The book is an oral history of John Handcox, an African-American man who, gifted in song and verse, survived attempted lynchings, floods, droughts, and the ravages of the Great Depression to organize black and white farmers alike into a union. He became one of the most beloved folk singers of the prewar labor movement.
Michael Honey, the Fred T. and Dorothy G. Haley Endowed Professor of the Humanities at UW Tacoma, was recently interviewed by NPR/KPLU 88.5 FM on his latest publication, Sharecropper’s Troubadour (2013).
The book is an oral history of John Handcox, an African-American man who, gifted in song and verse, survived attempted lynchings, floods, droughts, and the ravages of the Great Depression to organize black and white farmers alike into a union. He became one of the most beloved folk singers of the prewar labor movement.
Honey worked on research for the book through the Simpson Center’s Society of Scholars fellowship program in 2011-12. He will speak at the University Book Store on March 13 at 7:00 pm.