Night Waves - Alan Lomax, Idea of the Year

Anne Mcelvoy discusses Alan Lomax, the pioneering oral historian. He created an irreplaceable archive of early American folk and Blues recordings. These included interviews with Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Muddy Waters and Jelly Roll Morton. Lomax's biographer John Szwed talks to Anne and plays some of Lomax recordings. From 1937 to 1942, Lomax was Assistant in Charge of the Archive of Folk Song of the Library of Congress. He took his microphone into the field and collected folk music from the United States, Haiti, the Caribbean, Ireland, Great Britain, Spain, and Italy, assembling a treasure trove of American and international culture. But his techniques applied to social history as well. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Lomax took his recording machine into the streets to capture the reactions of everyday citizens. And Anne continues Night Waves' week-long quest to find "The Idea of the Year". Producer: Lisa Davis.