The first book to document the efforts of the FBI against the most
famous American folk singers of the mid-twentieth century, including
Woody Guthrie, ‘Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Burl
Ives.
Some of the most
prominent folk singers of the twentieth century, including Woody
Guthrie, ‘Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Burl Ives, etc.,
were also political activists with various associations with the
American Communist Party. As a consequence, the FBI, along with other
governmental and right-wing organizations, were monitoring them,
keeping meticulous files running many thousands of pages, and making
(and carrying out) plans to purge them from the cultural realm.
In The Folk
Singers and the Bureau, Aaron J. Leonard draws on an unprecedented
array of declassified documents and never before released files to
shed light on the interplay between left-wing folk artists and their
relationship with the American Communist Party, and how it put them
in the US government’s repressive cross hairs.
At a time of
increasing state surveillance and repression, The Folk Singers and
the Bureau shows how the FBI and other governmental agencies have
attempted to shape and repress American culture.