Oklahoma's Own: Exhibit Celebrates Folk Singer Woody Guthrie

About 70 years ago, a folk singer from Okemah, Oklahoma, challenged the way we think about culture and society - using nothing but his voice and a guitar.

Oklahoma's Own Woody Guthrie is being celebrated in Tulsa.  

A permanent home for his collection is being built in the musically-historic Brady Arts District. Until that building's ready, the Gilcrease Museum is displaying thousands of treasures that showcase Woody Guthrie's journey.

The exhibit, "Woody at One Hundred: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Celebration 1912-2012," opens Sunday and runs through April 29.

Woody Guthrie penned more than 3,000 songs and poems, drew more than 500 illustrations and wrote three novels. The exhibit takes you inside Guthrie's head as he wrote some of his most famous work - including the lyrics to "This Land is Your Land."

Many of us know that song by heart - or at least, we think we do. Some of the verses Guthrie wrote deal with racial segregation and are not typically performed.

But historians study those words and their impact on civil rights.

"It's great that it will be a part of history and research, bringing people from around the world to Tulsa to see these things," said Dr. Guy Logsdon, University of Tulsa.

Logsdon, who is also a musician, has been a collector of Guthrie memorabilia and a follower of the artist's life after reading Guthrie's autobiography, "Bound For Glory."

Along with the museum exhibit, a conference at the University of Tulsa in March will explore the folk singer's musical influences and legacy.

"For far too long, Woody Guthrie's contributions have not been fully appreciated in his home state of Oklahoma," said Brian Hosmer, a professor of Western American History at TU.

Guthrie sang of the common man during the Dust Bowl and Depression years.

There will also be a celebration concert featuring son Arlo Guthrie, John Mellencamp, Rosanne Cash, The Flaming Lips, Hanson and other performers.

Woody Guthrie influenced some of today's top performers - Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and hopefully the next generation of songwriters.