Report for the Humanists of Utah on the Urban Pioneers program

Draft of a report to be published in the newsletter of Humanists of Utah. The article describes the concert held on May 14, 2009, at the Humanists of Utah meeting, and discusses the Utah Humanities Council grant project that supported oral history and other ways of preserving the history of the Urban Folk movement. The article was published online at http://www.humanistsofutah.org/2009/UrbanPioneers_Jun-09.html.

Polly Stewart Oral History Project has been gradually gathering momentum. It has a quiet start of interviews with Utah Phillips and Rosalie Sorrels, two key figures during Utah Folk Music Revival movement in the 1960s. The Two interviews produced an article published on Summer 2006 issue of the Utah Historical Quarterly. More and more people are getting involved since then. About 30 musicians and folk music revivalists contributed interview recordings; 3 concerts were given to the Humanists of Utah, and to a much more broader audience. She also collected photographs and artworks from the revivalists. She estimated her oral history project can be completed by the end 2009.