The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The Fbi, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, Usa-1939-1956

The first book to document the efforts of the FBI against the most famous American folk singers of the mid-twentieth century, including Woody Guthrie, 'Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Burl Ives.

Some of the most prominent folk singers of the twentieth century, including Woody Guthrie, 'Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Burl Ives, etc., were also political activists with various associations with the American Communist Party. As a consequence, the FBI, along with other governmental and right-wing organizations, were monitoring them, keeping meticulous files running many thousands of pages, and making (and carrying out) plans to purge them from the cultural realm.

In The Folk Singers and the Bureau, Aaron J Leonard draws on an unprecedented array of declassified documents and never before released files to shed light on the interplay between left-wing folk artists and their relationship with the American Communist Party, and how it put them in the US government's repressive cross hairs.

At a time of increasing state surveillance and repression, The Folk Singers and the Bureau shows how the FBI and other governmental agencies have attempted to shape and repress American culture.

Author: Aaron Leonard
Publisher: Repeater
Published: 09/08/2020
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 7.70h x 5.10w x 1.00d
ISBN13: 9781913462000
ISBN10: 1913462005
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States | 21st Century
- Political Science | History & Theory | General
- Philosophy | Social

About the Author
Aaron J. Leonard is a writer and historian with a focus on the history of radicalism and state suppression. He is the author of Heavy Radicals: The FBI's Secret War on America's Maoists and A Threat of the First Magnitude--FBI Counterintelligence & Infiltration: From the Communist Party to the Revolutionary Union. He is contributor to the History News Network, Jacobin, and Truthout. He has a BA in History from New York University. He lives in Los Angeles.