Elders' Wisdom, Children's Song

“When senior members of a community go into schools and talk about their lives and work, and children write songs with Larry Long about what they have learned, they create a remarkable celebration of humanity and hard work.” —Dr. Tony Seeger, Smithsonian Folkways

Elders’ Wisdom, Children's Song is an intergenerational program of Community Celebration of Place created by Smithsonian Folkways recording artist and social justice advocate Larry Long, director of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Community Celebration of Place.  

Working with young people in schools throughout the nation Larry has generated an unparalleled collection of life stories of American elders in both song and narrative.   Maintained in print as well as audio and video recordings, this richly diverse collection chronicles several generations of American life through the recollections of over 1,000 elders. Collected over 30 years, the stories span the nation's cultures from elders both long established and newly arrived.

On October 18th, 2017 Larry Long with teacher Schmitz and her 8th grade servant leadership class honored Mrs. Marian Sullivan Schwarz on her 104th Birthday at the Cashton Community Hall and the whole town showed up!  

As the lyrics to her song read:

Teacher, nurse, mother, wife

That's all a woman could be

No right to vote.  No right to own.

Everything depended on the man you married

Women today have more opportunities

This celebration was broadcast November 12, 2017 and was the first installment of our new radio show entitled Community Celebration of Place Radio Hour through WDRT 91.9 FM and made available to everyone online: www.wdrt.org

Marian Sullivan Schwartz is one of the thousand elders that have been honored through Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song. With your help, we can preserve their story for generations to come and continue to bring Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song to communities across Minnesota and beyond.

Thank you for your support and for all that you do!