Collection  |  Manuscript/Mixed Material Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin migrant workers collection,

About this Item

Title
Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin migrant workers collection,
Summary
The collection includes field recordings made in July and August, 1940 and 1941 in Farm Security Administration migrant worker camps in California. These included the Arvin, Shafter, Visalia, Firebaugh, Westley, Thornton, and Yuba FSA camps. Recordings were made of dance music, popular songs, ballads and folk songs, original songs, conversations, camp council meetings, poems, and stories describing life in the camps, whose residents were Dust Bowl refugees from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Other sound recordings are 1941 radio programs, "Songs of the Okies," narrated by Robert Sonkin and broadcast on WNYC. Manuscripts include correspondence, camp newsletters, newspaper clippings, a Federal Writers' Project WPA Folk Song Questionnaire, and a scrapbook compiled by Charles L. Todd, as well as 1940 field notes written by Robert Sonkin which, in addition to this trip, document his field recording trip to Gee's Bend, Alabama in June 1940. Also included are song texts, recording logs, a radio script, related publications, photographs by Robert Hemmig, Arthur Rothstein, and Dorothea Lange, and materials generated from 1997 to 2000 when much of the collection was digitized for the online American Memory presentation, "Voices from the Dust Bowl."
Contributor Names
Pike, Russ, performer.
Sonkin, Robert, 1910-1980, collector.
Todd, Charles L., 1911-2004, collector.
Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002, correspondent.
Hemmig, Robert, photographer.
Rothstein, Arthur, 1915-1985, photographer.
Lange, Dorothea, photographer.
Archive of American Folk Song, sponsor.
American Folklife Center.
Library of Congress. National Digital Library Program.
Created / Published
1940-1941.
Subject Headings
-  Lomax, Alan,--1915-2002--Correspondence
-  United States.--Farm Security Administration
-  Migrant agricultural laborers--California--Social life and customs--20th century
-  Labor camps--California
-  Dust Bowl Era, 1931-1939
-  Dust Bowl Era, 1931-1939--Personal narratives
-  Folk music--California
-  Folk songs, English--California
-  Folk songs, English--Arkansas
-  Folk songs, English--Texts
-  Ballads, English--California
-  Ballads, English--Texts
-  Migrant agricultural laborers--California--Songs and music
-  Migrant agricultural laborers--California--Anecdotes
-  Folk dance music--California
-  Fiddle tunes--California
-  Popular music--United States--1931-1940
-  Gospel music--California
-  Hymns, English--California
-  Blues (Music)--1931-1940
-  Recitations
-  Square dance music--California
-  Tales--California
-  Storytelling--California
-  Radio programs--New York (State)--New York
-  California--Social conditions--20th century
-  Gees Bend (Ala.)--Social life and customs
-  Gees Bend (Ala.)--Social conditions
-  Field recordings--California
Genre
Sound recordings
Interviews (Sound recordings)
Manuscripts
Field notes
Scrapbooks
Radio scripts
Photographic prints
Questionnaires
Clippings
Field recordings
Oral histories
Notes
-  Organized by format into the following series: I. Manuscripts; II. Sound Recordings; III. Graphic Materials; IV. Electronic Materials.
-  Recordings were made with equipment loaned by the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress.
-  Various performers including Lum Wilson "Bill" Jackson, Myra Pipkin, Frank Pipkin, the King family, Russ Pike, and others.
-  Charles Lafayette "Lafe" Todd, born December 9, 1911 in New York State, met Robert Sonkin, born in 1910 in New York City, while both were working in the Department of Public Speaking at the City College of New York. Alan Lomax encouraged them to undertake their field recording trips to California in the summers of 1940 and 1941 and facilitated equipment loan support from the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress.
-  Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin migrant workers collection (AFC 1985/001), Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
-  A portion of the collection, with essays and a bibliography, is available as "Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941," an American Memory online presentation compiled by the National Digital Library Program of the Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/collafc.af000011
-  American Memory online resource, "Voices from the Dust Bowl," is also on CD-ROM discs and digital audio tapes in the collection.
-  Charles L. Todd, Robert Sonkin; Donation; 1941, 1986.
-  Charles L. Todd interview conducted by Gerald E. Parsons and Margaret Parsons, 1985 August 16 (AFC 1985/020), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
-  Finding aid is available in the Folklife Reading Room, Library of Congress.
-  Bibliographic information for music and spoken word titles in this collection is found in the online resource link: Search for audio titles in the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Workers Collection.
Medium
manuscripts 31 folders.
119 sound discs : analog ; 12 in.
3 sound discs : analog ; 16 in.
graphic materials 27 photographs : photographic prints, negatives, black and white ; various sizes.
Repository
Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC USA 20540-4610 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.home
Library of Congress Control Number
2004659976
Rights Advisory
Duplication of the collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.
Access Advisory
Collection is open for research. To request materials, please contact the Folklife Reading Room at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact
Language
English
Description
The collection includes field recordings made in July and August, 1940 and 1941 in Farm Security Administration migrant worker camps in California. These included the Arvin, Shafter, Visalia, Firebaugh, Westley, Thornton, and Yuba FSA camps. Recordings were made of dance music, popular songs, ballads and folk songs, original songs, conversations, camp council meetings, poems, and stories describing life in the camps, whose residents were Dust Bowl refugees from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Other sound recordings are 1941 radio programs, "Songs of the Okies," narrated by Robert Sonkin and broadcast on WNYC. Manuscripts include correspondence, camp newsletters, newspaper clippings, a Federal Writers' Project WPA Folk Song Questionnaire, and a scrapbook compiled by Charles L. Todd, as well as 1940 field notes written by Robert Sonkin which, in addition to this trip, document his field recording trip to Gee's Bend, Alabama in June 1940. Also included are song texts, recording logs, a radio script, related publications, photographs by Robert Hemmig, Arthur Rothstein, and Dorothea Lange, and materials generated from 1997 to 2000 when much of the collection was digitized for the online American Memory presentation, "Voices from the Dust Bowl."
LCCN Permalink
https://lccn.loc.gov/2004659976
Additional Metadata Formats
MARCXML Record
MODS Record
Dublin Core Record

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Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Sonkin, Robert, Collector, Charles L Todd, Alan Lomax, Sponsor Archive Of American Folk Song, American Folklife Center, and Library Of Congress. National Digital Library Program, Hemmig, Robert, Arthur Rothstein, and Dorothea Lange, photographer. Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin migrant workers collection. to 1941, 1939. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://lccn.loc.gov/2004659976.

APA citation style:

Sonkin, R., Todd, C. L., Lomax, A., Archive Of American Folk Song, S., American Folklife Center & Library Of Congress. National Digital Library Program, Hemmig, R., Rothstein, A. & Lange, D., photographer. (1939) Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin migrant workers collection. to 1941. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/2004659976.

MLA citation style:

Sonkin, Robert, Collector, et al., photographers by Hemmig, Robert, Arthur Rothstein, and Dorothea Lange. Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin migrant workers collection. to 1941, 1939. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <lccn.loc.gov/2004659976>.