Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth. The political folk singer who wrote “This Land Is Your Land” is getting lots of respect here in Los Angeles.

Political folk singer Woody Guthrie, who would have turned 100 this year.

Tomorrow morning City Councilwoman Jan Perry will name the intersection of Fifth and Main streets in downtown L.A. “Woody Guthrie Square.” This weekend USC will host a daylong symposium called “Woody Guthrie’s Los Angeles: A Centenary Celebration.”

And this week the Grammy Museum is celebrating Guthrie with talks and film screenings. Barry Ollman is a longtime collector of Guthrie memorabilia, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Woody Guthrie Foundation.

He spoke to KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis about the role Los Angeles played in Woody Guthrie’s artistic development. They also discussed a prized possession of Ollman’s – a calling card that Guthrie made to promote his radio show on KFVD, a Los Angeles station. It read “Woody: Dustiest of the Dust Bowlers.”