Folk music in general began in this time period, or at least the recording of folk music did. In some FSA camps, the workers would bring their culture, like instruments and music, to help lighten the mood 1 after a long day at work. One of these unique forms of music, was known as square dancing, which, in a way, incorporated the sound of the dancing 2 with the music to create it’s beat. Not only that, but square dancing requires it’s dancers to dance with pretty much everyone, which can be representative of the theme of togetherness in the Great Depression.
This source was recorded by the Federal Music Project, within a Farm Security Administration camp. You can see how these two federal projects work together, as the workers in the camps would bring their unique flavor of music for the music project to record. The Federal Music project in general liked to focus on bring America together, usually through folk music. 3 However, there were critics of this, but president Roosevelt felt that this music would help unite America in it’s time of need, so he continued it. 4 It sort of, in a way, again connects to the theme of togetherness that these two federal projects would work together to better the culture and people of America. As times got harder, people began realizing that it’s easier to help one another rather than work for oneself.
By embedding the audio, an analysis in a way comes to life. Before, one could only imagine what a song, or person would sound like. By embedding the audio, we can now witness history as we read, by listening to the past and not just hearing about it. By listening to the audio, we can develop our own opinions about the piece instead of just reading about the opinions of the author of the article we read. In doing this, we allow for those reading to create their own view of history while also viewing our own, so they can compare what they think to what we think. This is how history is shaped, by historians comparing each other’s thoughts on pieces of history. Thus, by embedding the audio in the piece, we make the process a whole lot more convenient for the historians reading our articles.
- “Square dance music” Voices From the Dustbowl, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/toddbib000189/ .
- “Square dance music” Voices From the Dustbowl, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/toddbib000189/ .
- Peter Gough, Sounds of the New Deal: The Federal Music Project in the West (Illinois, 2015), 1-9. https://www-jstor-org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/10.5406/j.ctt130jtfw.5?seq=5#metadata_info_tab_contents
- Peter Gough, Sounds of the New Deal: The Federal Music Project in the West (Illinois, 2015), xi-xiv. https://www-jstor-org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/10.5406/j.ctt130jtfw.3?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
