A Road Scholar Program by Bucky Halker

During the 1930s, the Depression and the Dustbowl ravaged America’s economy and left millions of Americans unemployed and homeless. Even those who didn’t lose their jobs or farms often experienced the hardship of reduced incomes. Not surprisingly, music became an important method for expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo. Indeed, protest songs emerged as the collective voice of this army of migrants and downtrodden and the era produced a great outpouring of protest songwriting, including the songs of Woody Guthrie. Join Bucky Halker for a program that combines performance and commentary, as he reviews working-class protest songs from the Dustbowl and Great Depression.

Bucky Halker is a performer, songwriter, and recording artist, as well as a Ph.D. in American History. He has lectured and performed throughout the USA, Canada, and Europe and is the author of For Democracy, Workers, and God: Labor Protest and Labor Song-Poems. Bucky produced the Illinois Humanities Council’s celebrated CD series, Folksongs of Illinois, vols. 1-3 (2007).

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Barbara Williams at 815.423.6576.