1940s

The year is 1943. You’re new to the area and looking for a place to live that’s close enough to the city that the commute to your government job won’t be completely terrible. The war is going on and Washington is buzzing with activity. Where are you going to live? Well, if you were looking in Arlington, there’s a good chance you might end up in the new Fairlington neighborhood.

When Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress began recording Woody Guthrie in Washington in 1940, they preserved a body of songs and stories that launched Guthrie’s career and helped seed the folk revival that produced Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and a generation of protest singers