Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...
in 1985 for ''
The Good War'' and is best remembered for his
oral histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.
Early life
Terkel was born to
Russian Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
immigrants, Samuel Terkel, a tailor, and Anna (Annie) Finkel, a seamstress, in New York City. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, where he spent most of his life. He had two brothers, Meyer (1905–1958) and Ben (1907–1965). He attended
McKinley High School.
From 1926 to 1936, his parents ran a
rooming house
A rooming house, also called a "multi-tenant house", is a "dwelling with multiple rooms rented out individually", in which the tenants share kitchen and often bathroom facilities. Rooming houses are often used as housing for low-income people, as ...
that also served as a meeting place for people from all walks of life. Terkel credited his understanding of humanity and social interaction to the tenants and visitors who gathered in the lobby there and the people who congregated in nearby
Bughouse Square
Washington Square, also known as Washington Square Park, is a park in Chicago, Illinois. A registered historic landmark that is better known by its nickname Bughouse Square (derived from the slang of bughouse referring to mental health facilities ...
.
In 1939, he married Ida Goldberg (1912–1999), and the couple had one son. Although he received his undergraduate degree in 1932 and a
J.D. degree from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1934 (and was admitted to the Illinois Bar the following year), he decided that, instead of practicing law, he wanted to be a
concierge
A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the errands of ...
at a hotel, and he soon joined a theater group.
Career
A political
leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
, Terkel joined the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
's
Federal Writers' Project
The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...
, working in
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
, doing work that varied from voicing
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
productions and announcing
news
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...
and
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
s to presenting shows of recorded
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
and writing radio scripts and advertisements. In the late 1940's he voiced characters in
WMAQ's ''
Destination Freedom
''Destination Freedom'' was a weekly radio program produced by WMAQ in Chicago from 1948 to 1950 that presented biographical histories of prominent African-Americans such as George Washington Carver, Satchel Paige, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tu ...
'' series. His own well-known radio program, titled ''The Studs Terkel Program'', aired on 98.7
WFMT
WFMT is an FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk music, folk. The station is managed by Window to the World Communications, In ...
Chicago between 1952 and 1997. The one-hour program was broadcast each weekday during those 45 years. On this program, he interviewed guests as diverse as
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
,
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
,
Mort Sahl
Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social satirist, considered the first modern comedian. Sahl pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current event t ...
,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Alexander Frey
Alexander Frey, KM (SMOM), KStJ, is an American symphony orchestra Conductor (music), conductor, virtuoso organist, pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Frey is in great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, and enjoys success ...
,
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
From a conflicted and unhap ...
,
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
,
Jean Shepherd
Jean Parker 'Shep' Shepherd Jr. (~July 21, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film '' A Christmas Story'' ...
,
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
, and
Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...
.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Terkel was also the central character of ''Studs' Place'', an unscripted television drama about the owner of a
greasy-spoon diner in Chicago through which many famous people and interesting characters passed. This show,
Marlin Perkins
Richard Marlin Perkins (March 28, 1905 – June 14, 1986) was an American zoology, zoologist. He was best known as a host of the television program ''Wild Kingdom, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom'' from 1963 to 1985.
Life and career
Perkin ...
's ''
Zoo Parade
''Zoo Parade'' is an American television program broadcast from 1950 to 1957 that featured animals from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Presented by Marlin Perkins, the show was broadcast on Sunday afternoons on NBC.
History
The show was first ...
'', ''
Garroway at Large
''Garroway at Large'' was an experimental American musical variety show program with the host Dave Garroway in the Golden Age of Television. It was telecast at 10pm on Saturday (and later on Sundays and Fridays) on NBC from April 1949 to 1954. ''G ...
'', and the children's show ''
Kukla, Fran, and Ollie'' are widely considered canonical examples of the Chicago School of Television.
Terkel published his first book, ''Giants of Jazz'', in 1956. He followed it in 1967 with his first collection of
oral histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
, ''Division Street America'', with 70 people talking about the effect on the human spirit of living in an American metropolis.
[ 23 original audio recordings as aired by Terkel]
He also served as a distinguished scholar-in-residence at the
Chicago History Museum
Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...
. He appeared in the film ''
Eight Men Out
''Eight Men Out'' is a 1988 American sports drama film based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book ''Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series''. It was written and directed by John Sayles. The film is a dramatization of Major League Baseball's ...
'', based on the
Black Sox Scandal
The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate led ...
, in which he played newspaper reporter
Hugh Fullerton
Hugh Stuart Fullerton III (10 September 1873 – 27 December 1945) was an American sportswriter in the first half of the 20th century. He was one of the founders of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He is best remembered for his role ...
, who tries to uncover the White Sox players' plans to throw the
1919 World Series
The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...
. Terkel found it particularly amusing to play this role, as he was a big fan of the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
(as well as a vocal critic of major league baseball during the 1994 baseball strike), and gave a moving congratulatory speech to the White Sox organization after their
2005 World Series
The 2005 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2005 season. The 101st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Chicago White Sox and the National ...
championship during a television interview.
Terkel received his
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
while he was acting in a play with another person named Louis. To keep the two straight, the director of the production gave Terkel the nickname ''Studs'' after the fictional character about whom Terkel was reading at the time—
Studs Lonigan
''Studs Lonigan'' is a novel trilogy by American author James T. Farrell: ''Young Lonigan'' (1932), ''The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan'' (1934), and ''Judgment Day'' (1935). In 1998, the Modern Library ranked the Studs Lonigan trilogy 29th on i ...
, of
James T. Farrell
James Thomas Farrell (February 27, 1904 – August 22, 1979) was an American novelist, short-story writer and poet.
He is most remembered for the ''Studs Lonigan'' trilogy, which was made into a film in 1960 and a television series in 1979.
B ...
's trilogy.
Terkel was acclaimed for his efforts to preserve
American oral history. His 1985 book ''
"The Good War": An Oral History of World War Two'', which detailed ordinary peoples' accounts of the country's involvement in World War II, won the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
. For ''
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression'', Terkel assembled recollections of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
that spanned the socioeconomic spectrum, from
Okie
An Okie is a person identified with the state of Oklahoma. This connection may be residential, ethnic, historical or cultural. For most Okies, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Oklahoman. ...
s, through prison inmates, to the wealthy. His 1974 book, ''
Working
Working may refer to:
* Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community
Arts and media
* Working (musical), ''Working'' (musical), a 1978 musical
* Working (TV series), ''Working'' (TV s ...
'', in which (as reflected by its subtitle) ''People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do'', also was highly acclaimed. ''Working'' was made into a short-lived
Broadway show of the same title in 1978 and was telecast on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
in 1982. In 1995, he received the
Chicago History Museum
Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...
"Making History Award" for Distinction in Journalism and Communications. In 1997, Terkel was elected a member of
The American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...
. Two years later, he received the
George Polk Career Award in 1999.
Later life
In 2004, Terkel received the
Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award
The Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award is presented annually by Colby College to a member of the newspaper profession who has contributed to the country's journalistic achievement. The award is named for Elijah Parish Lovejoy, and established in 1952.
...
as well as an honorary
Doctor of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
degree from
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...
. In August 2005, Terkel underwent successful
open-heart surgery. At the age of 93, he was one of the oldest people to undergo this form of surgery and doctors reported his recovery to be remarkable for someone of that advanced age. Terkel smoked two cigars a day until 2004.
On May 22, 2006, Terkel, along with other plaintiffs, including
Quentin Young
Quentin David Young (September 5, 1923 – March 7, 2016) was an American physician who was recognized for his efforts in advocating for single-payer health care in the United States. An activist who opposed the Vietnam War and worked on t ...
, filed suit in federal district court against
AT&T Inc., to stop the telecommunications carrier from giving customer telephone records to the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
without a court order.
The lawsuit was dismissed by Judge
Matthew F. Kennelly
Matthew F. Kennelly (born October 6, 1956) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Education and career
Kennelly was born in 1956 in Marion, Indiana. He graduated fro ...
on July 26, 2006. Judge Kennelly cited a "
state secrets privilege" designed to protect the government from being harmed by lawsuits.
In an interview in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' celebrating his 95th birthday, Terkel discussed his own "diverse and idiosyncratic taste in music, from
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
to
Alexander Frey
Alexander Frey, KM (SMOM), KStJ, is an American symphony orchestra Conductor (music), conductor, virtuoso organist, pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Frey is in great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, and enjoys success ...
,
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
to
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
".
Terkel published a new personal memoir entitled ''Touch and Go'' in fall 2007.
Terkel was a self-described
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
, which he jokingly defined as "a cowardly atheist" during a 2004 interview with
Krista Tippett
Krista Tippett ( née Weedman; born November 9, 1960) is an American journalist, author, and entrepreneur. She created and hosts the public radio program and podcast ''On Being''. In 2014, Tippett was awarded the National Humanities Medal by U.S. ...
on
American Public Media
American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...
's ''
Speaking of Faith
''On Being'' is a podcast and a former public radio program. Hosted by Krista Tippett, it examines what it calls the "animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?"
Radio program and ...
''.
One of his last interviews was for the documentary ''Soul of a People'' on
Smithsonian Channel
The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facilit ...
. He spoke about his participation in the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
.
At his last public appearance, in 2007, Terkel said he was "still in touch—but ready to go".
He gave one of his last interviews on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' program on February 4, 2008. He spoke of the imminent election of
as President of the United States, and offered him some advice, in October 2008.
Terkel died in his Chicago home on Friday, October 31, 2008, at the age of 96. He had been suffering since a fall in his home earlier that month.
, the radio station which broadcast Terkel's long-running program, donated approximately 7,000 tape recordings of Terkel's interviews and broadcasts to the
announced a multi-year joint collaboration to digitally preserve and make available at both institutions these recordings, which the Library of Congress called, "a remarkably rich history of the ideas and perspectives of both common and influential people living in the second half of the 20th century." "For Studs, there was not a voice that should not be heard, a story that could not be told," said Gary T. Johnson, Museum president. "He believed that everyone had the right to be heard and had something important to say. He was there to listen, to chronicle, and to make sure their stories are remembered."
In 2014 WFMT and the
announced the creation of the website, Studsterkel.org (see studsterkel.wfmt.com), which will house the entire archive of Studs Terkel interviews.
On September 5, 2019, podcast ''The Radio Diaries'', produced by
, released an episode called "The Working Tapes of Studs Terkel." In it, Terkel's taped interviews with working people are played and examined.
awarded Terkel the 1997 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
In 2001, Terkel was made an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from
and awarded the ''Order of Lincoln'' (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in the area of Communications.
In 2006, Terkel received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the first and only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace.
In 2010, Terkel was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.
Terkel was a recipient of a
.
* "Servants of the State: Speaking truth to power: an interview with Daniel Ellsberg, Tony Russo and Eqbab Ahmed." ''
'', vol. 244, no. 1461 (Feb. 1972), pp. 52+.
* "Women at Work." ''
'' (Apr. 1974), pp. 38–44.
* ''Giants of Jazz'' (1957).
* ''Division Street: America'' (1967),
* ''
'' (1974).
* ''Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times'' (1973, reprinted 1977),
* ''American Dreams: Lost and Found'' (1983)
* ''
'' (1984),
* ''Chicago'' (1986),
* ''The Great Divide: Second Thoughts on the American Dream'' (1988),
* ''Race: What Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession'' (1992),
* ''Coming of Age: The Story of Our Century by Those Who've Lived It'' (1995),
* ''My American Century'' (1997),
* ''The Spectator: Talk About Movies and Plays With Those Who Make Them'' (1999),
* ''Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Reflections on Death, Rebirth and Hunger for a Faith'' (2001),
* ''Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Difficult Times'' (2003),
* ''And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey'' (2005),
* ''Touch and Go'' (2007),
* ''P.S. Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening'' (2008),
Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,