Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story (review)

The 2010 Oral History Association (OHA) meeting began with an evening presentation focusing on the book and DVD Soul of a People. Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story is a companion DVD to the book Soul of a People: The WPA Writers’ Project Uncovers Depression America. This wonderfully titled set, which took its name from a Mark Twain quote, uses information from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) to present a “snapshot” of 1930s America. Participating in the OHA presentation were author David A. Taylor, DVD producer Andrea Kalin, and WPA Writers Project participant and author Stetson Kennedy.

The WPA/FWP (1935–9) was a work/relief program for unemployed writers, historians, librarians, teachers, and other white-collar workers. Its purpose was to develop state guides containing historical overviews and travel information. A secondary goal was to use life history interviews to collect first-person information for the guides. Under the direction of Henry Alsberg, with folklorist Benjamin A. Botkin appointed to head the Folklore Project that oversaw the interviews, the state guides began coming out. Project directors soon found the life histories surpassed expectations in content and numbers; they are recognized today as the largest cultural experiment in U.S. history.

Soul of a People, the DVD, is presented in two acts. Act I sets up the story, providing information about the Great Depression, the election of Franklin Roosevelt as president, the need for work/relief on a massive scale which drove the formation of the WPA, and the fight to develop the FWP because “writers have to eat, too.” This decision brought “no end of headaches” to the WPA—already under fire for perceived make-work projects. The decision to use the FWP to publish state guides gave it a purpose and goal and an opportunity to do the thousands of life history interviews for which, along with the guides, it is remembered today. Act II continues the story, describing the work of the FWP as “holding up a mirror to America—warts and all.” FWP writers listened to people giving their life histories “as if tomorrow they may die.” With first-person stories, including those with ex-slaves, pouring in and challenging accepted views of American history and culture, the project came to be seen as radical, liberal, socialist, and a waste of money. Representative Martin Dies, Jr. (R-TX), founder of the House Un-American Activities Committee, looked into the work of the FWP and described the life histories as “the words of foreign insurgents.” He set up Congressional hearings and the project’s funding eventually ended.

This program tells the long overdue story of the FWP well. It is not only entertaining but it is also good history. It makes excellent use of visual materials like news clips, photographs, even excerpts from movies, and integrates the words of the writers and those giving their life histories into the script. The music is well chosen and complements the script. Comments from Douglas Brinkley, Maryemma Graham, David Bradley, Dagoberto Gilb, and Robert Polito provide insight from current perspectives. Interviews with Studs Terkel (one of the last he gave) and Stetson Kennedy, FWP alumni, provide first-person insight. Patricia Clarkson’s narration is excellent. The only question that comes up is the use of the term oral history. FWP life histories are referred to as interviews, narratives, folklore, and oral history. The interviews were done under Botkin’s direction according to 1930s folklore standards and guidelines. Oral history as a research methodology was not developed until some years later. Application of the term to the FWP interviews may have been done just as a brand or a generic statement referring to spoken information about the past but this is not clarified. The closest the program comes to an explanation is Kennedy’s good comment that the tradition of oral history grew out of the Writers’ Project.

The FWP was a...