A Chance to Harmonize: How FDR's Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression—One Song at a Time

by Sheryl Kaskowitz

The remarkable story of a hidden New Deal program that tried to change America and end the Great Depression using folk music, laying the groundwork for the folk revival and having a lasting impact on American culture.

In 1934, the Great Depression had destroyed the US economy, leaving residents poverty-stricken. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt urged President Roosevelt to take radical action to help those hit hardest—Appalachian miners and mill workers stranded after factories closed, city dwellers with no hope of getting work, farmers whose land had failed. They set up government homesteads in rural areas across the country, an experiment in cooperative living where people could start over. To boost morale and encourage the homesteaders to find community in their own traditions, the administration brought in artists to lead group activities—including folk music.

As part of a music unit led by Charles Seeger (father of Pete), staffer Sidney Robertson traveled the country to record hundreds of folk songs. Music leaders, most notably Margaret Valiant, were sent to homesteads to use the collected songs to foster community and cooperation. Working almost entirely (and purposely) under the radar, the music unit would collect more than 800 songs and operate for nearly two years, until they were shut down under fire from a conservative coalition in Congress that deemed the entire homestead enterprise dangerously “socialistic."

Despite its early demise, the music unit proved that music can provide hope and a sense of belonging even in the darkest times. It also laid the groundwork for the folk revival that followed, seeing the rise of artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Odetta, and Bob Dylan.

Award-winning author and Harvard-trained American music scholar Sheryl Kaskowitz has had the unique opportunity to listen to the music unit’s entire collection of recordings and examine a trove of archival materials, some of which have never been made available to the public.

A Chance To Harmonize reveals this untold story and will delight readers with the revelation of a new and previously undiscovered chapter in American cultural history.

Genres: History, Music, Nonfiction, American History, Politics

263 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2024

About the author

Sheryl Kaskowitz is a nonfiction author who has written two books and several articles focusing on the role of music in American culture. She earned her PhD in ethnomusicology from Harvard and lives with her family in Berkeley, California.

Reviews

[Christine Fitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might like this book if -
- you get that ✨feeling✨ when you sing “Solidarity Forever” in a group
- you think a lot about small-scale communism
- you grew up a PBS Kid and find the relationship between democratic socialism & art fascinating and integral to your entire identity
(I liked this book)

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading “A Chance to Harmonize” by Sheryl Kaskowitz. This well-researched, interesting book tells the story of a little-known New Deal program and the people who made it work. In the midst of the Great Depression, the government set up homesteads in rural areas for people to start new lives. This was a progressive, experiment in communal living with artists, including musicians, hired to help boost morale and provide community activities. The book focuses on the Music Unit and follows two women, Sidney Robertson who traveled great distances by herself to record folk songs and Margaret Valiant who worked directly on the homesteads organizing sing-a-longs and theatrical events that were uplifting and enhanced the community feeling. These were two impressive women, independent and courageous, at a time when few women ventured outside of traditional female roles. A fun aspect of reading this book is that you can access the author’s website and listen to recordings of some of the music you’re reading about. I think Sheryl Kaskowitz is a wonderful writer and has chosen a subject well-worth writing about.

[Ellen Ulken · Rating 5 out of 5]

A historical perspective on a Roosevelt “New Deal” program is meticulously detailed in this work by Sheryl Kaskowitz. She takes the reader back to the early 1930s when the first efforts to rescue the rural poor began. Several communities across the country were government funded to build houses and create jobs for those who were suffering from the bank failures of the Great Depression. The RA, or the Resettlement Administration hired leaders in the music and arts community to lead these communities, provided funds for building homes, and hired teachers for arranging regular musical gatherings, including choral performances and stage plays. One of these communities was in Cherry Lake, Florida, one in Arthurdale, West Virginia and another in Cumberland Homesteads, Tennessee. The ventures extended to the western states over time, and were an enormous success in giving hope and income to jobless people. Some important and influential participants included Charles Seeger, the father of Pete Seeger, and Margaret Valiant, who brought her fine personality and talent to the work, enlisting homesteaders to the choirs and sometimes writing the plays herself. Sidney Robertson was another important player with the “Music Unit.” She recorded dozens of singers and players of instruments across the country, in her attempt to preserve American work songs and folk music. The “Music Unit” program was controversial politically and it eventually dissolved into a part of the Works Progress Administration. But not before it had influenced the interest in historic songs, and set the seeds for an eventual explosion in the world of American folk music. This non-fiction work reads like a novel. It’s wonderful.

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of FDR’s attempts to help people through the depression. This book focuses on music and the gathering of folk songs as well as stimulating communities to perform plays and the songs. Because of the time, racism and sexism are definitely prevalent unfortunately, and the author does not shy from reporting that. I found the book interesting but not stimulating.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a work assignment. I expected it to be another collection of fables about FDR but instead he's barely mentioned, and it's all about the workers who went to great pains to collect these important cultural artifacts of the common people across the US. As an enthusiast of labor history and US Southern (and Floridian) history and culture, I really enjoyed this book.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really love when I read a history book that leaves me with new historical figures I admire. On top of that, this book has left me deeply considerate on the state of art but especially the state of community in America.

[Ryan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid telling of a largely forgotten effort to use music to uplift and preserve community as part of the New Deal.

[Paula Schumm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the true story of folk song collecting and community building within the New Deal. Recommended.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teases out the relationship between the New Deal and the folk music revival through the stories of some fascinating characters and their bureaucratic and political struggles.

[Jennifer]

Not as exciting as the title might have you believe, but interesting nonetheless. My favorite parts were the song-collecting sessions in people's homes across America.

[Daniel Walker]

Little lightweight but a good read

[Caleb Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very easy to read and a wonderful history of a program and government employees, whose work and field recordings would instigate the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s.

[Maura Keefe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed after the first few chapters. Appears to have been seriously researched.