10 highlights of Tulsa's Woody Guthrie Center in honor of Woody's 110th birthday

TULSA — Understandably, Cathy Guthrie gets chills when she visits the Woody Guthrie Center.

"I never met Woody; he died before I was born. So, it's a little emotional to be like, 'Wow, that's his actual handwriting. His hand touched there. That was actually his.' It was a connection. I had moments of 'holy cow,'" said the musician, who is one of Woody Guthrie's granddaughters and one of the daughters of Woody's son, folk singer Arlo Guthrie.

"It's mind-blowing really what they did there ... and I love it. There's so much to soak in."

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie was born July 14, 1912, in Okemah, which for 25 years has hosted the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. The music icon also is permanently enshrined in his home state at the Woody Guthrie Center, which opened in Tulsa in 2013.

“As we celebrate Woody Guthrie’s 110th birthday, we are thankful not only for his incredible work and legacy, but also the effect that the Woody Guthrie Center has had on our city as it amplifies Guthrie’s message,” said Ashleigh Bachert, interim senior vice president of Tulsa Regional Tourism, in an email.

“For nearly a decade, the facility has played a vital role in the downtown Tulsa renaissance, bringing foot traffic from all over the world — and it is still one of the brightest gems in the Tulsa Arts District."

Although Woody Guthrie died more than half a century ago — the folk troubadour was only 55 when he succumbed to Huntington's disease on Oct. 3, 1967 — his songs, art and commitment to social justice continue to reverberate. Evidence of his ongoing influence can be found only steps away from the Woody Guthrie Center inside the doors of Tulsa's new Bob Dylan Center.

“Since the Woody Guthrie Center opened in Tulsa nearly 10 years ago, we have had the honor of preserving and sharing the timeless work of Woody Guthrie, whose impact on culture and society is both ever-apparent and difficult to measure," said Steve Higgins, managing director of the American Song Archives, which operates both centers.

In honor of Guthrie's 110th birthday, here are 10 highlights of Tulsa's Woody Guthrie Center:

1. The handwritten lyrics of 'This Land is Your Land'

Both literally and metaphorically, the heart of the Woody Guthrie Center is the carefully preserved original handwritten lyric sheet for his most beloved song, “This Land is Your Land."  

The song — which many consider an unofficial or alternative national anthem — has been showcased at President Biden's inauguration, during the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show and in countless grade school musical performances.

2. Interactive map and timeline

He may have started out in rural Oklahoma, but Guthrie was known for "Ramblin' Round," living an eventful life that took him "From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters." The center includes both an interactive map and timeline to guide visitors through the singer-songwriter's journey from Okemah to Pampa, Texas, and eventually "From California to the New York island."

"It's so user-friendly. ... It's really brilliant, and I learned a lot when I went in there," Cathy Guthrie said with a chuckle. "I put the headphones on and I listened to the different decades, and it was just like, 'Wow, this is so cool.'"

The 13-minute film "The Woody Guthrie Legacy: Made for You and Me," created especially for the Woody Guthrie Center, also can help people get to know him.

3. Lyric writing station

Another interactive attraction, the lyric writing station invites visitors to try their hand at songwriting.

4. Wall of writings and drawings

Many people don't realize that Guthrie left his Oklahoma home not with a guitar but with paintbrushes and the notion of becoming a sign painter.

Woody used charcoal, ink, watercolor and more to create art to accompany his lyrics or chronicle the world around him. And his writings weren't limited to songs: He also penned novels, newspaper columns, short stories, letters and essays.

Ranging from playful to poignant, dozens of his cartoons, sketches and slogans are displayed on a massive curved wall that is a centerpiece of the Tulsa landmark.

5. Woody's Music Bar

Folks can hear the prolific songwriter crooning several of his tunes by bellying up to Woody's Music Bar. From the historic epic "Pretty Boy Floyd" to the catchy children's ditty "Why, Oh Why," the bar not only features Guthrie's recordings but also insight into the selected songs.

6. Woody's guitar

It may not be the instrument emblazoned with his famed slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists," but there's something special about seeing his circa 1930s May Bell guitar gleaming in its glass case. One of the few guitars know to have been owned or played by Guthrie that remains today, it's also one of the oldest and boasts an intriguing history: It was found in a Seattle thrift store and proven to be one of Woody's machines.

The center also has Guthrie's fiddle, banjo and mandolin in its vast collection.

7. Artifacts and recordings from Guthrie disciples

It's impossible to know for sure just how many musicians have been influenced by Guthrie's life, music and activism, but dozens of them are featured in photographs, videos and artifacts at the Woody Guthrie Center. Visitors can watch fellow Oklahomans like The Flaming Lips and Jimmy LaFave play Woody covers as well as see Tom Morello's hat and guitar, a fiddle played by Pete Seeger, a banjo used by Jeff DaRosa of the Dropkick Murphys and more.

Folk icon Tom Paxton's handwritten lyrics to his song "Ramblin' Boy" also are on view. The Oklahoma Music Hall of Famer donated all his notebooks from 60 years of songwriting to the center.

8. Fire in Little Africa spotlight

The Woody Guthrie Center has been a key supporter of Fire in Little Africa, a coalition of Oklahoma rappers, musicians and artists who initially came together for a single project — to record a compilation album to mark the 2021 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial — that blazed into an ongoing homegrown hip-hop movement that's received national notice.

Stevie "Dr. View" Johnson, former manager of education and diversity outreach for the Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan centers, is a Fire in Little Africa executive producer. He and the other members of Fire in Little Africa are spotlighted at the Woody Guthrie Center in photos, videos and other items.

9. The Boss exhibit 'Bruce Springsteen Live!'

The Woody Guthrie Center has space reserved for temporary and traveling exhibitions, especially shows focused on performers who consider the Okie songsmith a major influence. On view through Sept. 25, "Bruce Springsteen Live!" pays homage to The Boss and his E Street Band. The exhibit documents the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers' evolution over the decades while showcasing stage costumes, concert posters and artifacts like the band's carousel calliope, a Max Weinberg drum set and the late Clarence Clemons' saxophone.

It's good timing for the exhibit, since Springsteen and his bandmates just announced their 2023 U.S. tour plans, including a Feb. 21 Tulsa show at the BOK Center. 

10. Immersive Dust Bowl exhibit

It's difficult to overstate the Dust Bowl's impact on Woody's life, music and home state. He wrote several songs about the ecological disaster, including "Do Re Mi," "Vigilante Man" and "Dusty Old Dust" ("So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh"), and released them on his successful 1940 album "Dust Bowl Ballads."

Along with recordings and lyric sheets of Guthrie's songs, the center's Dust Bowl section includes an excerpt of Ken Burns' PBS documentary, artifacts like toys, clothes and a quilt and an immersive virtual reality experience that takes visitors inside a dust storm.

Photographs are another essential part of this section, including a large-scale reproduction of two Oklahoma women walking through a swirling cloud of dirt on April 14, 1935, which became known as Black Sunday. For Jim Harwick, of Pawnee, that photo is particularly meaningful because it captures his mother and aunt, who were then students at Northwestern Normal School (now Northwestern Oklahoma State University) in Alva.

"She told about how one Sunday they'd come back from the college after visiting the library ... and a photographer stopped and took their picture and said, 'That was OK.' Then, he went on because the dirt was blowing, and it wasn't any time to stand around and visit," Harwick said during a May visit to the center.

"Fifteen years ago, I got a copy of Oklahoma Today magazine ... and I said, 'My goodness, that's my mother. That's the story she always told to all of her kids and grandkids about that Black Sunday.'"

Now that the photo also adorns the Woody Guthrie Center walls, he has visited it several times over the years.

"Her being an artist, she would love the idea of knowing that her picture, after all these years, ended up in the arts district," he said.

"I love this place. ... It's my heritage and history. Woody Guthrie's known world 'round. He's my kind of person: He's a little bit rebellious, a little bit independent, a little bit stubborn and headstrong."

WOODY GUTHRIE CENTER

Where: 102 E Reconciliation Way, Tulsa.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.

Admission: $12 for adults; $10 for seniors 55 and older, veterans and students with ID; and free for children 17 and younger and K-12 teachers.

Information: https://woodyguthriecenter.org. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Happy 110th birthday Woody Guthrie: 10 highlights of his Tulsa landmark