Native oklahomans writings and songs. Woody guthrie i got started in oklahoma. That is where i was born. The population is one third indian, one third negro, and one third white people. I hit the road when i was 12 years old traveling and working odd jobs. That is where i picked up these songs. This land is your land this land is my land from california to the New York Island from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me Woody Guthrie is most famous for his writing of this land is your land, but he was very much more than that. He was born in oklahoma. We are proud to have this work back in oklahoma where we think it belongs. He was an advocate or people who were disenfranchised, for people who were Migrant Workers during the dust bowl era who found themselves in california literally starving. He saw this vast difference between the house and havenots and became their serviceman through his music. The Woody Guthrie center was opened in april of 2013. It started with the purchase of the Woody Guthrie archives from woodys daughter, nora. The plan was to have this Research Facility in tulsa. As the concept grew into the idea of opening up the archives to a new generation and teaching people about woodys important part in American History, this museum came to be. We consider it a place to inspire people. We want them to investigate what woody did with his talent and inspire people to use their talents to do something of their own. Woody guthrie when the sun come shining i was strolling many people displaced during the dust bowl were just looking for a better way of life. Some had lost their forms due to foreclosure. Others had lost their farms due to the dust bowl itself, the drought, and all of the winds that blew their soil away. And they had nothing. They were promised this garden of eden and plenty of work. Come to california and we will have plenty of work for you. It is a wonderful place to be. When they arrived, they found that was not what was going on. They had been the victims oftentimes of a marketing ploy by large landowners who were trying to get very cheap labor because they knew if they had overabundance of labor that they did not have to pay them very much. The workers did not have rights. When woody saw that, it did not seem right. In our country plenty where so many have so much, to allow families to struggle so horrifically and degrade them in a way that makes them feel less than human. It was just not acceptable. This area of the center focuses on the dust bowl experience and dust bowl era since that was such an important part of who woody was and started his work. It is a significant thing for us to mention. It is an important part of our history as oklahomans. We want to make sure our young people understand the resilient people they came from and the way they persevered in the face of this Natural Disaster that was actually manmade. Had the plains not been cloud like they were and over cultivated, the dust will would not have occurred like it did. In this area, we have some dorothy lane photos with woodys writings as a complement about the dust bowl migrants and what they were dealing with. A sketch of him going to california. One of his scrapbooks, one of my favorite pages, a short notation in answer to articles posted about him. He just says i will do everything i can to help the folks from oklahoma, dont you worry. I think that really speaks for who he was and what he was intending to do. Also, we have lyrics woody wrote. Lyrics to tom joad, a nod to John Steinbeck and the joad family. Woody guthrie he woke her up out of bed and he kissed goodbye to the mother that he loved everybody might be just one big soul it looks that way to me wherever you look in the day or night thats where im going to be, maw wherever little kids are hungry and cry wherever people aint free wherever men are deprived of their rights thats where im going to be [applause] if you aint got the do re mi talks about the way people would be greeted at the border and told if they did not have money, they would not get into california. Many of the very young and old died because of dust pneumonia. Woody recorded very few songs of his own. We have a listening station that features 46 of his songs in his own voice. Most of the time when people hear Woody Guthrie songs, they are not woody singing them. They are someone else. He spent his time traveling. He spent his time in the Migrant Worker camps, in Union Organization rallies. So he did not spend a great deal of time in Recording Studios that is what makes the recordings he did make so significant and important to us. Woody guthrie have a little fun the price is up the rain come down gonna raise me a family woody definitely had themes to his writing. Woody wanted to make sure his people were well represented in his artwork and lyrics. There are some sketches here the city of los angeles, no children wanted. We have the hoovervilles over here and the shining city in the background. He said one consolation left is that children raised in the city of the sun will always be the brightest. He felt the one way the Migrant Workers could create workers rights was to unionize. At this time, that was a dangerous concept. Today it is like yes, i will join a union. At that time, not so much of an option without facing some kind of violence. In these lyrics, 1913 massacre, he talks about a party where some Union Members were joining during christmas and the boss been created a panic by saying there was a fire and then locked the doors. It was in calumet, michigan. Woody guthrie one of them screams and says theres a fire a lady, she hollered, there is no suchy thing keep on with your party there is no suchy thing i think woody would go back into history and research other events that were pertinent to the struggles the workers were still facing. In the first line, he says take a trip back with me to 1913. So he makes it clear he is going back. He is telling the story of this massacre that happened in 1913. He is pointing out this fight they are facing for workers, for displaced oklahomans, the problems they are facing are still alive today. And these people who faced this disaster should not be forgotten. Again, woody was an artist. He used his artwork sometimes in a playful way. Other times, for social commentary. Oftentimes, a combination of both. He has almost a little story he tells about the hand, the worker. The hand thinks it over and the hand cusses the boss out. The boss yells, cops law and order comes and the hand is charged with trying to overthrow the u. S. Government. And then, join the c. I. O if you have the struggles, join the union. We are in the center dedicated to this land is your land. That is the song most people recognize as a Woody Guthrie song. It is an important thing for our country. We wanted to make sure it was given its proper credit here. This land is your land celebrated its 75th birthday february of this year. We had the original handwritten lyrics on display. Most people recognize the song as a singalong from our Elementary School days, usually that did not involve singing the fourth and the sixth verses which were much more social commentary about how things could be improved in our society. Yes, woody thoughts we had a beautiful land. He brings this beautiful landscape of the things he thought as he traveled from coasttocoast. But he also wants to point out things about the people and how we are treating the people, and how we should be taking care of each other better. Woody guthrie there was a big high wall there that tried to stop me the sign was painted private property but on the backside it didnt say nothing this land was made for you and me the idea of a land owner seeing people starving outside this beautiful land he had and saying, no, you have to keep out, this is private property, did not go along with what woody thought demonstrated our beautiful country and what we have to offer our citizens. Woody guthrie this land was made for you and me i think it is important to note woody was a class warrior in a day when so many artists were not. He gave a voice to the voiceless. Woody guthrie the fog was lifting this land was made for you and me all weekend long, American History tv is joining our Cox CommunicationsCable Partners to showcase the history of tulsa, oklahoma. To learn more about the cities on our 2015 tour visit the span. Org citiestour. This is American History tv on cspan3. Mark dolph i think it is important to remember that the official title of our museum is the thomas go kris museum of history and art. What he was doing was collecting theater arts he was collecting art, to a mass of collection that would tell the story of america. Not just the United States of america. Material from northern canada. Central america. And south america. So we can speak to the history of all of the americas through the collection. His name was Thomas Gilcrease. He was born in 1890 in robe line, louisiana. As an infant, his family rose a kid relocated to indian territory because his mother was a Quarter Creek indian. One of the acts of congress that brought the family to indian territory was the dawes act. It essentially allotted land to people on the different nations roles. They received an allotment of 160 acres. This allotment ended up sitting on top of one of the most productive oilfields in American History at the time. They drilled for oil about 20 miles south of tulsa. For a while, Tom Gilcrease is a young man, and he is a millionaire. And the United States at the time, the automobile is becoming a primary means of transportation. And then his Business Activities as a young man produced the wealth that allowed him to become the collector that he will become, to collect the art the anthropological, archaeological material, and the archival material. I think in many regards, the collection comes out of his native american ancestry. That will be a driving force in his collecting mission and vision. And then, i think he was also a very curious fellow. He was always wanting to know more. He was a lifelong learner. We use that term today. Continually educating about the history of the americas. We are now on our on Common Ground exhibit. This is from our permanent collection, items that speak to what we as americans have in common. Whether they are race religious, ethnic, there are so many things in common, and this first gallery in the suite of 10 galleries speaks to the land. Obviously what we all have in common is the land of the United States. This first gallery shows the land in many cases before humans have arrived and has these magnificent landscapes of the land, of the animals that were on the land like the bison. Then one of her favorite works in the one of our favorite works in the collection is thomas morans snake river which was painted in 1900. We have the largest collection of moran it works in existence. His paintings, his watercolors, but also his notes. He kept records of the prices he was paid for these different works, which should shown he falls is a favorite of not only local audiences but when Henry Kissinger is in town he likes to calm and sit in front of this work and absorb its beauty. And it really is a work showing the sublime of nature. The all of the beauty of nature and in this case, the terrible sublime. The work can be terrifying. In this case, the waterfall, the falls, known as the niagara of the west. We have our focus on favorites exhibit. Whether these are fine art, anthropological, archival, represent the masterworks within the collection. I would like to point out part of our collection the anthropological collection. By anthropological, i mean objects within the culture that help us understand people of the americas who have lived here for thousands of years before europeans and went to what they thought was a new world which was in fact a very old world. The case to my right, we have objects from this part of the United States. We have items from the mississippian culture, which is represented here in oklahoma by one of the most significant archaeological sites in all of north america. And these would be the pottery pieces that you see. The bowls. Very sophisticated knowledge of pottery. They are incised or decorated with images, iconography, that speaks to what is important to this culture. My favorite is this very small effigy type. This piece is about 2000 years old. Look at the craftsmanship, the carving the detail. In my mind the abstraction of the beaver down to its essential components. The eyes of the beaver are inset with riverpoint river pearls from the mississippi drainage. The teeth have been carved down and set into this piece of stone to create a very realistic depiction of a beaver. Again, this was a ceremonial trifle. When this was used in a ceremony , you can cb small hole in the very front lower portion. That is where the smoking stem would be inserted. So, when a man was smoking this in ceremony, he is looking right at this very angry beaver. So, a wonderful, beautiful piece. In fact, this is considered the best example of this woodlands culture here in gilcrease museum. We are still in our focus on favorites exhibit. We are in a room i like to call the history room, because many objects speak to our history. Also the history of the americas beginning with contact with europeans. This document to my right is an example of this. This is a letter. This was from Diego Columbus the son of Christopher Columbus in 1820. In this letter, columbus is leaning a subject that he had brought up in an earlier letter and he asked that the spanish treat the indians better. They have an slave. And he has asked that they no longer be an slaved, that they be treated better. In fact, that they be christianized. The indians have souls that can be saved through christianity. But then he goes on to say, but if we christianize and save the indians, we can no longer enslave them, which will create a labor problem for the spanish in the caribbean. So, this letter asks king charles v of spain permission to begin the importation of african slaves. The first known mention of african slaves being brought into the americas. Our collection can tell the story of contact with native people very quickly. Our story will include africa and africas this is one of my favorites. I get goosebumps when i read this. The dateline is cambridge. This would be the boston area 1775. This is the messenger to the committee of safety. The triumph of the colony may be facilitated by joseph moran. This is paul reveres task, to bring the american lines in the cambridge, boston area. This was written about 10 days after the battle of concorde in lexington, with the shots heard round the world. That would officially begin, i guess, the american revolution. His most prized possession is the only known surviving handwritten copy of the declaration of independence. Franklin will use this to communicate to the court of frederick the great frederick the great of prussia, exactly what is happening back here in this new United States. We have the cover letter where franklin is saying we, the United States of america, have just cleared our independence from great britain. Here is our declaration of the independence and the reason for our declaration. Many guests wanting to see an example from the collection that speaks to our history as a nation, and particularly the revolutionary period. We have this wonderful thing depicting George Washington and lafayette at the battle of brandywine. It paints washington in a very classical, her heroic pose with the french aristocrat lafayette. He had been inspired to come to americas cause, and in fact became like a surrogate son to George Washington, and you see that in his wonderful the fiction of the brandywine battle. Which, by the way, was an american defeat, but never a defeat where washington would lose his army. He would go on later to win independence. The usual comments as a missed as a military leader and the president of the United States. We are so fortunate to have these two busts of washington and lafayette in the collection. The painting was done after the fact in the 1820s but both of these busts of washington and lafayette were done from life. The great french sculptor who don hudon came to United States after the revolution ended castings of washington from life, and a few years later, back in france he did this magnificent sculpture of lafayette. In fact, many french art historians consider this the best work that he ever did. And amazingly, Thomas Gilcrease was able to acquire this bust of lafayette from the lafayette family. Later in his collecting experience, he was in contact with the school of art in taos, new mexico. One of my favorites is this wonderful work of a hunt there at the pueblo area. The title of the work is too old for the rabbit hunt. We see this older pueblo indian in the foreground looking wistfully at the young men on horseback as they are hunting. This is something that transcends time and culture. All of us as some point inner lives will become too old to do the things we could do in our youth, but we loved to do. We see that here with the old man looking at his past. I often wonder if this is an allegorical work, if what he is seeing is actually a dream of his past. The mountains in the background to signify the almost timeless quality of the landscape of toasaos, new m