Archie Green

by Burns, Sean; Roediger, David; Spitzer, Nick (CRT)

• ISBN13: 9780252078286
• ISBN10: 0252078284
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

Archie Green: The Making of a Working-Class Herocelebrates one of the most revered folklorists and labor historians of the twentieth century. Devoted to understanding the diverse cultural customs of working people, Archie Green (1917–2009) tirelessly documented these traditions and educated the public about the place of workers' culture and music in American life. Doggedly lobbying Congress for support of the American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976, Green helped establish the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, a significant collection of images, recordings, and written accounts that preserve the myriad cultural productions of Americans. Capturing the many dimensions of Green's remarkably influential life and work, Sean Burns draws on extensive interviews with Green and his many collaborators to examine the intersections of radicalism, folklore, labor history, and worker culture with Green's work. Burns closely analyzes Green's political genealogy and activist trajectory while illustrating how he worked to open up an independent political space on the American Left that was defined by an unwavering commitment to cultural pluralism.

Author Biography

Sean Burns is a teacher, musician, and gardener. His research and teaching interests center on the history, culture, and politics of progressive social movements. His band, Professor Burns and the Lilac Field, is rooted in Berkeley, California.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
List of Illustrations	p. xi
List of Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction: Worker, Scholar, and Organizer	p. xv
Of Shreds and Patches: Early Political Formation	p. 1
Family, Revolution, and Emigration	p. 3
Boyle Heights in the 1920s	p. 8
Student Politics and Labor in the Thirties	p. 16
Triangle of Commitments: San Francisco Maritime Politics of the Thirties	p. 27
From Berkeley Stacks to Stake-Side Trucks	p. 29
"Brother Slugging Brother": Sailors, Longshoremen, and Legacies of the '34 Strike	p. 39
Harry Bridges and Reconsiderations of Communist Party History	p. 49
Union Service and Organizing World War II Veterans	p. 56
A Decent Philosophy: Culture, Politics, and American Folk Revivalism	p. 69
Folk Music and the American Communist Party	p. 75
Moments in the Making of a Laborlorist	p. 87
Vernacular Music and Cultural Pluralism	p. 93
"Always on Stolen Time": Folklore, Labor History, and Cultural Studies	p. 103
Alternative Popular Front Imaginary	p. 107
New Labor History and American Cultural Studies	p. 118
Laborlore: A Pedagogy of the Working Class	p. 128
Epilogue: A Conversation with Archie	p. 137
Acknowledgments	p. 149
Notes	p. 151
Bibliography	p. 173
Index	p. 183
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