Marjorie Guthrie ( Greenblatt; October 6, 1917 – March 13, 1983), who used Marjorie Mazia as her professional name, was a dancer, dance teacher, and health science activist. She was the daughter of American Yiddish poet
Aliza Greenblatt (née Waitzman) and the second of three wives of folk musician
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...
, to whom she was married from 1945 to 1953. Her four children with Guthrie include folk musician
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk music, folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing protest song, songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his fa ...
and Woody Guthrie Publications president
Nora Guthrie.
She was a principal dancer with the
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over s ...
Company. With Graham's permission, she started her own dance studio where she taught Graham methods and style.
Woody Guthrie began experiencing symptoms of
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly Genetic disorder#Autosomal dominant, inherited. It typically presents as a triad of progressive psychiatric, cognitive, and ...
in the 1940s, although his condition remained undiagnosed until 1952. After he and his third wife divorced in 1956, Marjorie Guthrie cared for him for the remainder of his life. Following his death in 1967, she became an activist, founding a predecessor of the
Huntington's Disease Society of America
The Huntington's Disease Society of America is a US non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by Huntington's disease, an incurable, genetically transmitted degenerative disease of the nervous system that affect ...
in that year. She headed a Federal Commission for control of the disease in 1976 and 1977 and convinced President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to form a Presidential Commission to study neurological diseases, including Huntington's. Her advocacy work also included serving on the National Committee for Research in Neurological and Communicative Disorders, the New York State Commission on Health Education and Illness Prevention, and the advisory council of the National Institute of General Medical Science. She died in Manhattan in 1983, aged 65.
Life and work
Marjorie Greenblatt () was born in
Atlantic City
Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, United States, on October 6, 1917, to
Aliza Waitzman and Izadore Greenblatt. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.
She had three brothers - David, Herbert and Bernard - and one sister, Gertrude.
In 1935, after graduation from the
Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marjorie moved to New York City on scholarship and joined the
Martha Graham Dance Company
The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded by Martha Graham in 1926, is both the oldest dance company in the United States and the oldest integrated dance company. The company is critically acclaimed in the artistic world and has been recognized as " ...
. As a core company member, Marjorie appeared in such iconic pieces as "
Primitive Mysteries", "American Document", "Every Soul is a Circus", and "
Appalachian Spring
''Appalachian Spring'' is an American ballet created by the choreographer Martha Graham and the composer Aaron Copland, later arranged as an orchestral work. Commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Copland composed the ballet music for Gra ...
". She grew to become Graham's assistant for fifteen years and was the first company member invited to teach the Graham technique independently of Martha's own school. Two of Marjorie's early students were
Erick Hawkins
Frederick "Erick" Hawkins (April 23, 1909November 23, 1994) was an American modern-dance choreographer and dancer.
Early life
Frederick Hawkins was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on April 23, 1909. He majored in Greek civilization at Harvard Univ ...
and
Merce Cunningham
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
.
Woody Guthrie
Mazia was introduced to Guthrie in 1940 through her activity as a Martha Graham dancer. According to the Marjorie Guthrie Project:
Mazia and Guthrie wed on November 13, 1945.
Together they had four children; Cathy Guthrie (1943-1947),
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk music, folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing protest song, songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his fa ...
(b. 1947), Joady Guthrie (b. 1948), and
Nora Guthrie (b. 1950). Cathy died from severe burns caused by an apartment fire when she was four.
Majorie Mazia School of Dance
Mazia founded the Marjorie Mazia School of Dance, located at 1618 Sheepshead Bay Road,
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. Thanks to her years with the Martha Graham Dance Company, she often had special guest dance teachers like Merce Cunningham. Marjorie's school trained young dancers in Modern Dance and Ballet in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. In 1950, Mazia recorded, ''Dance Along'' on
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.
History
The Folkways Records & Service ...
, a dance album for children. She is extensively cited in the book, ''
Outwitting History'' by
National Yiddish Book Center founder/director
Aaron Lansky.
Husband's illness
By the late 1940s, Guthrie's health was declining. He received various misdiagnoses, but in 1952, it was finally determined that he was suffering from
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly Genetic disorder#Autosomal dominant, inherited. It typically presents as a triad of progressive psychiatric, cognitive, and ...
. During the more than 15 years that the disease affected him, Marjorie stood by his side as she supervised Woody's hospital care. She even taught him to communicate by blinking his eyes after he had lost control of his other muscles.
Though she was Guthrie's second wife (of three) they maintained a close relationship throughout his life and she provided constant care to Guthrie until his death. Following his death in 1967, she founded the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease.
This eventually became the
Huntington's Disease Society of America
The Huntington's Disease Society of America is a US non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by Huntington's disease, an incurable, genetically transmitted degenerative disease of the nervous system that affect ...
.
Marjorie headed a Federal commission for control of the disease in 1976 and 1977 and convinced President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to form a Presidential Commission to study neurological diseases, including Huntington's.
She also headed the public and governmental information committee of the National Committee for Research in Neurological and Communicative Disorders, was a member of the New York State Commission on Health Education and Illness Prevention and of the state's Genetic Advisory Committee, and was a lay member of the advisory council of the National Institute of General Medical Science.
Joe Klein's 1980 biography, ''Woody Guthrie: A Life'' is based extensively on Marjorie Guthrie's recollections and collected papers, and contains substantial details of her life up through Woody Guthrie's death in 1967.
[Joe Klein. ''Woody Guthrie: A Life''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.]
In 1975, she married Martin B. Stein, who was vice president of the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease. She died of cancer on March 13, 1983, in Manhattan, where she lived, aged 65.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Marjorie
1917 births
1983 deaths
People from Atlantic City, New Jersey
Marjorie
Marjorie is a female given name derived from Margaret (name), Margaret, which means pearl. It can also be spelled as Margery (name), Margery, Marjory or Margaery. Marjorie is a medieval variant of Margery, influenced by the name of the herb marjor ...
American female dancers
American dancers
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Huntington's disease
Activists from New Jersey
20th-century American Jews
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)