May 28 event to celebrate songwriter Woody Guthrie

One of the most productive months of Woody Guthrie’s career will be celebrated 75 years later, May 28 at Grand Coulee Dam.

In one month in spring 1941, Guthrie traveled across Oregon and Washington writing songs for the Bonneville Power Administration during construction of the Grand Coulee Dam.

“He plucked tunes about the people, the mighty Columbia River, the beautiful Northwest landscape and the promise of prosperity from new hydroelectric dams,” said Libby Burke, archivist in BPA’s library.

He finished 26 songs, nearly one a day. Some of the songs — collectively known as “The Columbia River Songs” — have become part of the Northwest and American musical tradition.

BPA planned to use the songs in a movie about Columbia River Power, but the project was abandoned before completion as World War II started.

It was finally finished in 1949 after the flood that destroyed Vanport, Ore., offered an opportunity to use the film to make a case for flood control through continued federal dam building.

The finished film includes the songs Roll on, Columbia, Pastures of Plenty and The Biggest Thing that Man has Ever Done. You can see the video posted at tricityherald.com.

Or you can go all out for Guthrie from 1 to 9 p.m. May 28 at the Grand Coulee Dam’s Visitor Center with panel discussions, book readings and film screenings.

Artists performing music on the visitor center lawn will include Joe Seamons, Annie Ford, The Foghorns, Aaron Semer and Jacob Miller & the Bridge City Crooners. There is no cost.

Visitors can end the day with a laser light show at dusk across the span of the dam.

More information on the BPA-sponsored tribute is at woodyguthrieday.com.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 1:09 PM with the headline "May 28 event to celebrate songwriter Woody Guthrie."