Whistle While You Work - Session #1

6:00 PM in the Music Department

Whistle While You Work is a four-part journey through the history of folk music and labor organizing in the United States! Guided by music educator Olivia Johnson, participants will listen to and sing labor songs and discuss the connections between work and music. Each session will focus on a different occupation, and the final session will be a creative songwriting workshop for participants to write their own labor songs. If you can't join us for all four sessions, feel free to come for just one!

Session #1 will focus on the history of farm work in America and introduce participants to the folk music sung by agricultural workers. We will learn about work songs, dustbowl ballads, and protest songs that inspired farmers to form the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. We will also discuss how these historic songs can connect to our complex food system today, and find commonalities between the experiences of farm workers throughout history.

Presenter Bio

Born and raised in South Carolina, Olivia Johnson is a musician, educator, and organizer based in Philadelphia. They are a classically trained Soprano and a self-taught autoharpist with a passion for keeping old music alive. Olivia’s dedication to justice and social change has led them to work with a variety of organizations including the Urban Leaders Fellowship, the Strother School of Radical Attention, Leadership for Educational Equity, and Spiral Q. You can learn more and listen to Olivia’s original music at olivialynne.bandcamp.com, or find them on Instagram @olivia_autoharp.