The Folk's Map
The idea of "folk" is not just a genre of music, although that was certainly one way peoples' experiences within the Depression were communicated and shared. The folk were the people of America themselves, living out their experiences. Real-life figures such as Bonnie and Clyde resonated with and captivated the American public for a reason, despite their criminal status in the eyes of the law. Likewise, accounts of everyday life for social classes that were less often viewed within the public eye, such as the narratives of former slaves, also serve as a kind of folklore. Perhaps what's most important is that all of these allowed for voices other than the dominant white male one to tell their own experiences of the Depression, as "African Americans, women, Mexican Americans, and other culturally neglected persons participated on a broad scale" [1, pg. xiii] in seizing the chance to ensure their stories were heard. The preservation of all these accounts acted as a reminder for those who sought them out that they were not alone in their experiences.
