Marjorie Guthrie

Poster of Recent studies of Huntington's disease Marjorie Guthrie lecture in genetics; 1985

Marjorie Mazia Guthrie (October 6, 1917 – March 13, 1983) was for a time the wife of folk musician Woody Guthrie, and was the mother of folk musician Arlo Guthrie and Woody Guthrie archivist Nora Guthrie.

She was born Marjorie Greenblatt (Yiddish: חנה גרינבלאַט) in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, to Aliza Waitzman and Izadore Greenblatt.^[1] Following the death of her ex-husband from Huntington's Disease in 1967, she founded the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease. This eventually became the Huntington's Disease Society of America.^[2] She met Guthrie in 1940 as a Martha Graham Dancer trained in Modern Dance, while she was adapting some of Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads to a routine. 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. She also founded the Marjorie Mazia School of Dance on Sheepshead Bay Road in Brooklyn, New York, which trained young dancers in Modern Dance and Ballet in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. In 1950, Mazia also recorded, Dance Along on Folkways Records, a dance album for children.^[3] She is extensively cited in the book, Outwitting History by National Yiddish Book Center founder/director Aaron Lansky.

References

1. ^ Ancestry of Arlo Guthrie.
2. ^ Huntington's Disease Society of America.
3. ^ Dance Along Album Details, Smithsonian Folkways, Smithsonian Institution, USA.

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Name	Guthrie, Marjorie
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Date of birth	October 6, 1917
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Date of death	March 13, 1983
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