie Green....
, featuring the lyrics to the 190 songs included in the various editions of the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
's Little Red Songbook
Little Red Songbook
thumb|180px|right|The Little Red SongbookSince the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the IWW, songs have played a big part in spreading the message of the One Big Union...
s from 1909 to 1973. Green inherited the project from John Neuhaus, a machinist and Wobbly who devoted years to collecting a nearly complete set of the IWW songbooks and determining what music the songs had been set to. When Neuhaus died of cancer in 1958, he gave his unique collection of songbooks, sheet music and other materials to Green, who vowed to carry on Neuhaus's vision of a complete edition of IWW songs. Green deposited Neuhaus's original materials in the folklife archive at the University of North Carolina.
At home in San Francisco, Green served as secretary of the nonprofit Fund for Labor Culture & History. Founded in July 2000, the Fund has worked with the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
to identify labor landmarks in San Francisco and install commemorative plaques, supported the publication of books on roots music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, labor songs and historic labor landmarks, prepared guides to films on skilled union craftsmen, and helped the United Mine Workers
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...
restore the Ludlow Monument
Ludlow Monument
The Ludlow Monument is a granite memorial by sculptor Hugh Sullivan erected by the United Mine Workers of America at Ludlow, Colorado in 1918 to honor the victims of the Ludlow massacre. The Monument was damaged by persons unknown in 2003 with the heads and arms of the statue figures cut and...
in Colorado. Green also brought together unionists, activists, scholars, and artists in "Laborlore Conversations," a series of conferences on working class culture. Green was unable to attend the fourth of these conferences in August 2007, where he was honored with the Living Legend Award from the Librarian of Congress.
Honors
- In 1995 he received the Benjamin A. BotkinBenjamin A. BotkinBenjamin A. Botkin was a pioneering American folklorist and scholar.-Early life:Born in East Boston, Massachusetts, to Lithuanian Jewish immigrants in 1901, his family moved frequently. He attended Harvard University as a commuter between 1916 and 1920 and earned his master's degree in English at...
Prize for outstanding achievement in public folklorePublic folklorePublic folklore is the term for the work done by folklorists in public settings in the United States and Canada outside of universities and colleges, such as arts councils, museums, folklife festivals, radio stations, etc. The term is actually short for "public sector folklore" and was first used...
from the American Folklore SocietyAmerican Folklore SocietyThe American Folklore Society is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world. It was founded in 1888 by William Wells Newell, who stood at the center of a diverse group of university-based scholars, museum anthropologists, and men...
. - In August 2007 he received the Living Legend award from the Library of Congress.http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-150.html
Death
Archie Green died of renal failureRenal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
at his home in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
on March 22, 2009.
Books by Archie Green
- Only a Miner: Studies in Recorded Coal-Mining Songs (University of Illinois Press, 1972).
- Wobblies, Pile Butts, and Other Heroes (University of Illinois Press, 1993).
- Songs About Work (Indiana University Folklore Institute, 1993).
- Calf's Head & Union Tale (University of Illinois Press, 1996).
- Torching the Fink Books & Other Essays on Vernacular Culture (The University of North Carolina Press, 2001). ISBN 0-8078-2605-7
- Tin Men (University of Illinois Press, 2002).
- Millwrights in Northern California, 1901-2002 (Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, 2003).
- Harry Lundeberg's Stetson & Other Nautical Treasures (Crockett, CA: Carquinez Press, 2006). ISBN 0-9744124-3-0
- Co-editor, with David RoedigerDavid RoedigerDavid R. Roediger is a well-established professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . His research interests include the construction of racial identity, class structures, labor studies, and the history of American radicalism...
, Franklin RosemontFranklin RosemontFranklin Rosemont was a poet, artist, historian, street speaker, and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group...
, and Salvatore Salerno,The Big Red Songbook (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 2007). ISBN 0-88286-277-4
Biography
- Sean Burns, Archie Green: The Making of a Working-Class Hero (University of Illinois Press, forthcoming October 2011). ISBN 978-0-252-07828-6