Woody Guthrie

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (1912-1967) was an American folk balladeer whose best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land." His musical legacy includes over three thousand songs, covering an exhaustive repertoire of historcal, political, cultural, topical, spiritual, narrative, and children's themes. Guthrie was a prolific writer and visual artist. His papers, artwork, and recordings are preserved in the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Woody Guthrie Archives. Often performing with the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists" painted across his guitar, Guthrie was a major influence on hundreds of musicians, including Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Strummer, John Mellencamp, Ani DiFranco, and Billy Bragg.