The Spurlock Museum presents the talk “The Depression-Era Hobo Experiences of UIUC Students and Faculty: On the Road with Nelson Algren, William Attaway, and Harry Partch” on Thursday, December 20 at 4:00 pm. During the Great Depression thousands of men and women rode the rails to survive. Among them were at least two University of Illinois graduates and one future University of Illinois faculty. All three were be deeply impacted by their experiences and drew upon them in their later artistic endeavors.

Nelson Algren, William Attaway, and Harry Partch reshaped American literature and music in the mid-20th century. As Depression-era students at UIUC, Algren and Attaway struggled to get by and took to the road in search of work and opportunity, experiences later documented in their fiction. Partch, a UIUC music professor in the late 1950s and early 1960s, transformed his life as a hobo into innovative and influential musical performances.

Drawing on published and unpublished work by all three men, University of Illinois PhD candidate Nathan Tye (History) uncovers their lives on the road and the lasting legacy of the Great Depression on the University of Illinois.

Thanks to Spurlock Museum for this information item.